This party was back in October, so I guess that shows how far behind I am. I would call the party an 80% success. I think most people had a good time, and I absolutely loved our theme and details.
We learned not to have hot appetizers unless someone else is cooking them, and to pre-cook as much as possible since you don't know how long things will take. Poor Bean spent about 2 hours cooking mini burgers because they were taking so long to cook! And I spent about an hour on baking fries. The timing of the food was just off. I wish we had done a better toast to the couple, and told the story of our friendships, but at least we had plenty of booze and an ugly cake! :)
So here's the recap. This is the overview shot, with the banner made from burlap and ovals/letters cut using the Cricut. I glued the letters to the ovals, then punched holes in the ovals and 'sewed' them to the burlap triangles using brown/white yarn. Then I 'sewed' the triangles together using red/white baker's twine.
I realized while staying up until midnight the night before sewing this together that even though it was very tedious, the effect it would give to the party was worth it. I love parties so much there's nothing I wouldn't do to make one great. Even though you can't see the details in this picture, they are great in person.
The little nook next to the front door:
On the fireplace:
My favorite vignette! The theme evolved while researching the location of the bakery where they got engaged. He proposed at a place they visited in NYC the first trip they took together. The place is famous for pancakes, so he had it written on a pancake and surprised her while she was on a girl's trip. The most prominent decor of the place were the red letters 'EAT' above the counter. Everything else was very modern and clean- neutral colors, stainless steel and white. Those are spray painted coffee beans.
Another overview of the room- we put white buckets of beer here and outside on the patio. I don't have a picture of the favors- bottles of Coke, Dr Pepper, and Root Beer with little tags that said: Bonnie and Ryan's Modern Diner. They were on the little wooden table next to the fireplace. You can also see the entrance table with more flowers and order forms for the guests to request the type of burger they wanted.
Here's the main table. The mini cones are for fries, there's the ugly pancake cake (closeup coming soon), and all of the condiments ready to go with cute little labels. Yes, I labeled the ketchup, mustard, mayo, and garlic aioli, as well as the onions-2 types, and tomatoes. The love is in the details!
In the kitchen, we had a water station set up. Someone told me it was the "best water they've ever had"! It was just citrus fruits (lemon, lime and oranges) cut up and sitting in water. Nothing fancy.
This reminds me that I didn't get a picture of the mini chocolate shakes with long red/white straws we had. It was so late when we served them most people didn't have them.
The standard photo montage was playing on the TV and we did have music playing but with everyone inside, you couldn't hear it.
Here's a last minute idea I had while walking around Michael's. Buy a little wooden box and make slips of paper (I used builder's paper for all tags, etc) for guests to write a message to the bride and groom. I glued the invite to the inside lid- you see it there underneath the red pens. Do you see the theme coming through?
...red/white bakers twine...white plates...builder's paper...stainless...miniature...diner food...burlap...
The pages said, "Write a note for Mr and Mrs. Nulph to read on their 5 year anniversary."
Heading out to the patio, I put a few candles out there with the coffee beans again. Spray painting coffee beans is annoying! And candles don't work outside. But I still like the way they look.
Near the back door, guests hung up the order forms we had by the front door and the chef (Bean) cooked their burgers to order. We had hamburgers, cheeseburgers, mushroom/swiss burgers, and California burgers with avocado. Cute idea but we should have pre-cooked the burgers and just kept them warm for the first 30 minutes to hour of the party. That way guests didn't have to wait SO long for their food!
Bean got some help from Emil, Jess' favorite guy.
He was also a huge help in getting the hot appetizers ready! We had mini grilled cheese, hot dog poppers, and BLT kebabs. I missed a picture of the delicious grilled cheese and hot dog poppers.
He also helped fry up the bacon- I hate doing it, and he loves it so it was perfect. I was so stressed trying to put together those stupid BLT kebabs and everyone was flooding in. I completely underestimated the time it would take to get the food together. I hate feeling rushed at a party, so that's why I give this party a solid B.
Closeup of the cake with the weird gel goo 'syrup'. I got it at a bakery and I was nervous about it, as I think I had a right to be. For someone so picky as me, this was not good enough. But it tasted great, and we had icecream, strawberries, and fresh whipped cream to eat with it (it was pound cake), so it worked out well.
Can't have an engagement party without champagne! Or a little tag that labels the tray the glasses sit on! :)
Here are those stupid BLT kebabs. Cute idea, but stressful and nobody ate them.
We also had chili dip for the hot dog poppers.
And I guess that's the grand finale picture. My camera died, so a few of these are mine and the rest are from Jess before everyone got there. Bean and I spent the evening running, cooking, sweating, and trying to get it all done. Luckily the Rangers game was on and both Bonnie and Ryan's families are big fans so people were happy to hang out and watch the game.
I can't wait to plan another party and learn from the mistakes we made this time. This is my favorite thing in the entire world.
Maybe I should end this post with the story of how our friends came together. It's the best story I know.
Ryan and Bean were in a fraternity together in college, so my entire college experience includes him- all the best parties were at his house. After college, we all knew he was on Match.com and had met at least one girl that he knew from there. He started dating some girl and he wouldn't tell us her name. We started calling her Tina as a joke.
Bonnie is my friend Jess' roommate, they lived together for 5 years and Bean and I spent plenty of time at their house at holiday parties, or just hanging out. Bonnie and I have the exact same birthday so we've celebrated seperately/together a couple of times.
Ryan called Bean one day and asked if we wanted to go to a Rangers game with him and Tina. So the morning of the game, Ryan calls and I hear Bean's side of the conversation. He turns to me and says, "Guess who Tina is?"
"Bonnie" No way- what's her last name? "[Ryan gets it right]" I can't believe this! "So, Ryan wants to know if we can just come over to her house to ride together."
So we went over to Bonnie/Jess' house and our friend Ryan is standing there. Such a surreal feeling! That's when I knew it was too weird to be true. And that they would probably get married someday. And the wedding is 100 days from today!
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