Wild Dinner Recap
When we started our Wonderland Patreon page, we had a group meeting to spitball ideas of what sort of content, events and gifts we should offer people. Natalie suggested we have a Wild Dinner at Wonderland for our Patreon members as a thank you for subscribing to our page. She would forage for wild food at Wonderland and put a meal together for everyone to enjoy. The group thought it was a good idea and we put it on the calendar for a weekend in May.
As we got closer to planning the dinner, Oliver suggested that instead of having it at Wonderland, we should have it in the city to make it more accessible. Many of our patrons and Wonderlanders live in the Chicagoland area and it can be a trek to get to the land.
Vanessa realized that it would be a good idea to offer a one time purchase to the event through our Patreon for people who wanted to come but were not currently Patreon members. This suggestion made our thank you dinner a fundraising event as well!
In the weeks before the dinner, Vanessa, Nico and Natalie got together to organize everything from music to glassware. Nico, who knows a thing or two about hosting an event, filled in the gaps on things we needed like candles and flowers.
Like a community making a quilt, the Wonderland Wild Dinner was patched together by combining our time, skills, suggestions and tablecloths.
As you can see, it was a lovely event. Like a patchwork quilt, many of our projects at Wonderland work out this way, one idea that shifts and grows as others put their own ideas and skills into the mix. Sometimes the ideas we have fall through and some of our projects hold our actual blood, sweat and tears. However, sometimes, our ideas come together as we laugh and move around each other in a kitchen and backyard in that special dance of camaraderie.
Thank you to everyone who came out and made the Wild Dinner, wonderful! We really appreciate you. We will be doing it again next year and we will have more Patreon events and other surprises coming soon, so feel free to join our Patreon page!
