Pennsylvania Engagement Party!

Last Saturday, June 19, was our Pennsylvania Engagement party at my parent's house! I went home Thursday night right after work by the (Justin) Beiber Bus. It was so relaxing, easy, and quick and I got to watch The Blind Side on my Archos! I wish I could just hop on a bus to go home all the time. I got home around 8:00, ate dinner, and talked to my parents about our plan of attack in order to get everything ready by 2:00 Saturday. After that, I hit the sack for the long day ahead of me!

Friday was busy, busy, busy! My mom had a half day of school, so dad and I went to pick up all the rented things from Taylor Rental in the morning. We picked up tables/chairs/tent/poles/chafing dishes and I held the martini glasses on my lap. I cannot BELIEVE we fit everything on my dad's truck, but we did!

We worked for a little over an hour unloading and setting everything up..and did I mention sweating? When all was said and done, this was the beautiful backyard!

After we ate lunch (we maaaay or may not have dipped into the Sicilian macaroni my mom brought home), my mom and I went to pick up the cake. We then went to the dollar store to look for a good punch bowl for the sangria I was planning to make, which proved unsuccessful. Luckily, we found a great one at Wegmans! There is truly no better place on earth than Wegmans, and we were there for pretty much the entire afternoon.(Side note: Alec Baldwin was on Jay Leno a few weeks ago and he said he's been trying to get his mom to move closer to him in NYC, so he can spend more time with her. She refuses to move from upstate NY because she can't leave Wegmans...I hear ya Mrs. Baldwin!!) We got back home around 5:00, and I immediately started work on dinner. I really wanted to cook for my parents and sister since I never get to. My dad grilled chicken and some seasoned asparagus, while I made risotto with pine-nuts and a tomato casserole. It was a fantastic summer meal outside on our patio. After dinner we cleaned up, worked a little more on food preparation, and I set to work on two picture boards I wanted to display at the party. I had gone through albums and albums of Chris's baby pictures during the week and picked out a few of little Laura from my mom's albums as well.

Saturday was still busy, busy, busy. Melissa and Dakota came over early and were a huuuge help. Melissa arranged the flowers in vases and put them on the tables. Then I had to send them both to the liquor store to get my sangria drink supplies which I didn't have a chance to get on Friday. I stayed back and made guacamole, and helped my mom get the appetizers ready to go for 2:00, while my dad set up the backyard. Then, I finally went upstairs to get ready for the party. When I came back down an hour later, I was pleasantly surprised to see my mom's coworker, Brooke, had arrived and was helping my mom! I've only met Brooke very briefly once before, but my mom talks about her so much I feel like I know her already! I noticed a jug of what looked like lemonade behind Brooke and asked her what that was. My mom got her funny "I have a surprise for you" look on her face, and starts to lead us outside to the bar area we had set up on the patio. The table was all set up with the martini glasses and a cute little plaque:

For all of those special people in Laura and Chris's lives, we invite you to enjoy a special martini that was made just for them.  "Kiwi Pear Martini" Garnished with a blackberry-

My mom then told me that Brooke was here not only to serve as our bartender, but to prepare special "Kiwi Pear Martinis" for our guests! My mom knew that I was on the hunt for a proper green signature martini for my wedding, especially after Mandy's "Syracuse-tini's" were such a hit at her's, (Ben and I should know, we had about 20 each!). So Brooke and my mom had been on the hunt to find the perfect one for Chris and me! They were soooooo good and I can't wait to ask The Sandcastle to serve these at the wedding. Soon after that, our house started buzzing with people. My dad arrived home with Ben, Kyle and Matt who he picked up from the bus station on his way to get my Grandma...who LOVED the martinis by the way, isn't she the cutest?

By 2:00 I was in full-out eating, drinking and greeting mode. The food we had was really great! Appetizers were cheese plates, chips and guacamole, pesto bruschetta, and homemade meatballs. For dinner my mom served Sicilian Macaroni (ziti with eggplant), shrimp orzo salad, Chris's mom's garlic broccoli, and an apple/walnut chicken salad. I was significantly stuffed! It was a great feeling to have so many people who mean so much to me in one place. I'm happy my Grandma Lois and Grandpa Oehmke were able to make it, as well as my Aunt Laura and Uncle David and some of my parent's close friends. Even my wonderful little puppy, Shadow, was there to celebrate with us!

Hey, he's 14 and has tummy troubles!

Everyone from our bridal party was there, even though the majority of them are from out of state! I feel very lucky that we have such great, loyal friends.  I also think that Matt was about to burst with excitement that he was FINALLY, after 5 years of friendship, getting to see Schnecksville. Matt had been waiting for this day for a loooong time. He also decided to tweet the entire day to make fun of me for tweeting through Mandy's wedding.

Hedgetopia: In honor of @LWoodsNY I will be attempting to over-tweet her engagement party. Lets see how SHE likes it!

Hedgetopia: Just passed the Schnecksville fire company! I'm trapped in the most Quaint city in Lehigh Valley! #Dundruff

Though he was mocking me for most of them, it was fantastic to read over all of Matt's 48 Tweets from the day once he told me about it. I'll include some more highlights of Matt's tweets below.

Hedgetopia: Croquet is the second whitest thing I've ever done. And that's saying something. #Dundruff

Luckily, my dad stepped in after our first game and set it up properly and then played a game with Chris's friends and their S.O.'s! 

Hedgetopia: Laura's dad just taught us the REAL rules to Croquet. Much more fun than fake Laura croquet. #Dundruff

Later on for dessert we had homemade vanilla ice cream (from my new ice cream maker!), oreo truffles (or, little balls of heaven as my mom calls them) and CAKE!

Then we got a great pic of Chris and his groomsmen (Not all my bridesmaids were there by the time I thought about doing this, arrrg! Oh well, better luck next time!)

Mike, James, Mike, Chris, Chris, Matt, Billy

Hedgetopia: Laura about to open gifts. Too bad Eric tripped over the power cord and now everyone has to go home... #Dundruff

That's a lie...well, Eric did trip over the power cord..but it was quick fix! It was getting more and more humid, so we went inside to open our wonderful gifts while our guests looked through the 5 scrapbooks I've made of Chris and me through the years, (I know...I need a life).

Hedgetopia: Laura broke out the scrapbooks. AND WE'RE TRAPPED HERE. SEND HELP. #Dundruff

 

After that, Smith was finally off of work and able to join us for a little, so we couldn't let the night go without at least one Wagner picture!

By then many of our guests gathered their things to head back to their homes. Ben, Kyle, Matt, Mike, Kerry, James, and Maria were spending the night so after hanging out a bit (and ordering the 5-5-5 deal from Dominos) we finally all went to sleep.

All in all the party was a huge success. I'm very grateful for Brooke's bar-tending and martini making skills; for my mom's coworkers, Nancy and Rae, who gave her great tips and advice along the way; for Melissa and Dakota's help that weekend; and especially my parents who put a lot of work and time into the day, and it certainly paid off. I think they aren't going to know what to do with themselves now that it's over!

And now for my favorite part....I love a good slide-show!: