Boutique de Noel

I joined the Junior League of London a few months ago to meet some new people and get involved in the community.  A lot of my friends are in the league back in Texas, and I knew a few American girls that were members here in London.  I also wanted to be part of the fun, while giving back at the same time.

It’s been great meeting so many amazing women that work really hard to positively affect the lives of others around London.  The JLL’s current focus is eradicating poverty, and we work with a few partners like Centrepoint, schools through our Learning Club initiative, and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to make a difference. 

Of course all of this charity work takes a lot of time and a lot of money.  The JLL’s main fundraising activity is Boutique de Noel and has been taking place every winter for the past 34 years.  Boutique is a two-day Christmas market organized by the women of JLL and the money raised through the ticket and vendor sales helps make our charity work possible.  Basically, it’s a weekend of shopping where a portion of sales goes towards charity.  Could you ask for a better excuse to get your Christmas shopping done early?

As a New Member, I have a few requirements to fulfill like attending orientations, general meetings, volunteering in the community at soup kitchens and putting together amenity kits for women at a shelter, and working on a New Member project.  This year, that project was Boutique de Noel.

I joined the Team Santa committee because I figured it would be a lot of fun getting costumes, decorating the photo area, working with a photographer, and finding Santa volunteers to mingle with shoppers on Friday and take pictures with children on Saturday.  

Though it was a lot of work and a bit hectic towards the end to get everything organized for the event this past weekend, we pulled it off!  Our team put together a schedule of shifts and then reached out to our fellow leaguers to find Santa volunteers, while the ladies signed up to be elves.

I worked on Friday night with Tiffany, Sarah, and Sarah’s boyfriend, Matt... or should I call him Nicholas? 

The shift I worked on Friday for the premier shopping evening was really fun.  We weren’t expecting many children, so we didn’t set up the photo booth until Saturday.  Instead, Santa and his elves walked around Kensington Town Hall encouraging people to shop and buy raffle tickets.  Santa then announced the raffle winners, and even took part in the live auction.

Santa the bartender

The live auction was hosted by one of the leaguers who is a professional auctioneer, so it was really entertaining to watch and raised a ton of cash!  Katherine Hooker, a coat designer that works with Kate Middleton, donated a custom-made coat that went for £1,000.  There were also trips to the states, Paris, and talk show tickets with access to the green room, but the biggest ticket item was the opportunity to open the London Stock Exchange followed by a champagne brunch for the winner and 38 of their closest friends.  That prize went for £3,500!  I was kicking myself, thinking that because our New Member class is so big, we all should have pitched in £100 to go to the stock exchange, and then drawn straws to see who actually got to ring the bell.  A champagne brunch alone is probably worth the £100!  Oh well, at least we know how to strategize for next year…

From American food stalls, to hand-made hats, family photo sessions with a professional photographer, there was something for everyone.  Santa is helping this little girl pick out a scarf.

Tiffany, Sarah, and I felt like little ducklings following around Santa all night.

All photos were taken by Greg Weddell, who donated his time to the JLL for the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, we were short a couple of Santas so Paul and David stepped in to help (or rather, Alyson and I volunteered them).  

David looks so annoyed with me in this picture.  He said he was trying to smile with his eyes, but it wasn't really working...

It was hilarious watching the guys with the kids.  Some were definitely scared and screamed the entire time they were on their laps.  Others were perfectly content, and politely told Santa what they wanted for Christmas before thanking him for the candy cane.  And of course, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get photos with Father Christmas, too!

Paul (aka Father Christmas) and David goofing around while the room was clear of children

While David waited for more children to come by, he read How the Grinch Stole Christmas to us in his best Santa voice.  

At the end of the day, David didn't want to take the costume off.  He wanted to keep walking around, greeting people and passing out candy canes, saying it felt nice to be Santa – loved and respected by all!

Merry Christmas!