THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY OF MY DREAMS
Chris and I are so fortunate to have such a loving and supportive family and group of friends to celebrate this exciting time in our life with. It meant so much to us to have most of them come to my parents’ Long Island home on July 30, 2022 to enjoy our engagement party.
The work my parents put in to planning this party and getting their backyard perfectly ready is beyond words and truly exceeded expectations. From the beginning, they listened to my vision and made it come to life. Chris and I are so thankful!
With nearly 150 guests, 30+ trays of delicious food, beautiful centerpieces, and countless meaningful details, one could argue that planning this engagement party was like planning a mini wedding. But I loved every second of it, and I’m sure my mom did too!
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DETAILS…
Here’s how we made our backyard engagement party so special!
OUR LOVE STORY
An engagement party is all about love, so it was only right for us to showcase ours! I loved the way our “love” table turned out, which featured fun facts about our relationship, a wedding day countdown, and love-related accents. We also scattered photos of our experiences together throughout the backyard, including on the hightop cocktail tables and at the bar.
LOVE TUNES
Our party playlist featured a combination of slow and fast songs that were all about love – a touch that was important to me.
BLACK & WHITE THEME
Having a color scheme helped drive most of the party planning decisions where decor was concerned. Since we didn’t have any wedding colors picked out yet, black and white seemed like the perfect color scheme – elegant and classic.
SPECIALITY COCKTAILS
While we had a bar with beer, wine, hard seltzers, and soft drinks, it was important to me to have a few speciality cocktails with cute names – because they’re fun! We served three: Love Drunk (red Hawaiian punch, ginger ale, sherbet, and champagne), Blue Crush (blue Hawaiian Punch, pineapple juice, coconut rum, and vodka), and Main Squeeze (lemonade and blueberry vodka).
DELICIOUS FOOD & SWEET DESSERT
I think it goes without saying that good food and even better dessert are a must for a great party. We served a variety of options for both courses. I particularly enjoyed our unique desserts including the strawberry jello mold and chocolate pudding cups, ice cream bar, bride and groom heart cookies, and of course, the staples: cake, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies.
CUTE FAVORS
Chris and I are tying the knot! So of course chocolate covered pretzels were the perfect party favor – a bride (white chocolate with dark drizzle) and a groom (dark chocolate with white drizzle).
EXTRAS
-We had a variety of seating and hangout spots for all of our guests including a tent with tables and chairs, hightop cocktail tables, backyard furniture around the yard, and the bar.
-We dedicated our backyard bathroom to the ladies and ordered a premier porta potty for the men.
-Hiring a waitstaff to take care of the food, clean up tables, and serve drinks at the bar made it possible for my parents to enjoy the party without having to work during it.
-I hired a makeup artist for the party which was a great trial for my wedding day!
-Last but not least, I am so glad that we hired a photographer to take photos of everything during our party. While Chris and I were mingling and having fun, the photographer was capturing candid and posed photos of our guests, and all the small details that brought our party together. We have nearly 400 photos!
At the end of the day, make your engagement party a reflection of you and your soon-to-be spouse! Stay true to yourselves and you’ll have the best time.
Thank you so much to all our family and friends who helped prepare for the party, contributed to the dessert display, and/or made the favors.
Follow along our wedding journey! I’m happy to share a list of vendors we worked with, as well as an honest review, upon request. Please email journeywithjblog@gmail.com to inquire. Photos in this post: Photos By Siobhan.
#ForeverHandEver
