The BIG Engagement Party Recap!

LONG POST AHEAD WITH LOTS OF PICTURES!

Our photographer from our engagement party sent us the pictures yesterday!! I literally ripped open the envelope and immediately loaded the pictures on my computer (hence why there was no post from me yesterday)!! She got some AMAZING pictures and I am so thankful because we will forever have beautiful memories of our special evening!

I wanted to do a full recap of the party, so here goes…

The day of the party was pretty perfect. I woke up early (around 7am) to run and lift weights before heading downstairs to help my mom with some of the last minute details. My mom rented wine glasses for the party so I broke out all of the wine tags and put them on all of the glasses. After lining all of the glasses up my mom and I set up the table where all of the wine/drinks would go, arranged the “main” food table and perfected the dining room display which also served as the dessert table. My mom worked all week getting things together, but on the day of we spent only about 3 hours finishing up. After that, things were easy-breezy – literally – I don’t think my mom will ever have a party at our house without the chef we used – he was AMAZING. (Above left -- I love this shot of My dad & me! Carra had to get a picture of my DIY wine tags! They looked so cute all lined up!)

The chef and his wife (also a chef) arrived at our house around 2pm and immediately started getting everything ready. The kitchen smelled ridiculously wonderful and I was pretty amazed with how he could work on so many different dishes all at once. I left mid-cooking so that I could get my hair done. My hair stylist did a great job…I never usually like to wear my hair down to events, but he did the perfect soft wave with a little bit of body – I was very pleased. My hair loses curl pretty fast so I used a LOT of hairspray – I think it held up pretty well throughout the evening. (Above left is a great picture of M. and me...don't you think M. looked handsome -- yes he's wearing a Lily tie -- coral colored, printed with wine openers! To the right, a great shot of M. and me with the hosts, my Mom & Dad!)

My bridesmaids arrived early so that we could take a few pictures and chat before the other guests arrived (I didn’t have nearly enough time to talk to my bridesmaids/friends – I guess it’s just a preview of what the wedding day will hold!). We opened a present (also before the guests arrived) from my Aunt Pat & Uncle Jay – a special pair of Waterford crystal champagne flutes which I absolutely adore!

I had the chance to enjoy a glass of wine with my bridesmaids before all of the guests arrived and when they did arrive – it seemed like they just kept on coming. M. had a few of his groomsman there (the others were actually out of the country) and his family came for the party too, including his brother, his sister and her husband all the way from Atlanta and his Aunt and Uncle! It was really nice that everyone made the trip for the party! Guests included family friends, partners of my father’s, and a few old family friends (parents of friends I had in middle/high school who I’ve lost touch with). The crowd was really great. (Above left is a cool shot of the delicious tuna. To the left you can see a great picture of M. & a few of his law school buddies. Above right is a great shot of me and my bridesmaids!)

Let’s talk about the food! The chef that my mom hired for the evening was really amazing. I didn’t have the chance to eat everything (again, a preview for the wedding day), but what I did eat was incredible. The shrimp and grits was the best I have ever had – a giant shrimp wrapped in bacon over these amazing grits that tasted so rich and delicious – unfortunately I only got to have one – I could’ve eaten 40. I also tried the tuna (which I hadn’t ever had before), the beef tenderloin, the chicken and the cheese (with lavender honey and almonds – um YUM!). Everything was so delicious – I wish that I could go back to that night and just eat the food.

We ended up not doing the signature drink – there was just too much going on and we decided that wine & beer was enough. Dessert was a cake that my mom ordered from a local bakery (the same cake she had ready for us after M. proposed to me!) and the chef made these amazing chocolate mousse cups topped with raspberry glaze and a fresh raspberry. Both were DELICIOUS. The chef was nice enough to save some dessert for us in the refrigerator I had the chance to eat a few of the mousse cups! (Above right is a shot of M. and me just before opening the beautiful gift from my Aunt Pat & Uncle Jay. Above left you can see a great shot of me & my maid of honor, my younger sister! And of course you can't ignore those delicious mousse cups to the right!)

**Some of the details: I know I told you that we had an “icy, Narnia” theme in mind for the party so I thought I would point out some of the things we did to decorate. After Christmas I was out shopping with my mom when we came across this awesome silver, “icy coated” branch display piece that was hanging like a chandelier from the ceiling of this gift/florist’s store. I decided to ask how much the piece would be since my mom and I had been buying individual silver branches for centerpieces for the party (this thing had probably 40 branches all wired together). I figured that even if we didn’t use the piece in its “whole” form we could cut apart the wire and use the individual branches. It turned out that it looked awesome wired to the chandelier in the dining room! We added some hanging icicles and crystals (that we found deeply discounted after Christmas) and my mom found these awesome “A” and “M” round circles that were edged with silver glitter. We also picked up two white “snowy” birds that we attached to the branches. My mom picked up these awesome, tiny LED lights which we strung throughout the piece so that it had somewhat of a blue glow. It looked so great! (At the top left is a picture of M. & me cutting our "cake", above right is a really cute picture of my mom with some of her friends & above left is a great picture of my family & M.'s family)

We polished up a few of my mom’s silver frames and put black and white photos of M. and me in them. She borrowed three great mercury glass (all different heights) votive holders. Finally, we included four glass containers (each of a different shape & size) which we filled with silver wrapped Hershey kisses and had a sign in a white filigree frame that said “Love is in the Air – Take a few kisses home with you!.” We had some clear cellophane bags, silver twist ties, and a silver scoop for our guests to enjoy the “kisses”.

The final touches were a silver branch centerpiece in the living room, again accented with hanging crystals and icicles, a silver frame in the kitchen with a sign printed with the same logo as used for the wine tags that said, “Please share your words of congratulations” accompanied by a white “sign-able” frame and silver pen, and three beautiful “blue” and white flower arrangements from our florist! I also have to mention that I loved the way we set up the water for the party – we had bottles of John Paul Gautier Evian water (which were actually printed with a beautiful white snowflake type print) lined up on a silver tray on the drink table.**

Overall the evening was just perfect – M. and his family got to meet many of our family friends and I got to talk to just about everyone (but I didn’t get to talk to any of my guests for nearly long enough). At the end of the evening a few of the guests stuck around and we just sat in the kitchen and talked – we ended up all trying out some type of moonshine that one of our guests coincidentally had in his car (don’t ask me how this came up in conversation because I couldn’t tell you) – It was pretty funny though!!??!!??!!

Finally, at around 1:45 am all of our guests were gone and we sat down on the couch to enjoy a few leftovers (neatly packed up for us by the chef) and opened the presents given to us. We received another BEAUTIFUL pair of Waterford by Vera Wang crystal champagne flutes, a gorgeous Waterford crystal ring holder (well, I guess this one was more for me than for M.), a great “entertaining” set which included fabulous square glass plates etched with my soon to be new last initial ( C ), a great Juliska vase, and a beautiful candle and fun entertaining platter!! Our guests were extremely thoughtful, especially considering our invites said “no gifts, please."

We all headed to bed at around 2:30 am, but I wished that we could start the whole evening over again!

**Tomorrow I may have to post a few more of my favorite pictures!! Hope you don't mind!**