The Green Gate Gala had a green gate in the registration area.
I came across a few never-posted photos and videos featuring a few school auction themes.
I was the fundraising auctioneer at an event that seems perfect to highlight this week, in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day this weekend.
- The Green Gate Gala is so named because of a green gate found on the Catholic school’s campus.
- The school color is green.
- The event is held around St. Patrick’s Day and boosts the Irish vibe with Irish dancers, shamrocks, and similar thematic elements.
- The event is held in the school gym.
- Decor is festive. The committee made some effort to transform the space.
A guest headed to the bathroom jumped into my shot here. Notice the Irish-themed props.
Here are some elements that stood out to me:
- Great lighting. (Good lighting transforms ugly spaces.)
- Food stations featuring Irish food.
- The large birthday cake in the center of the room was to celebrate Sister’s birthday.
- Two Irish beers were on tap. Guests could walk up and serve themselves. First time I’d seen that. I think it would be popular at a number of school auctions, though I wonder if the reason I don’t see it elsewhere is due to a liability issue?
- A photo station was in the corner of the room. It had many Irish props.
- Nicely organized silent auction items. Baskets had tags listing all the components of each package.
What made this event particularly challenging was that — unlike many school auctions held in a gymnasium — it wasn’t a sit-down dinner. As a cocktail-style affair, guests could spread out across the entire space, and they did. When you have too much space for the guest count, focusing the audience for any type of program is difficult.
Watch the video to get a sense of the green elements in this school auction theme.
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Other green color ideas:
The color green was featured at this auction because it’s the school color, but it’s not the first time I’ve written about this happy spring color. In 2013, emerald was Pantone’s color of the year.
If you want to build your school auction theme around a singular color, one idea is to opt for the color shade of Pantone’s color of the year.
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The other meaning of being green: Sustainability
In a few weeks, one of my client’s is also having a green auction, and the “green” is tied to sustainability.
I’ve not written as much about that perspective. Here’s the singular post I have tied to sustainability; it’s on the food and beverage side of an earth-friendly auction.
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