A couple of weeks ago, we had our engagement party. When my parents first came to us with the idea of a party we had mixed feelings. Jerome said why spend the money on an additional, party, just put it towards the wedding. And although I agreed, I do love a party! My parents convinced us that with our wedding being almost a year away, it was a nice celebration to set it off and of course while Dad is still doing well, let’s not wait. It's always better to get together with friends and family for good occasions, not to wait for something bad to happen.

What I thought was going to be a party put together by my parents for Jerome and I, turned out to be something I had a much bigger hand in. And I guess I can’t complain, I have to say, it turned out exactly the way I wanted. We chose the McKeldin Recreation Area of Patapsco Valley State Park. Jerome is a mountain biker and this is one of his local favorites for trails. Turns out it also has a really awesome pavilion and grill area.

We all sat down to make the guest list for the party, which we quickly realized was also our list for the wedding.  I absolutely did not want to invite anyone to the engagement party that was not going to be invited to the wedding. So far, this has been one of the hardest things—trimming the guest list. Our list is much much longer than any of us wanted it to be. And since I’m not quite working with any sort of unlimited budget, one of the basics I do know from working in the industry is less guests = lower overall cost.

I grew up very close with my cousins and aunts and uncles, Jerome not so much. My family list is already more than five times as long as his.  Additionally, when Jerome and I met, if you can remember from my first blog entry, I had been living the life of a social butterfly for the majority of my adult life. I had a lot of friends, and not only from my single life in Baltimore, but also from when I was still in New Jersey. It's not like we met in college and had the same friends. Our friend list is ridiculous and I still lie awake at night wondering if I should add so-and-so on. I keep telling myself to stick with my instincts of my initial list. I could easily sit down and add on another 25 names to our already 180 person list, but I know both my mom and Jerome would kill me. Jerome originally said he didn’t want anymore than 80 people, what’s an extra 100?

It wasn’t hard for me to get carried away with the planning for the party and all the other preparations we got to do because of it. I ordered some super cute postcard invitations on Etsy that would require guests to go on our wedding website to RSVP. Since guests would be taken to the site, it was a great way to give them more information about getting to the party, accommodations, and a preview for the wedding. Oh and let’s not forget a registry! I am addicted to updating my registry, its like shopping without spending any money. Mywedding.com is a very easy site to make a website and its free. Who can beat free?

So we send out all our invitations, get our replies, and find out we’re having about 100 guests! If this wasn’t the perfect way to practice for the wedding, than I don’t know what is. My dad used to own a business as a wholesale food distributor in Manhattan, and already knew a supplier down here that we were able to get all the party supplies and food from for a really great deal. We went and bought everything a few days earlier and kept all the perishables in my cooler at work. Nice, huh? “Oh, I’ll take a bouquet of zinnias and a pack of ribs please.”

I made adorable decorations if I do say so myself. I purchased pretty printed papers from Paper Source (now one of my most favorite wedding resources) and wrapped 4”x4” cylinders in them. I then filled them with tiny potted herbs and wheat grass which were spread out on the picnic tables. They looked so perfect with the mix and match red checkered linens we got from Table Toppers.

The party turned out perfect! As guest arrived, they asked who my caterer was. “My caterer? Those are our parents, siblings and friends running our kitchen!” It was a huge team effort and really pretty amazing that we were able to put it all together.

I really can appreciate having the party, or what I consider to be the practice wedding. Not only with putting a party that size together, but emotional practice as well. We had so many people come from out of town that really blew me away. One thing I have always looked forward to when imagining my wedding day, would be to see all of my favorite people at one time. It was very emotional for me and I think I was shaking a bit the whole time. I know on the wedding day, I’m going to be crazy overwhelmed and full of emotion that it will be good to know I had a little practice already with the engagement party. —Amy Epstein