Engagement Party: Louisiana Style

The engagement party is the first thing that I planned and I was so excited that I stayed on Pinterest the entire 23 hours home from Arizona to Louisiana. I researched that you are supposed to have the party between 4 and 6 months after being proposed to. We got engaged at the end of December and we had our party planned for the end of March. The hardest part, but most fun, was deciding on the THEME! I googled, Pinterested, and looked up instagram hashtags for engagement party themes. I was always high key obsessed with wedding planning and now that it was my turn I feel like I had to do everything perfect because I have dreamed of this for so long.

I decided to do something completely different and out of the box. I wanted our party to truly represent us as a couple and be unique. So as you know we live in Louisiana and I am marrying a true southern man. I decided to choose a theme that really showed who we are as a couple and which was authentic. I also saw that there were others who did do this theme, but not nearly as many as other themes.

I ended up choosing a crawfish boil. I know I lost all of my northern friends here, but we LOVE crawfish and my fiance loved that I was trying to incorporate his interests into the party too since he knew I was in charge of all planning. I decided to tell everyone that it would be a crawfish boil, but a more sophisticated boil as we will be dressed up more than the typical gathering and there will be decorations that are not usually at a boil.

I instantly told all of my bridesmaids about the theme and they were hesitant at first, but loved how it truly represented us as a couple. We are both laid back and don't like attention to be all on us. Anyways, as soon as I got home I started planning and buying. I would put items in my cart and then at check out ask myself if I truly needed crawfish necklaces and a fishnet for pictures. I was going all out and told myself that this had to be "perfect" which was my downfall. I planned every day until the day of.

Will and I both took off the day before to thoroughly clean the house and start decorating outside. I ended up putting all of the outside decorations out even though I knew it was windy. I knew as soon as I woke up I did not have the time to set it all up, so I did it the day before. Luckily for us almost everything stayed up all night into the morning.

I did have one set back which I thought was the "end of the world." I bought a glass barrel for water so people could wash their hands outside instead of coming inside to do so. I went to bring it inside and filled it up in my sink. It was way heavier than I thought, so I went to put it down to dump some out and it shattered everywhere! I mean everywhere. I called my fiance and he did not answer so I called his dad crying my eyes out. Then I called my maid of honor and as the angel she is went to buy me a new one while I cleaned up the mess and fixed my makeup.

I realized that I put WAY too much energy into making this event perfect, when I should have just relaxed and went with the flow. The whole point of this party is to congratulate us as a newly engaged couple, not to win the best engagement decorations. I also spent hours of my time creating a backdrop only to realize that letters fell off in the wind. I noticed this after the party so all of my pictures have the letters missing in my saying, "Pinch Me, I Think They're In Love."

It truly bothered me for a while that things were not exactly the way I pictured and planned, but as time went on, I realized that none of those things mattered at all. The only thing that matters is that Will and I love each other so much. In the end, nobody will care about the decor or the food (okay maybe the food) at your event. If people are truly your friends, they will celebrate you for whatever you accomplished and will not give two cares about how it looked while you celebrated. It is all about who you are with and not the what around you.

I am posting this personal story on this fun wedding page for you brides that are stressing about making the perfect memories. I am living proof to tell you that it will only be perfect when you let it go and truly embrace the moment. Laugh at the mistakes along the way and learn from them. Weddings are about the love shared between two individuals. It is not about anything else. Remember to have fun during this process and enjoy spending it with your fiance! You will look back and wish that you would have spent your time differently!

Anyways I am still engaged as I write this. I will continue to update this blog post as we get further along into our planning! Below are pictures from our beautiful and fun engagement crawfish boil! Feel free to use anything and share with me!