Engagement Party

So, at the suggestion of Jane, I downloaded the program for my camera. And I can update you on two projects: engagement party invitations (today) and centrepieces (tomorrow).

Wade & I hosted an engagement party on the Sunday of the long week-end in February (called "Family Day" here). We invited most of our aunts & uncles, some of our cousins, and most of our closest friends. It was a good, but exhausting, day, and I couldn't have done it without the help of bridesmaids Kristy & Emily. They were god-sends that day.

I applied my scrapbooking skills to card-making. I can't break down the cost, but I bought pearlized pink cardstock and heart images. Then I cut the cardstock in half and folder it in half to make each invitation. I glued the heart images onto the front and wrote a note inside each card inviting that person to attend.

Each invitation was unique:

I chose to go with pink because the engagement party was just days after Valentine's Day. Plus, I like pink, but would not subject Wade to that much pink for our wedding.

I love the way these invitations turned out!

I loved these invitations so much that I almost hated to mail them out. But I did - reluctantly! Our parents were invited to arrive at 1:30 p.m., the rest of the family was invited to arrive at 2:00 p.m. - we did that so our parents could meet each other without the complete chaos of everyone else. I also put an end-time on the invitation of 4:00 p.m., so people had an idea of what to expect. Unfortunately, Wade's parents showed up closer to 2, so there was very little time for my parents to chat. Oh well!

We invited friends to arrive at 3:00 p.m., and again put an end time of 6:00 p.m. (or maybe it was 5:30 p.m. - it's hard to remember now). I wanted an overlap of family & friends, but I knew we didn't have enough room in our house for everyone. I was trying to create a flow of people arriving and a flow of people leaving, so it would only be crowded for so long. Most of our friends arrived around 3ish, as requested. (1 couple was late, but they're unfortunately always late. I think I may tell them the wedding is starting an hour earlier than it actually is so they'll be on-time!)

Bridesmaids Emily & Kristy were there from the start - actually they came up the night before! They helped me prepare, cook food in advance, and were staying with me for the week-end. I intended to be cooking - putting things in the oven, pulling them out, on a schedule all afternoon. I wrote out the schedule so there was going to be a steady stream of food, but I ended up being so busy introducing everyone & making sure everyone else was entertained. Bridesmaids Kristy & Emily stepped up and kept the food coming, and even dealt with a few unexpected requests!

Our family started to leave around 4:00 p.m, with the last family member leaving close to somewhere between 4:30 - 5. Kristy headed home around 5ish, because she was going to drive 2 hours to get home. Friends started to leave around 5:30.

I had a pink heart theme, as I mentioned, and I bought the decorations (a heart shaped wreath, red and pink "Chinese" style lanterns and pink helium balloons) right after Valentine's Day - everything was on sale! I'm trying to remember the menu. It involved two large veggie trays, one fruit tray, a shrimp ring, various baked foods from M& M Meatshops (puff pastries, spring rolls, spanakopita, etc.). The pièce de résistance for Wade was the mini hamburgers that we made - Wade had fun looking after that portion of the foods. You should have seen Wade's face light up when I suggested we have mini-hamburgers! There was white wine, beer, fruit punch with heart-shaped ice cubes (some ice cubes were just water, others were cran-raspberry juice). My favourite part was the heart-shaped pink cupcakes that Kristy, Emily & I baked in the morning! Emily was spending the night again.

When all was said & done, Emily, MOH & I went to Kelsey's for appetizers & drinks - not that we needed more food, but just to hang out & relax!

I wish I'd had the time (& had remembered) to take pictures of the actual party and food!