My Brother and Shanna's Surprise Engagement Party

I gave a sneak peek of the party fun last week...
now here's the whole scoop!

My brother recently proposed to his girlfriend Shanna!

He wanted to have both families together right after he popped the question! 

Party time? o yes!

 My mom wanted to make the Engagement Party Dinner really special so she called me up and we started brainstorming ideas! It was fun talking on the phone and e-mailing/texting back and forth printables I created and photos of material/ribbons etc! 
We had under 2 weeks to pull it together so we had to work fast.

We went with orange since that's the bride to be's favorite color. 

And we loaded up the dessert table with delicious treats that are family must haves, shanna favorites or ones from our local bakery at Giant Eagle that just looked too good to pass up!

We didn't know what the venue was going to look like until we showed up!
 but it was a gorgeous bright space! we brought my dishes to use on the dessert table.
My mom found that adorable ribbon and threaded it through my cake stand (it was a gift from her!)
We used small circle vases down the table filled with roses from our 
local grocery store, giant eagle. And smaller vases with votives. Both vases were from my wedding! we are still using them.. they were a great buy.
 (garden ridge i think??)
My mom found the great fabric and tall vases. 
We filled them with flowers that we already had! fun and whimsical!

 created some fun printables to incorporate throughout the party.

We kept joking that I had a pen ready in case she said maybe..haha. ;)
I wanted to use my toppers but we didn't want to do cupcakes..so we used them on the yummy rice krispy treats and pecan bars!

I created coordinating menu and place cards to use at each place setting.
 the girls had polka dots and the boys had stripes.

my brother and his fiance went to eat'n park on their first date...
so i made little treat bag tags as the party favor that read 
"All smiles on their first date! Eat'n Park 6.26.07"
The smiley cookie is their signature cookie and even though i think they taste like chalk..haha..
it was all about them and i thought it was a cute personal touch! 
My mom bought the bags at Michael's and they were just the right size.

the drink table.
arnold palmer tea(dad brought up from charlotte), water and soda.

I wanted to bring in the stripes onto the table so 
i made soda bottle wrappers that said "She said yes!" and "I do"
one of my favorite details of the entire party.



We bought a frame at ikea and put the invitation I created on one side..
and one of their favorite photos on the other!
We used it on the table and then my mom gave it to them at the end of the night.
my mom made her yummy sugar cookies..i have posted the Sugar Cookie recipe here!both families! (except my ben was off driving sleepy sienna around by this time of the night.)

there was lots ooing and aahing over the ring!! 
naturally. daniel did a great job with the bling! :)

the food was amazing!! 
we had the party at one of daniel and shanna's favorite restaurants.. Del's.
delicious food and the team taking care of us were great.


i used my circle labels in the flowers by attaching them
 to little sticks you use to light candles with!
chocolate and raspberry mousse amazingness.

we used small frames from ikea and filled them with photos from when they were first dating to more recent ones. we were originally going to put them down the center of the main tables (the frames are double sided!!) but we ended up wanting just the flowers.

my mom found a great dish that she filled with shanna's favorite candy, tied a ribbon through it, and gifted it to her at the end of the night! so cute. 

oh and we couldn't have a family get together without peanut blossoms.

 i've posted the Peanut Blossom recipe here!

congratulations daniel and shanna!! 

we love you guys and are soo excited!


Easy-Affordable Party Details that we used:
Fabric from Joann's
Ribbon
Tall Vases
Ikea Frames
Cellophane Bags for the favors
orange paper plates and napkins


Items we already had- bargain shopping in your own house!:
Platters/cake stands
Circle Vases (from my wedding)
Fun Whimsical Flowers
Candy Sticks-for the Toppers


Menu Items- a mix of bought and home made:
Rice Krispy Treats
Pecan Bars
Sugar Cookies
Peanut Blossoms
Candy: Reese's
Cheesecake
Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse
Carrot Cake


Printables I created for the party included:
Treat Bag Tags for the Favors

Menu Cards

Place Cards

Circle Labels used as Toppers & in the Flower arrangements

Soda Bottle Wrappers

If you are interested in printables like these visit my etsy shop: Pretty Paperie Printables.

I'll be listing these as an engagement party package soon!

or if you just want to talk about ideas to use in your party you can always message me.