When you’re preparing to host a bunch of women for a women’s ministry event, it’s important to make sure your hospitality is there. After all, women deserve to feel welcome and taken care of. If there’s anyone who should make sure this happens, it ought to be the church. This is why refreshments need to make the list when you’re working on planning the event. Even with a small budget, consider the following ways you can create an amazing refreshment table for the ladies.

1. Use manual labor.
When it comes to women’s ministry and manual labor, they often think of community service and overseas mission projects. While that’s an important component of a christian women’s fellowship, think about the food. It’s always cheaper to make the food yourself. However, don’t try to take it on all by yourself. Ask a few of the women on your team to help out. Create a theme. Put everything on sticks. Create cake pops. Make macaroni & cheese bites to put on a stick. If someone on the team can make delicious meatballs, put the meatballs on sticks. It’s a fun way to create a theme, keep costs low and still provide a deluxe experience for the women.

2. Purchase easy snacks that stretch.
Popcorn is one of the most inexpensive snacks you can make. Air-popped popcorn is extremely inexpensive. Once it’s popped, add some seasonings and butter to the mix. Additionally, chips and pretzels are snacks that can stretch as well. They don’t take any prep work and are delicious. Provide a simple cheese dip to go along with the chips for an easy spin on nachos.

3. Provide a large punch bowl.
As long as you have punch, your event will succeed. Go to your local discount grocery store. Purchase a bunch of fruit punch. Buy a bottle or two of ginger ale. Then, add one bottle of mango nectar to the mix. Once you add the ingredients into a large punch bowl, add some fresh fruit. Pineapple slices or berries work best. Put the punch bowl in the fridge to cool down for a while. You want to make the punch a few hours in advance. When it’s time for the women to enjoy their punch, provide a separate bowl for ice. You don’t want to add the ice to punch or you’ll water it down.