The Families Meet!
By JulielovesAndrew | posted on January 26, 2012 at 10:44am
So, my parents were kind enough to pick a bunch of the reception sites we had previously discussed, then throw a few more into the mix, and schedule an entire day of appointments to walk through them. The day was crazy and full of driving around, and we found our spot! Graystone Golf Club in Rochester, it is better than we were hoping for, and was also the 1st place we looked at that day! (The others were just out of respect for the people meeting us)
Amidst all of the craziness, they informed us that they were planning an engagement party… 2 weeks from that day! Grateful as I was, naturally, I went into panic mode. What? An engagement party? So far after? Can I get off of work? Then the kicker… Oh yeah, his entire family lives 3 hours away! Then there came a whole different set of concerns: are they going to be annoyed we are asking them to come up so far? Will we be able to find a decent hotel to book them comfortably and economically? Are they going to feel comfortable meeting my family for the first time in a haze of 50 of our closest friends and family and hors d’oeuvres and booze?
Normally, I am fine with spontaneity; in fact I usually love it! However, when this involves other peoples comfort and impositions, I tend to cower from it. My parents patiently dealt with my concerns and flustered state of being, and then told me it was happening, everything would be fine, and his family loves us and would be happy to come. After calming down a bit, I figured that it might be actually a bit less nerve-racking for both families to meet in a party setting with everyone mingling and wandering around rather than alone at a restaurant.
I should have known better anyway. My mom has proven time and again to be the queen of entertaining and social graces. Over the years, she has mastered the art of planning and timing to yield almost stress free and seemingly effortless events. This was no different. Andrew and I came in the night before, and everything was already set up! It was perfect, not over the top, but no detail missed. She chose a beach theme to tie into the way Andrew had proposed. Most of the food was already prepared, just waiting to be cooked the day of, and the drinks were set up and ready to go.
The day of went off without a hitch! We set up the final things, Andrews’s family got in to their hotel and got situated comfortably, and people started filtering in. It was so perfect, His parents, siblings with their spouses / significant others, and even Grandparents came in! I do have to say, for anyone thinking about throwing an engagement party, hors d’oeuvres and booze stations is the way to go! There was a great flow and people could mingle and eat and walk around.
The best part of the whole thing, our families got along great! The next day, we had breakfast at my parents’ house just for Andrew’s family and us. This was a nice way to give the families an opportunity to get to know each other in a calmer venue, after the ice had already been broken.
This really brought me from the dreamy- I can’t believe this is really happening state to …OMG THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING THIS IS SO COOL and diving into the planning mode. Next stage, mapping out the day and how we want to design the beautiful blank-slate tent at Graystone.
