A Crazy Weekend, and Another Letdown

This past weekend, we traveled up to Maryland for our engagement party. My parents have been planning this thing for months! We flew up Friday night and pretty much went straight to bed. Saturday, we got up around 10 and ate a nice brunch (bagels and lox, YUM!). Then we helped my parents get the house set up for the party. At 2 pm, we met with one of the DJs that we were considering. He was kind of awkward at first, but I grew to like him more as the meeting went on. He left around 3, and we went upstairs and showered and got ready for the party, which started at 4.

The party was AWESOME! We ended up having about 75 people, and my parents' house was filled to the brim! They had tables set up in the living room, dining room, basement, and out on the back porch. My mom had prepared all the food herself, but she hired people to come in and man the grill, bartend, and actually cook the food (throw it in the oven, and serve it). It was delicious, of course. It was really cool that both of Marcus's parents, his grandfather (who is 95 years old), and all of his siblings and step-siblings were able to come up for the party! They got to meet a good chunk of my extended family, which went really well, and was very interesting to watch. I said beforehand that I thought the party was a good litmus test for the wedding in that way - just throw everyone in a room and see how they react to each other. Like I said, it went really well, so I consider it a success!

The one bad thing about the party, for me, was that while it was really nice to see everyone, I didn't feel like I really got to SEE anyone. Every time I tried to start having a conversation with someone, my mom would call me over to say hello to someone who had just arrived, or say goodbye to someone who was leaving. I literally ran back and forth between the door and wherever I was hanging out at the time the whole party.

The party was supposed to end at 9, but of course, we convinced a few people to hang around, and they got me and Marcus to open our presents! We got a lot of great stuff, and it was nice to have that extra time where we actually got to interact with some of our party guests. Everyone filtered out by around 10:30, and we were exhausted, so we went to bed.

Sunday morning, we got up early to go meet Marcus's dad & co. for breakfast. It was actually a very nice breakfast, and they said that they really enjoyed the party, and meeting my family! After breakfast, we went back to my parents' house, and at 11, we met with another potential DJ. He was much more outgoing and confident than the first one, but I had some concerns about his bragging and some of the comments he made, which were sort of culturally insensitive (not intentionally so, but still) and came off the wrong way. When he left, we still didn't have a decision about a DJ. Then at 12, we met with a photographer. We LOVED her (like my mom thought we would), so that was one check mark off the list. After she left, we talked for a little while about the DJs, and my mom said we could think on it and let her know in a couple of days. We flew back home Sunday evening.

We eventually decided to go with the second DJ, Chris Laich. We think that he will do a good job, and as for the personality stuff, at least I won't be the one dealing with him for the most part, and my mom really likes him, so she won't mind. One more check off the list!

Then, this morning, my mom called me. She said that things didn't work out with the photographer, apparently the contract she made up was not acceptable and she wasn't willing to negotiate. So now we have to find another photographer, and find some potential ones to meet with when we go back up to Maryland for 4th of July. A trip can never be just a trip anymore! Oh well.