Our Engagement Party!

At the beginning of the year, when we first got engaged, Wade's parents asked us if we were going to have an engagement party. At the time, some pretty sad / crazy things were happening with my family. A big one was that my grandma (the only family I have in Australia outside of my immediate family) had just gone in to hospital, and we didn't know if or when she would be getting out. So I told them I didn't think it would be possible. I knew that just organizing a wedding would be a huge ask for my parents and sisters. But Wade's parents were pretty insistent that we would be missing out on something if we didn't have an engagement party, and so they offered to host it. Which was, might I just say, amazing of them. We decided to have a very intimate party with just family who lived locally and close friends - especially those who we knew would be out of the country for the wedding. After a drizzly and cold week, I started questioning our decision to have the party at our local park. But the day before the party,  the sun came out, and it turned out to be the most beautiful weekend of the whole Winter! At the last minute, I decided to set up a volleyball net at the park because I knew that most of the people we had invited were volleyball enthusiasts (including myself and Wade). This turned out to be a massive hit (pardon the pun), and I don't know if I'll ever throw a party without a volleyball net again! What made the party extra special for me were the speeches, and the fact that my uncle and little cousin flew out all the way from England to come to the party. So there were two extra Lloyds at our engagement party - which is a huge deal.

I hope your weekend was as beautiful as mine!

- H

DIY Photobooth with the Canon Selphy CP900

When we were party planning for my brother's sixteenth birthday, we were trying to think of something that would make his party really fun. Obviously, photobooths are the bomb. I've been to a few parties and weddings with photobooths and I love that you get to leave with an awesome souvenir of the night. That being said, when my mom and I started looking into hiring photobooths for the night we were shocked at the prices - $1000 for 3 hours? - so we started thinking about alternatives.

At Wade's brother's wedding, they had a Fuji Instax where you could snap a Polaroid and peg it up on a memory board for the bride and groom to keep forever. However, some guests - not me, I swear! - liked the pictures too much and knew they were never going to see them again so they took them. Which kind of sucks for the couple, because they never got to see some of the best photos of their guests. It also sucked for me because I took a great picture of Wade and I that I will never see again.

Enter the Canon Selphy CP900. Aka, my new favorite toy. The Selphy is a tiny printer that you can hook up wirelessly to your camera, computer, or smartphone - or you can stick a USB or SD card in - and print 6x4 photos.

To make the photobooth I started by cutting pieces of tissue paper to look like papel picado. Wade then strung them up on the walls to create a colorful backdrop.

Then we popped a couple of chairs in front of the backdrop and a box of fun props and let the party guests do the rest! After they posed for the shots, I printed the pictures straight away. I printed two of each of the four poses (eight in total) on each piece of photo paper and sliced the 4 x 6 image in half. We then tacked the photos up in a public place for the guests to look at and take home.

Here's my sister Steph and I getting a little crazy in the "booth"!

- H

Engagement Fiesta Planning

When we got engaged, we didn't know if we wanted to have an engagement party. Don't get me wrong, I love a good party. Ask anyone in my family - if there is an occasion to throw a party, I will take it. I just didn't know if we could find the time to plan one! But then we discovered that quite a few family members and friends wouldn't be able to make our November wedding date. But they could come halfway through the year. And so we decided to have a party to celebrate!

Now we're two months out and in the throes of party planning. I figure there are only going to be very few occasions when we'll be lucky enough to be surrounded by all of our closest friends and family - so we're going to do this party right. And by right, I mean, kick off your heels, drink a Margarita, and whack a pinata. That's right! We're having a fiesta! Here's a roundup of my favorite Mexican-themed engagement party ideas.

via Hostess with the Mostess

via First Time Fancy

via Kasey Loftin Photography

via Sweet Chic Events

via Utterly Engaged

via Juneberry Lane

via Modern Hostess

Just looking at all of the possibilities makes my head spin with possibilities!

- H