Engagement Party #2, and a few more checks

My parents came into town this weekend for our Atlanta engagement party, which I'll get into in a few minutes. Naturally, since they were here, we got a few more wedding planning things done, too.

My parents arrived on Friday night. We picked them up at the airport, then they went to their hotel and we all went to bed. Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and headed out around 10 am. First we went to Men's Wearhouse, where we figured out tuxes for the groomsmen and Marcus got fitted for his tux. The groomsmen are going to have blue (matching the bridesmaids' dress color) vests and ties, and Marcus will have a white vest and black tie.

Next we headed out to shop for veils. I had already found one that I really liked online (on Etsy, which is an amazing website - if you've never seen it, check it out!), but my mom insisted that I needed to go try on a few veils in person first so that I knew what I wanted. The first place we went was Bridals by Lori, which had been recommended by several people on the Atlanta boards on The Knot. Apparently this store is featured on Say Yes to the Dress, so it was fairly busy, but we were able to get good service. The store was ridiculously huge (THREE floors!), but we found our way to the veils department, and started looking around ourselves. Eventually, a salesperson noticed us and sent one of the managers over to help us. I tried on a couple of veils, and my mom quickly realized that I already knew what I wanted. The veil I liked at this store would have cost about $250, and the one I found on Etsy costs about $40...so my mom agreed that getting it online was the way to go!

We stopped for a nice lunch, then decided that we didn't really need to go to the second bridal shop we had planned on, since we had already pretty much figured out the veil thing. So instead, we went back to our apartment, where we spent several hours working on some smaller wedding items, including programs, reception music checklist for the DJ, a photo list for the photographer, and the guest list for my bridal shower. Then Marcus and I got changed, and we headed to the hotel so my parents could change for the party.

The engagement party was at Marcus's aunt and uncle's house, and it was for Marcus's GA family - the Atlanta and Savannah contingents. I had met most of them before, but not all, so it was fun to meet some more of his Savannah family! And my parents were meeting most of them for the first time, so that was fun too. His family and my family are so similar, it's a little scary! They're both loud, fun, and CRAZY! Our wedding reception is going to be insane (in a good way!)! Anyway, we ate lots of yummy food, talked a lot, and opened more gifts - including our food processor, which I am SO excited about! It was a great party, Marcus's aunts (the planning committee) did a great job! So, two engagement parties down, one to go (which will be in Florida in December, for Marcus's FL family).

On Sunday, we went to an early brunch with my parents, Marcus's aunt, and one of our friends. Then we came back to the apartment and hung out watching a couple of Marcus's home videos before taking my parents to the airport for their flight home. It was a good visit, both productive and fun/relaxing (for once).

Another thing I've been working on lately - my bridal shower! My crazy Aunt Jenny finally emailed me to start planning it. Right now we're looking at Presidents Day weekend, and this will be a traditional "girls only" shower. I emailed her a preliminary guest list complete with addresses, so we'll see how the planning goes. I'm a little scared, honestly, my aunts are nuts, so I'm kind of expecting anything and everything at this shower, haha. It should be fun, though, so I'm excited.

Next on the wedding planning docket: Thanksgiving weekend! We will be traveling up to Maryland for Thanksgiving, and have several big things on the agenda, including our (hopefully) final menu tasting, which should allow us to finalize and order our invitations! Stay tuned!