Miss French Bulldog, Orange County
Age and Occupation: 28, Administrative Assistant & Interior Design Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Purchasing Analyst
Engagement Date: November 8, 2008
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: Bernardo Winery
About Me: I've lived in Atlanta, Dallas and Laguna Niguel; although I've lived in Orange County, CA most my life, I'm a Southerner at heart. I work full time for a Commercial General Contractor (aka my father) and I go to school for Interior Design at night. I love modern design, music, wine, crafting, DMailing, my family, my Westies, and of course, Mr Frenchie! Mr Frenchie and I met 3 years ago on Match.com and have been best friends ever since. I love his "old soul" and how he laughs with his whole body, among many other things. We are planning our summer wedding at the winery near his hometown, just 45 minutes south of Orange County.
Way back in December of 2008, Mama and Daddy Frenchie threw Mr Frenchie and me an engagement party. The idea of the invite started with a picture taken by the very talented Jessica Claire at the wedding of my very good friend Tiffany Michelle. FH and I had been dating about 2 months when Tiffany married her awesome hubbers, Dan, and Jessica caught this shot of us laughing on the dance floor.
It has been my mother’s favorite photo ever since, and she wanted it incorporated into the invite. Here is what we came up with, and how we did it…
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Mrs. Perfume, DC
Age and Occupation: 36, Consultant (and Part-Time Professor)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Consultant
Engagement Date: May 13, 2008
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Venue: The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia
About Me: I'd like to think that I'm a modern day Little Edie Beale. Only not as..."talented". More realistically, I'm a foodie who can't bake; a dancer and dilettente; an art collector with a penchant for the whimsical and subversive. I live in the city and adore the country, but not much in between. I like smart design, great craftmanship and good value. Most of all, I love the new vintage aesthetic: classic, sweet, delicate, bespoke. If I had to do it all over again, I'd go for a culinary arts degree rather than a PhD; but wouldn't trade Mr. P for the world.
Our great friends, Travis and Suzi, hosted a (non)shower dinner for us at their rustic country restaurant, the Heart in Hand, on Friday night. It was so lovely!!! There were about 30 people, and the fun part was that it was kind of like a neat run-up to the wedding. I gotta say, even with only 30 people, it was hard to get around to saying hello to everyone (given it was only two hours long, or so). To encourage mingling, Suzi scared up some name tags for all the guests… even for US!
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Mrs. Crab Cake, Columbus, GA
Age and Occupation: 25, Registered Nurse
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Director of Education and Living History for a museum
Engagement Date: April 6, 2008
Wedding Date: June, 2009
Blogging Since: November 26, 2008
Venue: Holy Family Catholic Church, reception: National Infantry Museum
About Me: I'm a perfectionist trying to balance two jobs, motherhood, my craft obsession, and wedding planning. I am obsessed with all things wedding, especially creative ideas for saving money and DIY projects. A Southern Belle at heart, I love anything southern, especially sweet tea, grits, afternoon thunder storms, crab cakes, and good old Southern hospitality. Mr. Crab Cake and I are planning a vintage inspired wedding with tons of Southern flare (can y'all say that with a thick Southern drawl?).
It’s hard to explain to people outside our social circle how much we like to turn everyday events into costume parties. Seriously, people’s birthday celebrations turn into costumed events. So, when Mr. CC wanted to costume our rehearsal dinner, I wasn’t terribly surprised, but I was a little dismayed by the idea of asking our families to dress in costume. A friend of ours suggested a costumed engagement party of sorts, and offered to host it.
The theme was Love Throughout the Ages, and everyone was asked to dress as a famous romantic couple.
Mr. CC and I, given our propensity for military history, dressed in ’40s era attire.
Yuck, why is my face so super duper shiny?
Mr. CC’s attire is completely original. I’m wearing the Avian dress from Trashydiva.com
Our friends hosted the party in her parents’ historic home in Uptown.
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Miss Labrador Retriever, Athens
Age and Occupation: 24, Student/Soon to be Sports Reporter
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Physical Therapy Assistant Student/Future Dr. of PT
Engagement Date: December 31, 2008
Wedding Date: November 2009
Venue: Whitfield Square/Savannah Station in Savannah, GA
About Me: I'm working on my second degree from UGA (Go Dawgs!). I'm a self-proclaimed attention-w****. If it involves a camera, I'm in front of it! You'll never meet a girlier tomboy than me. I can go toe to toe with any guy on the subject of college football, and lift more than any girl in my gym, all without chipping a nail. I hope to someday be the only person you want delivering your sports news. My FI and I are the loving parents of three Labrador Retrievers (one of each color) and are planning a "Southern Romantic Charm" wedding in the beautiful, historic city of Savannah. I'm not extreme in anything except moderation... and wedding planning.
My wonderful bridesmaid Brittany threw Mr. Lab and me an amazing engagement party a few weeks ago. Another bridesmaid, Ashley, my MOH, Amanda, as well as some of Brittany’s roommates, helped out with the decorations and food setup. I could not believe how fabulous the party was. I expected just a few bottles of wine and some cheese (since I knew the guests were expected to bring either a bottle of wine or a block of cheese), but I had no idea that they would have so many delicious hors d’oeuvres as well! The girls really outdid themselves. They made me wonder if hiring a caterer for the reception is really necessary… 
Brittany started out by sending adorable Evites to the guests. Here’s the main banner of the invitation:
Image Source
As I said, the food was absolutely amazing and yummy! There were mini burgers, mini strawberry cheesecakes, herbed potatoes with dip, fruit, and stuffed mushrooms. Brittany even went so far as to find napkins with a damask theme! How thoughtful is that?!?
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Miss Cowboy Boot, Santa Fe
Age and Occupation: 25, Magazine Editor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Artist and Whitewater Rafting Guide
Engagement Date: April 28th, 2008
Wedding Date: October 2009
Venue: Devil's Thumb Ranch, Colorado
About Me: I grew up in Los Angeles and have since lived in San Diego, Boston, Italy, Hawaii, New York City, and Santa Fe. I speak Italian and love pasta. My real passion is the outdoors, though. When I'm not at work, I'm snowboarding, hiking with my two dogs, mountain biking, surfing, cross-country-skiing, or boating New Mexico's rivers. Despite my boyish love for adventure, I'm a girly-girl at heart and am overly-excited to pull off the romantic, vintage-inspired, country wedding of my dreams.
Back in September we got an invitation in the mail. It wasn’t a huge surprise (I’d been asked to supply pictures for it!), but it was definitely a welcome one. Mr. Cowboy Boot’s parents decided to throw an engagement party for us. It was held on their five acres in Upstate New York in honor of our engagement in April 2008. It was also the (duh, Duh, DUH) meeting of the parents. Because Mr. CB and I had to drive around looking at venues for the first few days of our trip back East, Mom, Dad, and Brother CB arrived at FIL CBs’ house before we did! They had two days to get to know each other before we even made our entrance. I have to say, this was a pretty welcome thing on our part. We got to avoid the stressful event of trying to find common ground between everyone. Luckily, they did it on their own, and very naturally. Setting up the engagement party was a good icebreaker.
The Invitation from FIL Cowboy Boots
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Miss Bruschetta, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 25, Communication Professional
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Physical Therapy Graduate Student
Engagement Date: November 30, 2007
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: St. Thomas of Villanova Church & the F.U.E.L. House
About Me: I’m a self-proclaimed grammar geek who loves singing (like, really belting it) in the car. My mister and I are planning a vibrant summer soiree celebrating our passions – including food and Philly – and when we make it official, we’ll have been together for eight years! Being super competitive is in my nature, and talking excessively is in my genes. I’ve got a terrible sense of direction, but can always easily find my way into Mr. Bruschetta’s arms.
It May Sound Corny: Part I
It May Sound Corny: Part II
Unable to resist the chance for a food pun and homemade treat, I created yummy vanilla sugar favors.
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Miss Bruschetta, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 25, Communication Professional
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Physical Therapy Graduate Student
Engagement Date: November 30, 2007
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: St. Thomas of Villanova Church & the F.U.E.L. House
About Me: I’m a self-proclaimed grammar geek who loves singing (like, really belting it) in the car. My mister and I are planning a vibrant summer soiree celebrating our passions – including food and Philly – and when we make it official, we’ll have been together for eight years! Being super competitive is in my nature, and talking excessively is in my genes. I’ve got a terrible sense of direction, but can always easily find my way into Mr. Bruschetta’s arms.
It May Sound Corny: Part I
Everything was coming together for our one-year countdown party. We tracked down all our RSVPs, wrote shopping lists, and rented the items necessary to make it a proper backyard bash.
Fast-forward to the afternoon of the party. I’m in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on one of our two desserts, when Daddy Bruschetta calls me outside. He’s already been joined by Mr. Bruschetta and Sister Bruschetta, each of whom is dubiously holding one of the poles that supposedly supports the rented 16-by-16 tent.
I’ll spare you all the boring details – which included one frustrating phone call to the rental company, begging for assistance, four (mine and Sister Bruschetta’s) severely bug-bitten legs, 60 minutes of high school mathematics (What’s 16 squared? The square root of 20?), and tape-measure verifying – that eventually led to the festive atmosphere we had hoped to achieve.
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Miss Bruschetta, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 25, Communication Professional
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Physical Therapy Graduate Student
Engagement Date: November 30, 2007
Wedding Date: August 2009
Venue: St. Thomas of Villanova Church & the F.U.E.L. House
About Me: I’m a self-proclaimed grammar geek who loves singing (like, really belting it) in the car. My mister and I are planning a vibrant summer soiree celebrating our passions – including food and Philly – and when we make it official, we’ll have been together for eight years! Being super competitive is in my nature, and talking excessively is in my genes. I’ve got a terrible sense of direction, but can always easily find my way into Mr. Bruschetta’s arms.
It may sound corny…
… but hosting a one-year countdown party proved to be a great way to
A) Introduce our families and friends to each other
B) Share some of our favorite summer recipes, AND
C) Try out some new treats for our guests
We cooked up the idea in the late spring, and it seemed like the perfect idea for a longer engagement like ours (21 months!).
The feel? Casual, backyard celebration. Not an engagement party; rather, a celebration of 365 days until our wedding!
The guests? Both our families and our close friends.
The cuisine? Well, now. Here, we were realistic. We ordered two hoagie trays, but committed to making three (huge!) side dishes, two desserts, and one appetizer.
With an event starting to take shape, I turned my focus to the invites.
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Mrs. Quiche, Chicago/Montego Bay
Age and Occupation: 28, Interior Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 42, Telecom Guru
Engagement Date: July 2, 2008
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Venue: Coyaba Resort, Montego Bay
About Me: I love Chicago and can’t imagine living anywhere else (Well, except Paris. Or anywhere in France, for that matter!). I’m a full-time worker, part-time student, soon-to-be-step-mom, indie music lovin’, architecture and design fanatic, macaroni and cheese addict, vegetarian, Francophile, Ohio State football obsessed, wedding planning girl. Mr. Quiche and I are “Partners-in-Crime” and cannot wait to celebrate our marriage surrounded by our family and closest friends. I plan on DIYing my little heart out (or as much as a suitcase to Jamaica will hold).
“The engagement party is the official celebration of your decision to spend the rest of your life with your fiance.” (from atoasttoyourwedding.com)
Our dear friends P & T threw us an unbelievable engagement party. We had the party quite a few months after we were engaged, but who’s counting? What matters is that we were surrounded by friends, family and love (and great food!). T is a chef extraordinaire and this night was no exception. She was flawless with her presentation and hostessing. If only I could be that calm and collected with all of those people in my house…
Exquisite food was enjoyed by all (T even made Mac-n-Cheese bites for me):
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Mrs. Peep Toe, San Francisco
Age and Occupation: 29, Policy Analyst
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 36, Olive Oil Production Manager
Engagement Date: December 16, 2007
Wedding Date: May, 2009
Blogging Since: November 26, 2008
Venue: Hotel Vitale
About Me: I am a west coast lady who loves the San Francisco Bay Area. I love living with Mr. Peep and our animals: Huck the Dog and Ferris the Cat. I work to save the environment in San Francisco, while Mr. Peep makes ridiculously delicious Olive Oil. On any day you can find me reading the latest book I have gotten my hands on, eating Swedish Fish, and perusing wedding blogs! We are both champagne drinking foodies on a Bud Light budget. We are planning an eco-chic, intimate, and interfaith San Francisco City wedding.
Brother Peep was tasked with toasting Mr.Peep and me at our engagement party. First off, my brother is a writer; second, he and his wife have been together for about 12 years and married for over six years, and they now have two of the most ridiculously cute kids ever, and third, he’s one of the best guys out there, and possibly the best dad EVER.
So to me, his advice is worth taking. Here’s his toast to us, word for word:
Okay, so I’ll admit it, I don’t know the secret to the perfect marriage. I don’t know if such a thing exists. Because I think if marriage was perfect, it wouldn’t be. I won’t waste your time philosophizing about the key to a successful marriage. For each couple that answer is their own. What I will offer are 10 bits of wisdom I have gleaned from my time as a husband and a Dad. That’s right, 10, because that’s what the marketing department came up with.
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Our great friends, Travis and Suzi, hosted a (non)shower dinner for us at their rustic country restaurant, the Heart in Hand, on Friday night. It was so lovely!!! There were about 30 people, and the fun part was that it was kind of like a neat run-up to the wedding. I gotta say, even with only 30 people, it was hard to get around to saying hello to everyone (given it was only two hours long, or so). To encourage mingling, Suzi scared up some name tags for all the guests… even for US!
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