Family and Friends = Great Time

The engagement party on Saturday was a great success. The weather was beautiful, the location was perfect and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. The gazebo that we had was on the hill overlooking the water and surrounded by trees, it had a very tree house vibe to it. My mom outdid herself cooking BBQ and chicken and cole slaw etc. She decorated all the tables and even bought personalized M&Ms. We also had a variety of desserts including a really adorable cake that was decorated with a fish theme in honor of my fisherman fiance. I actually didn't get to eat very much because I was so busy trying to talk to everyone and make sure everybody was introduced but I guess it's good practice for the wedding since word on the street is that a lot of couples don't get to eat the food they spend so much money on.

Kristians family finally got the chance to meet my family and everyone seemed to get along really well. Our moms really hit it off which didn't surprise me since they are very similar. My brother decided to put his fancy new camera to work and was the official party photographer and ended up with some really great shots.

In addition to our families we also had several of our friends there. Three out of Kristian's four groomsmen were able to make it and my bridesmaids were also there including my matron of honor who made the trip up from Raleigh with her husband and had to deal with the ridiculous DC traffic. It was great seeing my girls together and we had a good time catching up. One of the funniest things was that we all ended up wearing green which is not exactly a common color that people wear everyday. I wore a cute green sundress courtesy of Tar-jay and my MOH also had a super cute green dress on. My other friend and old roommate wore a green skirt and my friend that I've known since I was 12 wore a green top. It actually made the group pictures turn out even better since we were all color coordinated!

Not only was everyone nice enough to come to the party but we also got a lot of wonderful gifts as well. We really didn't expect anything so it was a pleasant surprise to see what thoughtful and generous gifts everyone brought for us especially since we haven't registered yet.

After the picnic was over the "younger" crowd went to a restaurant/bar close by for some adult beverages. It was so much fun to just sit around the table and drink and laugh with everyone. After my friends and my brother left we decided to head back to Kristians buddy's hotel room with his wife and another one of the groomsmen so that the boys could continue to drink and his friends wife and I could do some more girl bonding. I finally got to bed around 2am.

We had such a great time and we're so grateful for everyone that made the effort to come to our party. We really do have some of the best family and friends.