Our Engagement Party

Remembering the Engagement Party.....

I started a Bpay account today for the Wedding so this has brought it to the forefront of my mind and reminded me that i have prepared nothing so far YIKES!

Even with this pro-active step now done,,,,I'm still sort of feeling a bit blue about the wedding planning.

It all started with the engagement....

It just wasn't the party that I had hoped for. There were a few reasons for this - we had it at home which at the time I thought would be more fun that a venue or hall. But at the end of the day it was not more fun and we had to deal with the clean up and added stress.

The invitation list got out of control which meant that on the night I was being introduced to people I had never met or hardly knew which is a pet peeve of mine. I mean why come and celebrate someone’s big moment if you don't already have a relationship with that person. Family Politics that's why!! I sort of gave free reign to my partners parents to invite anyone they wanted because we all knew we wouldn't have a wedding for people to attend. So i basically sacrificed my happiness and my enjoyment so that they could invite everyone. 

I did all the food myself which meant that I spent the night in the kitchen with my mother, sister and grandmother who were the only ones who offered to help on the night. My biggest regret is that we didn’t spend a bit extra and get it catered.

My partner and I have almost no photos of the night and only one nice one of us. Usually he is the one in his family that is the photographer -so there wasn't really a person there that took that on. I should have just asked someone beforehand to be in charge. I only have 26 photos of my engagement party and 22 of those I took before the party myself of the decorations and cake.

The night was rainy and the outside area that people chose to use was not under cover so they took refuge in the garage. Since I was busy in the kitchen I wasn't there to direct them to a more pretty location. The garage people sort of ostracised themselves and made the party feel odd. 

Also since I wasn't there to socialise it was all left up to my very shy introverted partner who became completely overwhelmed and forgot to do and say lots of things. 

After that long list of regrets and disasters here are the things that I LOVED. I spent weeks coming up with the decor and theme. I had a spring carnival theme which required our guests to dress like they were going to the horses races. It looked great with all the pretty colours, hats and fascinators’ (I love that word fascinator! I had a fabulous Fascinator!) I had lots of pastel colours and bird cages full of fresh roses and pink ostrich feathers scattered around and my table coverings were a mix match- sort of shabby sheek ish tables set up with lots of candles. I made buntings and mini paper birdcages and jar lanterns as well. I got these stunning Martha Stewart paper pom poms. It was also a finger food dessert buffet. As our thank you favours I had a massive lolly buffet which I did myself and thought was brilliant! We had the cake professionally made of a birdcage with blue bird and scattering of pretty cherry blossoms.

Martha Stewart Paper pom poms

Paper bunting

Pink Lolly Buffet

A paper birdcage I made

Love sign I made by painting over an old canvas

I used old mirrors as display points

I used a birdcage for people to place their cards at the entrance with the sign in book. We had a Polaroid camera for people to take snap shots to stick in the book with their message. 

Our beautiful birdcage chocolate mud cake

I scattered pastel coloured feathers around the cake