Engagement Party Planning

Soon after Mr P slipped a ring on my finger while on our cruise holiday last year I was looking forward to sharing in the celebrations with our friends and family .... including our furbaby Lexi of course!

I just love how it feels to be bringing all our friends and family together to celebrate before the big day - the wedding!

Mr P proposed while we were on holidays (with my parents!) and my Mum and I sat on the beach in New Caledonia coming up with all different ideas for the Engagement Party ..... River cruise, WINE River cruise, Function at a vineyard, Cocktails at a groovy bar, BBQ at the park, Party on my parents farm, so many ways to celebrate!

But the one that feels right to me was a party with cocktail food, lots of drinks, at a venue where I could go to town on the decorations and turn it into a pretty setting with all the styling and party planning ideas that I love!

I wanted to host the party at our Jarrah Jungle home but it's just not big enough to hold 100+ friends and family.

So we found a venue to hire with a stunning view overlooking the Swan River.

The best part is it's all completely BYO so we can do all our own food and drinks to keep the cost down.

My parents have been amazing and are providing most of the food - delicious home made platters of finger food including pinwheel sandwiches, mini meatballs, chirozo and roasted capsicum bites, sausage rolls, spinach and fetta triangles, mini quiches and antipasto platters.

Mum's been baking and freezing the food for a few weeks now getting all the dishes ready. The guests will definitely not go home hungry!

Friends and family have offered to bake something sweet for the dessert table which is going to look so pretty having cake stands with a variety of desserts displayed.

It's been such a lifesaver having others help out with the food and having one less thing to worry about means I can focus on the rest of the party.

The bar will be well stocked with beer, wine, bubbly and a special cocktail for cocktail hour - our Limoncello and Prosecco Cocktails.

We have friends helping to serve behind the bar on the night to keep the drinks flowing and the party going!

I'm also going to set up a drinks table for soft drinks and a tea and coffee station for everyone to help themselves.

As for the decorations for the venue my inspiration came from these beautiful decorators kits that I won from The Kit Source a fabulous online company who sell party kits across Australia.

I picked out 2 kits in the blue/yellow/white theme after seeing the little heart shaped balloons I was smitten!

I've tried to stick to this colour theme throughout the party but have added a bit of mint green and florals to the mix as well, but it all works well together (I hope!) as a vintage romance theme.

I am going to town on the decorations and finally getting to work on all the DIY projects I've been pinning - the aim is to turn a simple venue into something really special and personalise it for Mr P and I. 

I've been DIYing pretty bunting flags, making paper chains, two massive paper lantern chandeliers, balloon garlands, straw flags and making blackboard signs and designing, printing and framing signs for around the venue.

I have friends and family collecting empty jars for me to re-use as vases and candle holders.

I've made a stack of them already decorating them with pretty ribbons, twine and vintage lace. They are going to look great on all the tables and outside I'm going to place them on the steps leading everyone up to the venue entrance.

For the gift table I am going to make gift bags for everyone like these popcorn ones, I'll be sharing these in a separate blog post on using the Avery celebrations range of products - I've used Avery to create my engagement party invitations too.

I have DIYed a birdcage card holder and I'm going to DIY a message in a bottle in lieu of a guest book, but I'm still working on finishing that project.

We have friends and family offering to help in all sorts of ways and it's been half the fun involving everyone.

I can't wait to see how it all comes together I am in my absolute element when party planning and think this is going to be the biggest and best one yet!

What do you think of my engagement party plans so far? 

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[Images - First and Last my own - 
All other images via Pinterest 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17]