Nature-inspired engagement party

backstory

My brother recently proposed to his girlfriend in Tettegouche State Park, and wanted to have a small (sort-of surprise) party to celebrate the milestone with him and his fiance’s friends. Naturally, I made myself in charge of the party and got to work right away on the theme and decor for the day. He told me the plan on Tuesday, and the party was on Sunday with no real guest list and only an estimate at how many would be attending (boys!). Nevertheless, I got to planning with the help of my parents and we made it happen for them!

inspiration

Since they were going to be getting engaged on the North Shore, and both love to be outdoors, I wanted it to feel earthy, wild, and natural, while still being romantic and whimsy. I of course peeked at his girlfriend’s wedding Pinterest board for inspiration, and made a board of my own (a secret one, of course, since it was a surprise, but I made it public now that the secret’s out).

decor

I arranged the flowers myself by mixing fresh bouquets from Trader Joe’s, and a lot of the decor used for the party came from my apartment. I just looked at what I had and grabbed anything that would fit the theme, including a print that I bought on Etsy from Chelsea Petja. Every party I host has to have plenty of tealight candles, and I bought small wood circles to bring the forest inside. Every party needs a playlist, too, so I took care of that with a custom Spotify soundtrack called ‘I do.’

Because the party was a little last minute, I didn’t have the chance to take a lot of photos, so here are some I captured before the celebrating began, and check out more over on my Instagram stories highlights…

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Since everyone voted ‘yes please’ to my Instagram poll about including more event content here on the blog, I am going to be sharing more inspiration, ideas, and tips for entertaining. Let me know in the comments below if there’s anything in particular you’d like to see! And here are a few photos taken by the talented Alina Kay of the actual engagement moment…