DIY || Engagement Party

Preparing for Lauren's engagement was one of the most fun/stressful things I've ever done. I wanted everything to be perfect! I made a secret Pinterest board and was determined to throw a Pinterest worthy party for her. 

Everything from the flowers and cookies, to the chalkboards and glitter champagne bottles, was done by me. It was exhausting, but seeing it all come together was totally worth it. Even Chris was blown away!

I had a ton of old silver platters just laying around from my grandparents. When I found out they weren't worth anything, nor did they have an significant meaning to my grandparents, I quickly thought of how I could turn them in to some sort of DIY project. I had some chalkboard paint lying around and one thing led to another and these chalkboard trays were born. They've been sitting in a drawer for months, so I was happy to finally be able to use them!

This chalkboard is made out of an old picture that we had in the garage. It was in the donate pile and, once again, the chalkboard paint was staring me in the face. I just painted right over the glass and used a sample paint we had lying around to paint the brown frame. 

The cheesecakes were handcrafted by Chris. And by handcrafted I mean that he whipped up some no-bake cheesecake and portioned them out into mini servings. Even though some of them look a little silly, they were delicious!

Friday after school I was racing around like a mad woman picking up bundt cakes and a cheese tray. I also knew I needed flowers, but I wasn't sure how many or what kind I wanted. After picking out random flowers that I hoped would go together, I managed to put together six floral arrangements that I am pretty stinkin' proud of! Chris walked in from work and asked where I ordered the flowers from! 

For the glitter champagne bottles I just sprayed them with spray glue and poured glitter on them. They were precious! And for the champagne glasses, I added a special touch to each glass by giving them all a sugar coated rim.

One of the things I was most excited about was Lauren's bride-to-be box. It was equipped with all the goodies a newly engaged girl needs. DIY coming soon!

She's Engaged!!

One of the reasons I've been so busy lately is because I have been helping orchestrate the proposal of my sister in law and her boyfriend! 

Two weeks ago Jack flew down from Kansas City to ask the big question to my father in law. Only Chris and I knew he was coming. We went to church with Chris's parents then the plan was for Jack to show up at their house to surprise Lauren's dad and ask him for his daughter's hand in marriage. Surprised he was! Everything went as planned and he gave his blessing.

Ever since then we have all be working ferociously on planning Lauren's dream proposal, along with an engagement party fit for the sweetest girl I know. Jack and Lauren both live in Kansas City, so it was easy for us to plan it all without her being here. Jack is in med school, so Lauren thought he was rounding at the hospital this weekend. Little did she know he was about to ask her the most important question of her life! 

We lured Lauren down here from KC by saying it was my birthday (which it was..) and we were all going to take family pictures on Saturday at the Dallas Arboretum, then have a birthday party at mine and Chris's house. We had to think of a way that Lauren would be dressed nice and have her nails done :)

The plan went like this: 

- Chris and I got to the arboretum early to meet with Jack and "plant" him in his spot.

- We went back to the front to meet up with the family and told them we had already scoped out some spots where we wanted to take pictures. I told them I wanted to take a couple of just the Tucker family. 

- All the Tucker's lined up. 

- Then I said, "Now just a girl picture!" Chris's mom, Lauren, and mawmaw were in that picture.

- Then I called out for a Mother/Daughter picture and that was Jack's que to come out from around the bushes. 

hurry, mawmaw, hurry!

I was shaking with excitement! If you have ever been to the Dallas Arboretum you know that the Crate Myrtle tunnel is NEVER empty. It was seriously a God thing that when we showed up, there was not a soul in sight in the ENTIRE tunnel. And, no one was down at the end where the fountain is located. It was PERFECT!

Here are some pictures from the big day. The fourth one is my absolute favorite. It shows Lauren's genuine reaction and it makes me tear up seeing how happy she looks!

Come back tomorrow to see pictures of the engagement party! Here is a sneak peek:

Happy Monday!