Engagement Party

I knew that I wanted an engagement party and I used to dream about holding it in The Penthouse and Pavilion at The Dorchester overlooking Hyde Park. Even though I work in the events industry and have seen so many beautiful venues, this has always been a space that I loved.  However to my dismay the date that I wanted to hold the engagement party on was not available so I had to find an alternative solution.  After much thought I decided to have a more casual, intimate affair with immediate family and friends at my apartment with hired in staff.

My fiancé and I both come from divorced parents, and for weeks prior to the party I was worried stiff about everyone being in the same place and confined to just one space (you never know what family eruption may blow up when it comes to divorced parents.) However on the actual date of the party, and after a few drinks of bubbly it didn’t matter anymore. I just made sure that all the parents were kept in separate corners of the room to avoid disaster.

The colour scheme I have chosen for my wedding are creams, lilacs and also a blush pink.  I wanted my engagement party to be of similar colours and sourced all my flowers from The New Covent Garden Flower Market which were absolutely beautiful. The flower market has over 20 traders offering spectacular flowers from all over the world, catering for every conceivable bridal bouquet. It is also is a great option for brides that don’t have much budget or want to cut costs as buying directly from the wholesalers means you cut out the cost of the florist.

I took advantage of the Waitrose glass loan service and borrowed all of my glassware for the party. This is another great money saving tip as it is a free service (providing you don’t break any.) I compiled the music for the party myself and played a mixture of old school tunes from Phil Collins, Elton John and Rod Stewart to more current music like Swedish House Mafia and Bruno Mars. I bought some sweet trees which everyone loved and I have had requests from guests to also have them at the wedding. So sweet trees will be going on my dessert table amongst the cheese, wedding cake and miniature cupcakes.

By the end of the evening and by that I mean 5.00 in the morning; Disney songs were being played, the handle on the bathroom door had broken and people were passed out on the sofa. It’s safe to say the party was a great success.

 Little Tip: I put a visitor’s book in the hallway and got one of the hosts to make sure all guests put their address in it before they got to drunk. This way I had everyone’s address when it comes to sending out the save the date and invitations.

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