Easy Entertaining Engagement Party Style!
Last weekend Roberto and I celebrated our engagement with our family. Thinking back on it we implemented a lot of really easy, but effective entertaining tips that I thought I would share.
We really wanted to add something of ourselves to the evening. We both really love the ocean and we are planning to add elements of the ocean, the beach, sand, palm trees etc into our décor for the wedding and thought it would be fun to hint at that through our choice of foods as well as some of the decorations for the party.
A nice easy way to arrange flowers is by placing seashells in the vase and using them to anchor the flowers in the positions you want them to be.
The colors for our wedding will be turquoise lime green, a nod to the ocean and the islands, where we will be honeymooning and renewing our vows, so we picked these beautiful roses to go in the arrangement. The placemats we used were turquoise and the plates were lime green.
For the centerpiece at the table we got a flat dish and filled it with sand and some seashells that we have collected on our many beach excursions and placed a pillar candle in the center. Simple but beautiful and totally us.
To add other personal touches we made foods to remind us of our pasts. We created a white sangria with peaches and blackberries, a look back to Roberto’s childhood when he used to eat wine soaked peaches for breakfast.
My mom made Italian potato salad, one of my Nana’s famous recipes (to see more of her recipes click here and here and here) so that her memory would be close to us on this special day.
Instead of serving a traditional fruit salad, we served fruit on bamboo skewers with a lime-yogurt dipping sauce, served of course, in a dish that looks like a shell.
The purpose of this party, like the purpose of most parties was to spend time with our guests. So we prepared a simple menu consisting of grilled foods and cold salads so we could be with our guests instead of slaving away in the kitchen (we prepared everything that morning – so we did the slaving earlier!)
However, we created a little bit of flair to these simple dishes by adding interesting accompaniments, like pancetta and smoked Gouda to the burgers, making bite sized Caprese salad and a refreshing 3-bean salad.
I am just getting into baking so in order to motivate me to do a good job and spend the many hours required assembling and preparing this month’s Daring Baker’s Challenge, I decided to make the cake for this occasion and it turned out great! It made the cake all the more exceptional to serve it to our special guests.
So it doesn’t have to be hard to create a beautiful party full of unique touches if you use these simple tips!
Valli - August 5, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Jenn…everything looks wonderful. Your family and friends must have felt very special sharing this special day with you both. Enjoy!!!
Katiez - August 5, 2007 at 3:30 pm
It looks like a lovely party – and that beautiful cake for dessert!
That potato salad looks yummy – I’m clicking over for the recipe…
Toni - August 5, 2007 at 6:49 pm
First of all, congratulations on your engagement! Second of all, I loved the way you did the whole thing – easy, artful, imaginative, and clearly delicious!
Cynthia - August 5, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Congratulations again to you and Roberto hon. I wish you both many happy years of togetherness.
Hendria - August 6, 2007 at 12:40 am
Wow. Great Job everything looks amazing. Congratulations on your engagement.
Peter - August 6, 2007 at 5:48 am
It looks like the evening was a smash, well-planned and you arranged everything so that you can be with your guests.
PS. I like the fruit skewers with yogurt dip!
Sylvia - August 6, 2007 at 7:08 am
Jenn,Love your entertaining tips.Two times in a year I made parties once in my husband´s birthday and another in Xmas,I actually love the fruit salad in a bamboo skewers(I made caprese salad in bamboo skewers)certainly in next birthday or for Xmas I will make .
The Leftover Queen - August 6, 2007 at 8:52 am
Hi Valli! Thanks so much! I think a good time was had by all!
Hi KatieZ – There is a recipe for my Nana’s regular potato salad, but the Italian potato salad is a little different – potatoes, green pepper, ripe tomatoes, onion, black olives – in somewhat equal amounts. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano!
Hi Toni! Thank you so much for your comment!
Hi Cynthia! Thank you!
Hendria! Thanks so much!
Hi Peter! Yeah, I like to enjoy my own parties you know?! Yes, I was particularly happy with the fruit skewers as well!
Thanks Sylvia! Caprese salad on skewers sounds great! I will have to do that next time I make Caprese!
sognatrice - August 6, 2007 at 11:15 am
Oh my goodness, you and Roberto look so wonderful, as does all the food and decorations! I love it all!
In fact, this is exactly how I’d love to do my wedding reception as when we finally do get hitched, it’ll be a small, quick affair at the comune followed by a party…don’t be surprised if you see shades of your engagement party someday on my blog 😉
Sue - August 6, 2007 at 11:15 am
I LOVE the idea of using shells in a vase to hold the stems. That’s really clever. And you had such beautiful shells too.
Your pictures are just gorgeous. Great job.
A tiny question: How come you’re going to the islands to honeymoon and to “renew your vows”? Won’t you just have gotten married?
Love, Your nosy reader, Sue
Patricia Scarpin - August 6, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Everything is just lovely, Jenn! And the look on your face (and Roberto’s) is the best.
Anali - August 6, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Congratulations on your engagement! The food looks great and I really like the decorating ideas. I love seashells and flowers, but would have never thought of putting them together like that. Nice touch!
The Leftover Queen - August 6, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Hi Sognatrice! Thank you! We are still trying to figure out how to pull off this whole wedding thing on a very tight budget…so we may be doing the same thing! LOL!
Hi Sue! Thanks! Well to make a long sotry short, Roberto and I really wanted to get married on the beach, but for many various reasons we are not able to make that happen for the wedding. So we will renew our vows during our honeymoon so we can enjoy the beach ceremony that we wanted to have.
Hi Patricia! Yeah, we were feeling pretty good that evening!
Anali! Thank you so much!
Figs Olives Wine - August 6, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Jenn, how fabulous! Your party looks absolutely beautiful, and you’re so good at this stuff! I love the shells with the roses, and all the personal touches are so important and special. Another great photo of you, and so lovely to see your Roberto! You both look so happy and beautiful – congratulations again!
The Leftover Queen - August 7, 2007 at 8:50 am
Hey Amanda! Thank you! I really enjoy entertaining and figuring out little ways so create a special ambience. Thanks so much for your sweet words.
Deborah Dowd - August 7, 2007 at 8:32 pm
What a great way to celebrate! Yourfood looks great, and it is the people that make such events important- the food is just a backdrop!
Johanna - August 8, 2007 at 6:46 pm
that looks great – and you are so wise to keep it simple – it is so easy to get so caught up with preparations that you are exhausted when guests arrive – I esp like that you said robert used to eat wine soaked peaches – sounds v decadent!
Cris - August 8, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Oh Jenn and Roberto (your name is soo Brazilian), I wish you all the best! Jenn, I love the idea of the fruit salad, I will try that with my small group that meets every 2 weeks for breakfast, we’re all bloggers. xoxo
The Leftover Queen - August 9, 2007 at 8:48 am
Hey Deborah! Yes I agree people make the event!
Yep, you got it right Johanna, and I used to be like that. So now I always try to make sure to get it all done ahead of time! Yes, in Italy, wine soaked peaches is a common breakfast for kids.
Hey Cris! That is so funny! Roberto seems to be a common name in many Latin countries! Let me know how the fruit salad works for you!