FIESTA ENGAGEMENT PARTY!

So, my daughter is getting married next year, so (as parents of the bride), my husband and I threw her and her fiancé an engagement party this past weekend. It was for about 50-60 guests (close family and the wedding party — friends of the bride and groom) and was outdoors at our home. It was decorated with loads and loads of color and pizazz, and it was so much fun to plan and execute!

The happy couple got engaged June 14, 2016:

Here was the plan for the party:

MENU:

TACO BAR!
SALSA

QUESO

GUACAMOLE

FIESTA CAKE

DRINKS:

MARGARITAS (naturally)

CORINITAS

LIME A RITAS

STRAWBERRY A RITAS

The evening started off with, as each guest arrived, they were given a glow stick necklace. It immediately put each person in the mood to have a good time!!! AND – everyone looked great and in the spirit of the “theme” regardless of what they wore to the party! I bought them here at Oriental Trading and tied string to each one.

And naturally we had festive balloons at the mailbox so that everyone knew which house was hosting the big party! Thanks to Ross for getting those for us!

We had the party catered by Nuevo Laredo (our family’s favorite Mexican restaurant in Atlanta). They also brought a frozen margarita machine – THAT was de rigueur for my party!

I had 3 filled Mexican (ADULT) pinatas hanging off the top of my back porch – they were so cute and colorful and festive!! I picked these up on sale at Wal-mart.

Inside each of the 3 pinatas were mini gold and silver tequila bottles (thus we called them “ADULT” pinatas!), Mexican gum and Mexican peanuts:

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So, I stole this idea from another blogger – I went to a few Mexican markets in the Atlanta area and bought large food cans. Then I rinsed the cans, drilled a couple of holes in the bottom and then planted succulents. The pop of color was so much fun on each table!

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Here was MY process:

I found these candy dishes at Bed Bath and Beyond (on sale!). I bought a “C” an “&” and a “B” and then bought custom M&Ms in fiesta colors (red, yellow and teal) to fill with.

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Large lanterns – I bought 3 of them at Pier 1 Imports (on sale because it was the end of the season) and put 3 large LED candles in them and placed them strategically around the pool.

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Tablescape (votives, framed pictures of the happy couple, mini maracas and potted succulents on top of Mexican fabric napkins that I got from etsy). I got the mini maracas at Amazon.

My friend, Abby, provided the cake! Lulou’s Bake Shop is absolutely THE best for cakes near me! Abby is just so talented and creative, AND …. the cakes are delicious! She made a dark chocolate with buttercream frosting for Caroline (her favorite) and Brian:

The bride-to-be with her cousin, Emma:

Mom and Dad pic with the bride prior to the party getting started:

The adorable bride and groom:

My hilarious father after we finally got the flamingo pool float inflated:

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Just prior to everyone arriving at the house:

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It’s the SOUTH and we are a football fanatic family, so we HAD to have an outdoor TV available, since it was after all “football season”! Didn’t want people staring at their phones to check scores!

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I ordered (from Shingdiz) these water bottle labels (with their wedding hashtag) and had 2 cases of waters to keep guests hydrated, since it was a hot September evening in Georgia!

We had Wade Hudson sing and play guitar for the party. He snapped these pics as the party was getting started. We rented 8 30″ tables and 32 chairs for the party from a local party rental store.

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I bought these 2 adorable floats for the party – they were adorable floating around the pool the entire evening.

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Father-of-the-Bride welcome toast:

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The groom and his bride-to-be toast:

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Caroline and her bridesmaids (minus one):

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Brian and his groomsmen (minus one):

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Our family wore these hilarious buttons that I ordered (so inexpensively) from Wacky Buttons! ;0)

The backyard/pool area was covered in little LED tea lights that I collected from various places (Walmart, eBay and more), and I found a huge flamingo AND a swan float for inside the pool (from One King’s Lane):