Saturday, March 19, 2016

Engagement party

Before my engagement party, my only knowledge of them came from the movie Bridesmaids. While that scene remains one of my favorite movie references ("the dessert wine is out," anyone?), my engagement party turned out to be one of the most lovely nights of the engagement so far. My grandma took the reigns for this party, and I simply gave a few names to invite. My mom had bought me a cute white dress for my birthday a few weeks before and I took the opportunity to don my first white dress since the proposal (btw props to mom for picking out the perfect dress on her own, I loved it!).

I was blown away. The house was marked with adorable champagne and gold balloons, and you walked into the most elegant outdoor dinner party that could exist. I wandered around checking out all the details -- the bride and groom signs above the chairs, the queen of hearts card wine marker, and lights strung everywhere. I was so overwhelmed with and the beautiful decorations that it felt like the small backyard wedding of my dreams.




The craziest part is that Wendy didn't have any knowledge of Pinterest and is simply an amazing hostess, cook, and design genius. Event better, having all my high school friends, family, future inlaws, and most college friends in one place was an incredible feeling and led to a great party. There were many reunions with friends I hadn't seen in months (years?), and it felt so odd and fun having everyone there to celebrate me and Scott. It was wonderful and gave me a slight idea of what the actual wedding will feel like.



Our meal was served on long tables on the raised green backyard area, and Scott and I sat in front of a the old clay fire pit surrounded by friends and family. After dinner, Wendy surprised us with a cake (which included a classic college beach picture) and gave us a knife to make the first cut. Just to add to the warm fuzzy feelings, she let us know that it was the knife my parents used to cut their wedding cake decades ago. Sure enough, it had their names and wedding date engraved on the blade.


With cake passed around and champagne glasses filled, both of our dads stood up to give a toast. Scott's introverted Dad had everyone cracking up with hilarious jokes, while my extroverted Dad started tearing up--leading to chain reaction. I had no idea I would love (the slightly ironic) toasts as much I did, but I have realized it's such a unique experience to have your loved ones talk about how they view your relationship and love. Needless to say, I am taking note while planning the rehearsal dinner.

We ended the night staying up late with a few lingering friends, finishing off the cake, and opening up gifts and cards. My love of paper products and stationary exponentially grew with each engagement card as they became increasingly adorable and thoughtful. Although unexpected (we hadn't registered), we also received some amazing gifts. A beautiful Anthropology blanket, adorable pillow cases, candles, mugs (which we use daily), and a thoughtful Greece travel guide book for honeymoon planning plus more. 

I ended that night feeling so grateful for the friends and family who came to celebrate, happy to have a hostess who knows how to perfectly execute an event on my wedding planning team, and most of all excited that the wedding process had officially started. It was only one month prior that we had picked out our venue and date, and a few weeks since I started asking bridesmaids. This event sealed the deal on the fact that wedding planning and the engagement had truly started.

Looking around at the engagement party, I could see my wedding vision pictured. Elegant, natural, European rustic and surrounded by love. Several months have passed since that night as we are now under the 6 month mark, but I can't let a beautiful memory that kickstarted a fun momentous period of Scott and my lives not go recorded.
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