Our Engagement Party Recap #1

So I basically spent all of last week recovering from our engagement party :) It was SO much fun!!!

All photos by Silver Lining Photography

The party was absolutely fantastic - we ate, we drank, we shmoozed, there were speeches, we became the proud owners of FOUR new fish (don't ask)... it was a blast. I got my photos back from the photographer a few days ago and am sorting through so I can share them here! 

Lots of people have asked about my dress, the food, the details, etc, and I want to share all of it... so let's start at the very beginning, shall we?! 

It ain't a real party without a fantastic invitation, am I right? (YES, say lovers of paper goods everywhere.) Ever since we got engaged, I have been all about black & gold (minor spoiler for the wedding), and I knew I wanted the engagement party to incorporate those colors as well. 

Originally, I chose this invitation from Paper Source, but could not find a font that worked well and made it look festive enough... so it was on to Plan B. Of course, before I realized the invitations weren't going to work out, Rami and I hand-embossed 100 black envelopes with gold polka dots (does anyone want a tutorial on how we did this? YES, I NOW OWN AN EMBOSSER #crazycrafter), so we needed to find something that would go with our existing envelopes.

Enter Etsy. Not sure why I didn't look there in the first place. After a few minutes of searching, I came across an adorable little shop called Punch Paper and loved their chic and quirky designs. I emailed Gigi, the shop owner, and she immediately responded - after a couple days of back and forth where I emphasized my intense love of gold glitter and polka dots, here's what she came up with:

I LOVE IT. It's exactly what I wanted - fun, sassy, sparkly, yet sophisticated. I am obsessed with the font she used, plus the gold polka dots were raised and 3D! Incredible. They fit perfectly in our hand-embossed polka dot envelopes, too. 

After I sent out the invitations it occurred to me that I'd need some matching thank-you notes, too. Gigi created a custom design for us that matched our invitations - spoiler alert, they were adorable :) I'm slightly anal-retentive and have already sent out the thank-you notes, so I feel okay about showing those, too :) Are they cute or what?! I highly recommend her shop if any of you need a custom invitation for an upcoming party or event!

Moving on to other sparkly things... approximately 12 minutes before the party (I'm kidding but really it was only like five days before), I decided I wanted to hang a little banner at the top of the stairs, so people could see it as soon as they entered the party. If I had more time, I would have made it myself, but instead, I ordered it on... you guessed it, Etsy! It was made by Amy of Confetti Design Shop and it was perfect - large and sturdy with sparkly gold glitter! I can't wait to use it again for another wedding-related event :)

Another fun detail... fully on board with the gold idea, my beautiful mama went out shopping and came home with nearly a dozen different gold picture frames of all shapes and sizes and patterns. We printed out some of our favorite pictures of me and the Ramster and she arranged them all over the party! It was so cute. She also hired a florist to do these gorgeous colorful arrangements in mercury glass vases (also sourced from shopping trips all around town by mi madre) that we had on all the little tables and bar areas. 

Rami and I were so touched by how many of our amazing friends and family came in from out of town and how many people were there to share in the first of what is hopefully many more fabulous wedding celebrations this year. We are so very lucky and we know it.  

The countdown to October 25th continues!!! And I will be back tomorrow with more fun details :)