How To Plan and Host a Creative Retreat with Girlfriends

I had the pleasure of spending the week with 5 of my blogger friends recently. It was so much fun planning and getting ready for their arrival. Let’s talk about how to plan and host a creative retreat with girlfriends.

During my meal planning and house prep, I worked through some ways to do some preparations ahead of time to make things a little easier once my guests arrived.

I thought it might be helpful to share some of those ideas with you.

white nightstand with lamp and vase of flowers in guest bedroom

Let me explain a little about the reason for this creative retreat, before we get to the planning and hosting details.

6 ladies sitting on steps at house

Diane (South House Designs), Wendy (WM Design House), Michele (Vintage Home Designs), Lynn (Living Large in a Small House), Amy Sadler (Amy Sadler Designs), Cindy (Reinvented Delaware)


About 3 years ago, 5 of my blogger friends and I formed a Mastermind group.

A Mastermind for bloggers is a group of 5-6 bloggers that meet via zoom once a week.

It is a structured meeting where we discuss a topic that we have agreed upon, in advance.

These meetings involve learning new things associated with blogging, troubleshooting social media issues, working through a problem that we all might be struggling with or just brainstorming about ideas for our blogs.

We plan each zoom call meeting in advance and this way we are all prepared for the call with any info we can share or any questions we may have.

Having a planned topic for each call is the best way to stay on track and makes the call much more productive since we try to keep the call to about an hour.

Last year, for the first time since we formed the group, we got together in person for a working retreat weekend.

We are located all over the United States, and the first retreat location was in the Kansas City area which is fairly close to 2 of the ladies in the group.

We had such a great time and learned so much, we decided to have a creative retreat and meet in person once a year moving forward.

planning and hosting a creative retreat at my home

front of white farmhouse with metal roof and cottage garden in front

We started the planning process for this years retreat in early 2024.

Between all of our schedules, we ended up with a week in June for the retreat dates.

Since I have an airbnb close by my home, I offered to host the retreat because I could host 2 of the ladies at my home and the other 3 at the airbnb.

I live in Texas, just east of Dallas, in Rockwall.

Several of the ladies opted to drive to the Dallas area and a couple decided to fly because of the distance.

Since we planned the retreat several months in advance, they were able to watch for deals on airfare.

A couple of the ladies even figured out a way to ride together and had a wonderful time road tripping to Texas.

2 ladies



We planned to work at my large round dining table, because there was plenty of space for everyone to have room to work.

We also set up a long folding table in my living room so we could use a large monitor for zoom calls we had planned and it was an extra work area if someone wanted to spread out.

This made it much more cost effective for everyone since we didn’t have to rent a hotel room or book a retreat center.

We decided to have all of our meals at my home and save so much time with not having to go out.

This also made the retreat more economical, since eating out can get costly.

bedrooms

I enjoy making my guest bedrooms comfortable and inviting before guests arrive.

Nice sheets are a very important part of that.

Extra blankets and pillows are also a good idea to have on hand for your guests. You never know when someone might be a bit more comfy with an extra layer of bedding or a different thickness/firmness of pillow.

A candle or diffuser beside the bed is a wonderful addition to the guest room. I like to start the diffuser or light a candle an hour or so before guests arrive.

That way, there is a nice inviting scent when they enter the room.

Fresh flowers are one of my favorite things to add to the beside table of a guest room.

I love flower gardening and take such pleasure in cutting beautiful blooms from my cutting garden for my guests to enjoy during their stay.

I keep an array of vases on hand and think it’s fun to choose a vase based on the personality of the guest I am having.

For example, I have a couple of friends that love blue and white, so I might use a vintage blue and white tin for a vase. Or tie a blue and white striped ribbon around a clear vase.

It’s super easy to pick up inexpensive vases or vintage goblets at thrift stores to keep on hand.

You can certainly purchase inexpensive grocery store flowers for this, if you don’t grow your own flowers.

A few other amenities that guests might find helpful is a water carafe or phone charger beside the bed.

I like to turn off overhead lighting and turn on bedside lamps before guest arrival.

Lamplight is a perfect way to create a wonderful and inviting atmosphere.

Lastly, for this particular event, I added a welcome gift to each of the beds. More about the gift below.

bathrooms

Nice and fluffy towels are a must!

I replaced all of my guest bathroom towels recently and found 2 brands that I have been really pleased with.

They have washed really well and have kept their nice feel.

They come in lots of colors, but I like to use white towels. White towels have more of a luxurious and spa like look and they can be bleached, if necessary.

A tip for keeping eye makeup from ruining your good white towels is to keep a jar of darker colored washcloths handy for guests. I keep a glass canister filled with rolled up washcloths and a note that says “eye make-up remover towels”.

My guest bathrooms are well stocked with any essentials that guests might need and might have forgotten to pack.

I have a container filled with travel size essentials like toothpaste, body lotion, makeup remover wipes, shave cream, hairspray, q-tips, cotton balls, etc. on a shelf in the bathroom.

Extra toothbrushes, contact solution, bandaids, and a few types of medicine like advil and tylenol are stored in a drawer in the bathroom.

I keep shampoo, conditioner and body wash in the shower and extra toilet paper and tissues nearby.

A bath robe is also a very nice thing to have out for a guest to use. I have a wreath hanger over the door in my guest bathroom with a cozy white bathrobe available for guests.

Lastly, I enjoy putting a small vase of fresh flowers beside the sink as well as a candle.

If you have the space, a small lamp is a nice added touch in a guest bathroom.

I like to turn the lamp on and light a candle prior to guests arriving.

hosting girlfriends at my airbnb

As I mentioned, a few of my friends stayed at my Airbnb that is nearby, during our retreat week.

It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, which gave 3 of my friends a private bedroom and only 2 of them had to share a bathroom.

The bathrooms are stocked with shampoo, conditioner and body wash in the bathtub/showers.

And we also have travel size essentials that guests might have forgotten, stocked in each bathroom.

As with my home, I made sure the Airbnb smelled nice when my guests arrived by turning on diffusers ahead of time.

I don’t keep candles at the Airbnb because of fire hazard when we have guests booked through
Airbnb, but I do like to use the diffusers to keep the home smelling nice and clean.

There are lots of lamps in the home, so I made sure all of the lamps were on when my friends arrived.

I stocked the coffee bar with an assortment of flavors of Keurig coffee pods and different types of sweeteners, as well as an assortment of tea and a jar of honey.

A few flavors of coffee creamer, water bottles and soft drinks were stocked in the fridge.

A basket filled with fruit, granola bars and popcorn made it handy to grab a quick snack.

I also had a few baked goodies under a cake dome on the kitchen counter.

The kitchen is fully stocked with dishes, glasses, cookware, cooking essentials, etc., which makes it really nice for traveling guests.

I also leave a bottle of red and white wine for guests to enjoy during their stay.

Small vases filled with flowers from my garden were beside each bed, beside the sinks in the bathroom and on the kitchen table.

meals for a women’s retreat

The key to keeping the meals simple for our retreat week, was planning way in advance.

I have the menu listed below, and I will share recipes and the things I was able to make ahead.

making a blueberry prosecco cocktail with bottle of prosecco lemon blueberries cocktail glass with lemonade ice cube



We thought it would be fun to have a signature cocktail to enjoy the evening of everyone’s arrival and to kick off our creative retreat.

My friend, Lynn at Living Large in a Small House, gave me some ideas for a signature cocktail.

I looked through the recipes and ended up combining a couple and coming up with my own concoction.



I kept a beverage jar out and filled it with a different type of fruit water each day.

This made it easy for everyone to refill their water glass throughout the day.

A couple of days I had orange slices and mint sprigs from my garden. Another day, I used sliced strawberries and fresh basil sprigs from the garden.

Another one of my favorites of flavored water is fresh cucumber slices and I also love fresh pineapple with rosemary.

Be sure and use filtered water, fresh fruit/herbs and fill the container with ice. This will keep the water cold and refreshing for hours.

vase of mint and a sign to cut a piece for iced tea



I also had sparkling water, a few soft drinks and iced tea each day. And fresh mint from my garden to add to water or iced tea.

Each morning I brewed coffee and had an assortment of coffee creamers and sweeteners as well as different flavored tea bags for hot tea.

I wanted to have several dessert options for the week, so I made 3 different desserts the day before the retreat and made one during the retreat that wasn’t really a great make ahead option.

6 friends at dinner table at a girlfriend's weekend retreat

menu

Day 1:
breakfast – Easy Brunch Casserole Southwestern Style


I made the casserole the day before my guests arrived and put in the fridge overnight. The next morning all I had to do was pop in the oven for about 45 minutes.
I served the breakfast casserole with a bowl of fresh fruit.



lunch – Pasta salad, egg salad, and pimento cheese was served the first day of our retreat. I used the recipe for pimento cheese from the Magnolia Table cookbook.
I had crackers and mini croissants to go along with the salads and fruit we had at breakfast.

creamy chicken and sun dried tomatoe pasta in white serving bowl



dinnerCreamy Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta was the main dish. This is my favorite pasta recipe to serve for dinner for a crowd. It calls for Rigatoni pasta, but I typically use wide egg noodles. Either way, it is delicious!!

I served the pasta with this caesar salad that my friend Lynn (Living Large In a Small House) made.
It was so good!!
We made homemade croutons for the salad and served with french bread and herbed butter.

Day 2:


breakfast – parfait cups with granola and fruit, bagels with cream cheese.

I used store bought Greek yogurt in an assortment of flavors and served them in small glass jars. I served homemade granola that I purchased at a specialty market in small bowls that fit perfectly on top of the jars of yogurt.

And had a bowl of cut up fruit to add to the yogurt.

I ordered the bagels ahead of time from a local bagel shop and picked them up early that morning and served with 3 flavors of cream cheese from the grocery store.



lunch – this Easy 3-ingredient Tomato Soup is my favorite tomato soup and the easiest you will ever make!! And it paired perfectly with my favorite Veggie Quiche for lunch with my friends.

large white bowl with mixed greens pear slices apple slices pecan halves and goat cheese



dinner – for dinner, my husband graciously offered to grill steaks and salmon. We paired it with baked potatoes and this yummy Harvest Salad.

blueberry dutch baby in cast iron skillet



Day 3:
breakfast – My daughter makes dutch babies fairly often and they are so good! I decided to try a blueberry lemon dutch baby for breakfast during our retreat. These are SO easy to make and are amazing!!
The dutch baby was served with warm maple syrup, whipped cream and fresh fruit.

lunch – I made my very favorite chicken salad recipe for lunch this day. I got this recipe over 30 years ago from my favorite tea room in South Texas. The restaurant is no longer there, but they had several great cookbooks and this recipe is in the cookbook.
I served the chicken salad with mini croissants, potato chips and fresh fruit.

dinner – for dinner the last night, we had planned on getting take-out, but everyone insisted we have a buffet of leftovers from the week since we had so much food and so many options for everyone.

desserts:

overhead view of peach bundt cake on clear platter with lemon glaze on top and white daisy in center of cake dishtowel with daisy and fork on top beside cake


peach cake with lemon glaze – my very favorite pound cake! It is SO moist and so easy to make and you won’t believe what one of the main ingredients is.
I made the pound cake the day before our retreat.

strawberry pie – I made an easy and yummy frozen pie the day before the retreat. Recipe for this coming soon!

cream cheese bars – these are always a crowd favorite. I also made these the day before the retreat.

berry dump cake with vanilla ice cream – Years ago, I used to make dump cake fairly often using canned pie filling.
At the beginning of the summer this year, I decided to try a dump cake using fresh berries. It turned out so good!
This isn’t really a great make ahead recipe, so this is the only dessert I didn’t make ahead, but it’s so simple to make, I through it together and baked it while we were having dinner.
It is best served warm anyway.
To make this recipe, just add about 2 cups fresh berries to the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. I used fresh chopped strawberries, raspberries and blueberries but you can use any combination you like.
Sprinkle 1 box yellow cake mix over the top of the berries. Then cut up 1 1/2 sticks of butter into small squares on lay all over the top of the dry cake mix. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.



signature cocktail: Blueberry and Lemonade Prosecco Cocktail

For our signature cocktail, I added 2 teaspoons of blueberry simple syrup to a cocktail glass.
Then I added a lemonade ice cube. I make these by freezing lemonade in large square ice cube molds.
Next, pour prosecco over the top of the ice cube, then give it a stir and garnish with a lemon slice and a few blueberries. It makes a beautiful berry color and a delightful and refreshing cocktail.



blueberry simple syrup:
Mix 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water and 1 cup of fresh blueberries together in a saucepan.
Bring to a bowl and continue stirring until blueberries pop open.
Let mixture cool, then put through a strainer to catch anything not completely liquified.
Pour into glass jar and store in fridge.

welcome gifts


Of course, a gift isn’t necessary to make your guests feel welcome.

This was just an extra special gathering and I already had a some things on hand to put a few gifts together.

The welcome gift was a canvas tote with a hand stamped design, a handmade notepad and a beautiful watercolor bookmark, made by my mom who is an artist.

I happened to have some canvas tote bags on hand from when I had a storefront, and I stamped a design on the front using some large rubber stamps I already had.

The notepads were picked up at the dollar store and I selected paper that fit the personality of each guest and attached it to the front of the notebook.

I thought the notepads would come in handy for our creative retreat. They are super easy to make and very inexpensive. More details about these and a DIY coming next week.

Lastly, my sweet mom offered to hand watercolor a bookmark for each of my friends.

These were the perfect addition to the notepads and tote bags.

I tied fabric ribbons around the handle of each tote bag and a name tag made from a shipping label tag and placed one on each guest’s bed.

my favorite things gift exchange

One of the gals in our group had the idea to do a favorite things gift exchange during our retreat.

We all loved the idea and agreed on an amount that we would spend on each gift.

Each of us bought or handmade 5 gifts (all the same gift) to share with everyone. This way each of us received a favorite thing from each person.

For example, my “favorite thing” was my favorite candle, so I bought 5 of the Rosemary candles and each person in the group received one of the candles.

This was so fun and a great way to take a break from working one evening.

work plan/schedule and zoom calls

For this type of retreat, we set a daily plan, so we could stay on track and accomplish as much as possible.

Each day we had a zoom call scheduled (one of the days it was an in person meeting) with someone that specialized in something we wanted to learn more about.

We scheduled the calls early in the day and spent a few hours right after the call to work on things we had learned.

It was a great way to make sure we didn’t forget and also bounce ideas off of each other while it was fresh on our minds and we were all together.

The last day, we did a brief recap and had a Q&A, as a group, for things we still wanted to work on.

more details for how to plan and host a creative retreat with girlfriends

Be sure and take a group photo and photos throughout the week/retreat.

Ask about food allergies or dislikes ahead of time and plan the menu accordingly.

I also asked what everyone likes to drink drink during the day. Coffee or tea in AM, water, iced tea or specific soft drinks, and if you are planning to serve wine, if they prefer red or white.

conclusion – how to plan and host a creative retreat with girlfriends

I can’t begin to tell you how enjoyable and productive this week was.

It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know each of these ladies better.

And it is so much more productive to work together in person.

It’s so helpful to bounce ideas off of each other and problem solve together.

We are each others biggest cheerleaders and truly understand the struggles any one of us may be having from time to time.

They are such a huge support system and everyone is always so willing to help and share their knowledge with the group.

There is no judgement, no competition and a whole lot of grace with this group, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be a part of it!

We enjoyed this time together so much and it was such a successful retreat that we are planning to meet in person, once a year, moving forward.

Since we all live in different parts of the country, the plan is to meet in a different place each year.

This way, we get to visit each others homes and see a glimpse of their part of the country and lifestyle there.

I’m already excited about next year!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my ideas for how to plan and host a creative retreat for girlfriends and get inspiration for hosting your own retreat.

Please comment below or message me if you have any questions.

blessings,

michele signature

Everyone in my mastermind group is sharing a post today that is related to our creative retreat.
Be sure and pop over and visit each one to get more ideas and inspiration.

Pinterest Graphic with 6 photos about how to host a creative retreat

20 Comments

  1. Michele, truly you are the most gracious, creative host!!! Not only is your home beyond beautiful, it is inviting, cozy — and smells heavenly!!!!
    You’re right this is a grace filled group of delightful, generous, supportive women. I couldn’t and wouldn’t be on this adventure without our squad.
    From the bottom of my heart — thank you again and again!

    1. Aww, thanks so much for the kind words Diane! I am so glad you enjoyed your time here. It was a joy to host the retreat and I can’t wait until next year!

  2. Wow sounds amazing and a great time. You were prepared for your guests with many amenities.

    Lucky to have a great group of blogger friends surrounding and supporting each other.

    1. Yes Cindy, I am so blessed to have this incredible group of blogger friends. The retreat was amazing and so successful.

  3. Michele, your home and AirBnB was the perfect place and you are an amazing hostess! Every where I looked there was something wonderful and interesting to look at. My every need was taken care of and I came home with so much inspiration! Thank you so much for everything and especially the cream cheese bars! lol

    1. I’m so glad you were comfortable and enjoyed your stay here! It was an honor and such a joy to host this incredible group of friends!

  4. We felt so welcomed in your home(s). Every detail was perfect! You took such good care of us and fed us the most amazing meals. The retreat filled us up in every way. I would be willing to bet that most of us have Kleenex in a silver teapot now 🙂

    1. Ha, that’s funny about the silver teapot!! I am so glad you enjoyed your time here and I thank you for the kind words! It was a pleasure to host such an amazing group of friends!

  5. Wendy McMonigle says:

    Michele, I can’t express how incredible this retreat was. You did a beautiful job preparing your home to welcome us. Every detail was meticulously thought out, and we were all deeply blessed by your hospitality, cooking, and your stunning home. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into making this event so enjoyable for all of us.

    1. Thanks so much for the kind words Wendy, and I am so glad you enjoyed your time here! It was a joy to host such an incredible group of friends!!

  6. Michele, I enjoyed this post so much! You have covered all of the details for organizing a creative retreat! You created a welcoming environment and I enjoyed my stay at your Airbnb. You thought of every detail and I enjoyed each one of them! Blessings and I am looking forward to our next retreat!

    1. Thanks so much for the kind words Cindy! I am so glad you enjoyed your stay here and I am so excited already for next year’s retreat, as well!

  7. Michele, I sure enjoyed reading your post and all the details. I’m going to click over and read what the others shared too.

    Your hosting skills are beyond compare! I have gotten so many great ideas just for hosting in general from this post. When company is coming, I always like to make as much food ahead of time as possible. Your delicious ideas are going to come in handy.

    1. Oh, I am so glad you found some inspiration here! Thank you for your kind words and for commenting!

  8. Nan, Odessa, DE says:

    Tell us about the tea pot with keen x!! I need one.

    Sorry I am not part of your group. How lucky to gather like this!

    1. If you remove the entire contents of a kleenex box and place it inside of any type container or vase with a small opening it just make an attractive tissue holder and they pull out the same way. I hope that makes sense.

  9. Ethel Alderson says:

    Tell me how you slice the fresh pineapple?
    The fresh rosemary? Whole stems? Chopped?

    Love the use of rosemary.

    Thanking you in advance!

    1. I just remove the outer peel of the pineapple and cut the pineapple fruit away from the core, then just slice into small pieces. For the fruit water, it doesn’t really matter how large or small the pieces as long as they will fit into your pitcher or beverage container. I use sprigs of rosemary and that way the small pieces of rosemary don’t get into the water glass.

      A couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary are also great in a pitcher of orange juice or white wine. It gives a lovely hint of rosemary and takes these beverages up a notch.

  10. What a glorious time you ladies had! I’m not a blogger but I sure do love following them. Your home is beautiful and the food looked so yummy. It is obvious that you ladies had a fabulous time together. Fyi…I noticed in one of your photos that you served crackers in a vintage Nora Fleming dish with pink flower mini. I just had to squeal as I am a collector of NF myself. Can’t wait to see future posts of yours.

  11. Kim | Shiplap and Shells says:

    What fun! I absolutely LOVED this post and want to try many of the meals you made. I’m all about that extra special touch and you, my friend, are the expert. Love everything thing that you do.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *