I started planning my former college roommate’s engagement party several months before she was even engaged! They’re just such a sweet couple and some of my favorite people. We knew right away that we wanted this party during the summer so that we could enjoy Michigan’s great weather. That also meant it would be a mostly outdoor party with a casual feel, yard games, and something on the grill for food.
My project list developed quickly from this vision as well.
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- Corn Hole (I saved time by buying the corn hole bags premade from Amazon and it was so worth it!)
- Giant Jenga
- Photo Arch
- Can Coolers
- Rustic Centerpieces
Curb appeal was important to me with this so that guests would instantly know they were in the right place and would come straight in. I made a welcome sign out of cedar and placed it right next to the front door.
I also made some easy pillow covers with this outdoor fabric I found on clearance at JoAnn’s because I thought it was so cute and tied in with the colors of the party.
The menu was pretty straight-forward as well. Outside we wanted to grill meat & veggie skewers – we did steak, chicken, and shrimp mixed with onion, bell pepper, squash & zucchini. I used decorative hard plastic plates so that they would hold up better.
Inside I had a giant charcuterie board with breads, dips, nuts, dried fruit, and jams. I also made these super fun & easy fruit cups along with 2 cold skewers. For the skewers I did a melon & prosciutto skewer and a salami, mozzarella, and basil skewer. I found these amazing decorative skewers from Amazon and thought they added the perfect amount of elegance to the party!
For drinks we had a keg of the grooms favorite beer, white cake, and water bottles. I made personalized can coolers to use with the drinks.
I have to admit the desserts were my favorite part of it all 😍 They were also the most work, but in the end well worth it. I made mini brownies bites (groom’s favorite dessert) and mini red velvet cupcakes (bride’s favorite). I kept it uniformed by baking them both in metallic gold cupcake liners.
I also made cut out cookies and decorated them to look like flowers so that I had a pretty dessert in the display as well. They took several days and many hours of preparing different colors of glaze & icing but I absolutely love how they turned out. The flowers were made with simple scalloped and smooth edged cookie cutters in various sizes and the leaves were made with a leaf shaped cookie cutter.
For seating I used 2 folding tables in the yard and decorated them with faux flower arrangements including a wooden and mason jar flower holder build. I placed a basic white table cloth with crystal tablecloth weight clips to keep it in place and a green gauzy cloth down the center.
I also built a table top out of cedar to set on an old fire-pit we have to create an additional seating area.
The last big build I had was a photo arch where everyone could pose for pictures.
Inside I kept the decor pretty simple, sticking with white and greens. This flower arrangement from Balsam Hill really set the tone for what colors to use.
For favors I made little envelopes & stickers using my Cricut Maker and included succulent seeds inside for everyone to take home.
Overall it was an amazing party and the perfect mix of elegant yet casual. Check out my Instagram for more videos & tutorials for all the builds!
Perfectionist DIY 
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