Recap: Stock the Bar Engagement Party!

If you followed along on instagram, you might know that I was recently captured on camera hosting and toasting – literally (thanks to my friend, Dan!). Last weekend, I had the honor of being one of the hostesses for my good friend/former roomie’s engagement party. Today, I am showcasing a little recap from that party and my inspiration for it (see what I wore here).

First and foremost, guests were sent invitations via snailmail with inserts that read:

“a bottle of red or a bottle of white,

maybe tequila and salt for a margarita delight,

glasses, napkins or an ice bucket too –

Let’s stock their bar before they say “I do!”

I went with a “Stock the Bar” theme for this particular engagement (no pun intended). For those of you not familiar with this type of party or shower – guests are encouraged to “stock the bar” for the couple. To some that meant gifting items on the couple’s registry (wine glasses, cocktail glasses, wine openers, ice buckets etc) and to others, that meant giving bottles of nice wine, bourbon, Veuve and the like. The invite inserts made sure that no one had any questions about what to bring or buy for the happy couple.

This party theme also works for “couple showers” since it’s female AND male friendly (what guy doesn’t want his bar stocked?), compared to other showers that sometimes only keep the bride in mind.

I teamed up once again with Nico and Lala for everything from the invites to the details and the perfect favor for an affair of this sort – a custom koozie, of course.

We kept everything simple, somewhat gender neutral and casual as well. Urbanstems provided gorgeous orange roses and I picked up some white spider mums (my new favorite bloom) to arrange in vases around the house.

We kept the menu hearty (because there was lots of toasting, of course, not to mention, lots of men in attendance) with some of the bride and groom’s favorites. Mini grilled cheeses and tomato soup, mini sliders, crabcakes, bruschetta and cookie sandwiches – all of which were gone in a minute (or two!).

For catering and bartending, I worked with DC Taste. They are absolutely amazing and if you live in the DC area, they come highly recommended by H&T. Their staff is delightful to work with and their food is delicious. (I am also pretty sure they thought I was a little crazy because I insisted on helping set up.) For drinks, we did the bride and groom’s beer and wine picks passed plus a bubbly toast that included an impromptu speech by yours truly (cheers!).

It was so much fun having everyone all together under one roof in Sarah’s former stomping grounds (our house), before their big day next year. Also, it is such a small world because two guests just happened to also be H&T readers and had no idea they were coming over to celebrate at my house!

Congratulations again to the newly engaged couple and special thank you to all my fellow hostesses!