Last weekend, Alan and I got our family and friends together to celebrate our engagement. We only had limited weekends to do it on as my sister was off to Australia on the 13th August and Alan’s mum was off to America on the 17th. It was a little last minute but I think we pulled it off well.
Once the date had been set, I got a bit excited and started thinking of colour schemes and decorative arrangements. Forgetting it was just an engagement party and not our actual wedding… In the end we settled for some flower pieces, candles in jars and mini buckets, and fairy lights once the party went into the evening.
The next and most important part of the planning was the food. My mum and I started looking through various websites that cater for you but I really wanted to do the food ourselves, so instead stole ideas from Marks & Spencer and Waitrose. We started the evening with a selection of canapés and crisps. Followed by a full on buffet of various salads, sandwiches, meats, cheeses, bread and pasta. For dessert my sister made her famous banoffee pie (which beats any restaurant), I made some chocolate covered strawberries and marshmallows and a batch of slutty brownies. I was too busy flapping around like a mad woman to take any photographs, luckily several other people managed to take a few snaps.
Our selection of canapés including cranberry sauce and goats cheese tarts, puff pasty red pepper chutney and brie squares, sun dried tomato, jalapeño and garlic cheese filo parcels, caramelised onion and goats cheese crackers and some soft cheese, dill and smoked salmon on oatcakes.
The table in the house was decorated with some of our cards and gifts, our engagement cake my aunty had made for us, the brownies and two bowls of popcorn (as Alan and I met whilst working at the cinema).
The party carried on until four in the morning including a spontaneous game of karaoke. We had an amazing time and appreciate everyone who made the effort to come along, including the very generous gifts. I’m glad we’ve set a potential date of 2 years for the wedding as I think we need that long to recover!
Yes, that is Alan with my ever-so-slightly camp parents.
Daydreaming on a Dime 
Lovely Blog Steph, great photos and yummy food, it was a lovely day to remember. xxxxxx