General

Living in Love is normally held in Parish facilities and can generally work with whatever meeting space is available. A large hall is preferable but two or even three smaller rooms can work as well. We need a presentation area, a breakout area, and a dinner area.

Presentation Area

The facility needs a "presentation" area with chairs for each participant, tables for coffee and beverage service, snacks, and weekend materials, a lectern or podium for the facilitators, and some kind of sound system (microphone) either fixed or portable if the room is large. Chairs should be as comfortable as possible since participants will be sitting for 60-90 minutes at a time, and it helps to have at least some oversized chairs or sofas to accommodate pregnant women who might have trouble sitting on harder chairs. Every effort should be made to make the room feel like a "living room". Coffee tables, end tables, lamps, and flowers all help to break up the room so that it feels more comfortable.

Breakout Area

Each segment of Living in Love concludes with a brief communal or meditative prayer in a breakout area separate but close to the presentation area. There needs to be a chair for each participant. These chairs will be rearranged during the course of the retreat and so, need to be easily moved. Folding metal, or molded plastic chairs are fine since participants do not spend a lot of time sitting in them. It is best if the breakout area is the same room as the presentation area but a separate room close by could be used.

Dinner Area

The dinner area is normally in a different room from the presentation area to minimize the noise and distraction of set up and clean up, but everything can be in one large room if necessary and if the room is large enough. Proximity to kitchen facilities is advantageous. The area needs to accommodate a buffet line and enough tables for the number of participants sitting three couples to a table. Round tables are preferred but rectangular tables can be used.