Micah Ryan Designs

Engagement Party

Just a few months ago I helped my sister’s soon-to-be-fiancé conspire an engagement. I helped him make a final decision on the ring and then we tossed a couple of dates around and he ensured me he’d give me warning as soon as he chose a date to propose. Technically he did, a three day warning.

Originally I planned on using this engagement party as an excuse to buy a pergola that I’d been wanting for my backyard, but because it was going to be a surprise and my sister came over weekly to babysit, I knew I’d have to wait until he had chosen a date to order it. With a three day notice, that was off the options list.

I’d never thrown, or even attended, an engagement party before- but the goal was for this to be a beautiful celebration, directly following the engagement for my sister to have an opportunity to tell the story of the engagement to her friends and family and be loved on and excited by her closest people directly following the big moment. I wanted it to host it outside and for the party to be beautiful, simple and intimate. Ultimately I accomplished exactly what I’d hoped, but I had to pivot with the shorter planning time.

A three day notice was exactly the minimum requirement for my beautiful best friend and cookie artist, Caseyjo Cookies, to make a dozen custom cookies for the occasion.

The proposal was taking place in the early evening, so I only needed to plan a snack table in terms of food. The cookies were perfect to be the only sugar offering as they are sweet and delicious but also decorative!

Once the cookie order was placed I started thinking through the general decorations. Because my original vision was a pergola covered in twinkle lights, my heart was set on finding a way to add lots of beautiful lighting with a structure I could make more quickly.

The idea started with “curtain” lights. I found a string of lights that had additional strings of lights hanging from it- PERFECT- this would cover alot of surface without needing much of an apparatus to hang from. I chose to grab 3 sets of blanket lights, and searched for a pole I could hang string from. Thankfully, these exist for exactly this purpose. I purchased 2 of those to create a “square”. I put the poles opposite my porch and hung 2 sets of blanket lights from porch to pole on either side, and the last set from pole to pole.

My sister’s style is very colorful. She likes things to be festive and fun, so I also grabbed a few strings of colored lights and hung them along the same level of the top of the blanket lights to add a pop of color to the very top. It ended up completing the light look and tying it in really well to the rest of the decor.

My sister likes the boho style, so I thought it was appropriate to bring in some benches and other mix-match seating for the guests; and the multi-colored light strings helped tie the variety of colors in.

Next I setup a balloon arch and used it as a backdrop for the couple to sit in front of. I added an orange cheesecloth table runner I had and zip tied Flora Foam to it in 2 placed to help keep the fabric in place. I then added fake flowers into the Flora Foam and some garlands of foliage.

Last step of the backdrop was blowing up and pinning the words “SHE SAID YES” to the fabric. The later the day got, and the darker it grew, the more beautiful this area looked.

“Ingredients” for an Engagement Party | Backdrop

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Once the only labor-intensive area was setup, I moved on to the only other decoration I’d be doing- a food table. I realized my sister was borrowing the one and only folding table that I own, so I had to go buy another one last minute (my sister is far too in-tune with my schedule and habits, and would be very suspicious if I randomly needed my folding table back on a weekday evening with no prior plans).

Once I’d secured a folding table I started crafting a photo display to place on it that I got inspiration from on Pinterest and made my own.

To make this I purchased a small hula hoop and spraypainted it a light green. I got 2 strands of foliage and hot glued the foliage to the hula hoop. I cut an opening in a large block of Flora Foam and stuck the hula hoop inside- then stuck enough fake flowers into the foam to completely cover it. This allowed the structure to balance upright on its own. I added some pink pampas grass into the foam behind the foliage to add more color and some height dimension.

Finishing touch here was to stalk my sister’s Facebook page for photos of the two of them, edit them all in romantic color tones, and have printed at Walmart. These are 4 X 6 prints hot glued onto the foliage. This structure held up well and made a gorgeous focal point on the food table.

The last thing I had to begin a few days in advance was the champagne bucket. I had only 4 sphere “ice cube” molds and wanted all the ice in that bucket to be sphere. I started freezing these as soon as I heard the official proposal date, and set an alarm for every 6 hours to check and make a new batch. The batches of ice I made on the final day, I froze fresh flowers into. When I had enough, I used these ice cubes in the champagne bucket along with sprinkling in the remainder of the fresh flowers.

To complete the rest of the food table I chose a beige tablecloth with some natural texture and a little bit of fringe at the bottom. I grabbed some drink dispensers to serve sweet and unsweet tea and a bucket for serving champagne, soda and water.

I used Canva to print a “sign” that says “Congratulations” and for food made a very simple “charcuterie” board out of the contents of an HEB snack tray, some olives, and some grapes. I set these up on a wooden cutting board that I use exclusively for serving charcuterie.

“Ingredients” for an Engagement Party | Food Table

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All in all this as a very simple party with a quick turn-around. The bride and groom both loved the event and their closest family and friends stayed late until the night congratulating them and telling them stories and advice. The food was exactly enough for the 10 total attendees, and in the end, the bride used the photos of herself and her fiancé in front of the backdrop as her official announcement on Facebook.

I was honored to host this event and I hope it inspires your own party or shower!

Thanks for joining!

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