Back in February, I got an email from Sarah (Zac's sister and my maid of honor) saying that she wanted to put together a little dinner for Zac and I to celebrate our engagement. She wanted to know who we wanted to invite so that she could start getting her plans in order. It was so sweet of her and we were very excited to get together with everyone and enjoy a special night of celebration.
After thanking Sarah for the offer we sent her a list of people that we wanted to include in the event. We decided to keep it small, only inviting our immediate families and their significant others, grandparents, and the bridal party. It wasn't that we wanted to exclude anyone, it was just that the event could so easily snowball into a large party rather than a quaint dinner. We wanted to avoid taking advantage of Sarah's generosity and having a preview of the wedding reception unfold on the patio of the restaurant. Plus, as everyone lives in different cities and have all been busy with their own things, we thought that keeping the dinner small would give us a great opportunity to catch up with close family and friends.
It was decided that the dinner would take place the weekend of my graduation. The families would already be in town for the graduation ceremony and the girls would certainly be in town for the dress shopping adventure. It seemed to be a perfect time to plan the dinner, rather than asking everyone to make a second trip out at another time. (It definitely made for a fun filled weekend.) We chose to have the dinner on the patio at Daily Grill (which will most likely be the site of our rehearsal dinner as well). Zac and I just love the atmosphere of the restuarant, the food is fantastic, and as an added bonus it is right down the street from our house. So Sarah ran with these details and put together a spectacular dinner celebration...all from a state away.
Two months after the first emails were exchanged regarding the dinner, Zac and I received this invitation in the mail. Miss Sarah had created the invitation all on her own. The yellow flowers were hand drawn. Sarah had emailed us about a dozen different designs that she had come up with for the invitation and asked us to pick our favorite. We couldn't believe how much work she was putting into this dinner. I mean seriously, how sweet is it of her to create the stationary for the invitations?!
Sarah's creation! *Excuse the little blurred box by Sarah's name.
It was not part of her design, I just thought that she would appreciate it if
we blocked her phone number from being spread all over the internet.*
So on Friday May 20th, just hours after saying yes to the perfect dress, it was time to head over to Daily Grill for the dinner. Zac's family had been staying at our house the whole week and while we were getting ready Zac and I noticed that the house got more and more quiet as people left to head over to the restaurant early. When Zac and I arrived to the restaurant we saw all the hard work that went into this dinner. The tables were decorated with vases of flowers (yellow and white daisies that looked so beautiful we think we may have to use the idea for our centerpieces at the wedding), candles, and mini yellow and white tissue paper pom poms. The girls had baked and decorated cupcakes (red velvet and lemon) that were on display by the table, and Sarah had bottles of champagne chilling in ice buckets. To go along with the champagne, my mom had added the ribbon and flowers that she used on the wedding bells to the stems of champagne flutes and wine glasses that she put on the table for each guest. It looked beautiful and we were (still are) so amazed by the work that everyone did to make this dinner special.
Amanda putting the final touches on the table.
...when she started talking about the relationship that Zac and I have and how she views the two of us together, the waterworks started and they were hard to turn off. It was such a sweet speech and I quickly transformed from a laughing and smiling Teeny to this hot mess:
Sarah is of course Zac's sister, but over the last 6 years she's become a sister to me, too. No one has to remind me how lucky I am. Not only did I land myself an amazing, sweet, charming, wonderful man, but I also got an incredibly special sister in law out of the deal, too.
The night went off without a hitch. Sarah provided the group with a variety of delicious appetizers, the champagne was flowing, and there was never a quiet moment as everyone was happily mingling.
So enough babbling on about the night, I think these photos do a better job and expressing the good time we all had.
Me with my parents after Zac and I arrived at the restaurant.
Zac of course always captures the most flattering
pictures of Amanda and I before we are ready.
Being about 6'' (give or take a FOOT) shorter than Amanda,
it is no surprise that my whole body fits in this shot
while Amanda's head grazes the top of it.
The future in laws.
Zac's parents (Mark and Tammie) are on the left.
My parents (Roxanne and Abe) are on the right.
Mark and Tammie with their first grandbaby, Grayson.
Tammie is such a happy grandma.
We were happy that Zac's friend (and groomsman) Ryan was able
to make it. The night ended with the two of them rehashing some
of their adventures and deciding that it was time to add at least
one more adventure to their list.
We were excited to see that Zac's Chapman grandparents
(his dad's parents) were able to make it to the dinner.
You might remember that we took our engagement photos
at their house just a few weeks ago. *Once we choose our three
favorites from that session I'll happily post those for all to see.*
My girls! I don't know what I would do without them!!
A more accurate representation!
My brother Michael. Easily the most generous,
selfless person I know.
Everyone enjoying the dinner/party.
Later, this will be known as 'Exhibit A'.
One big happy family....minus about 8 people. :P
Zac and I feel so lucky to have these amazing people in our lives. We had so much fun catching up with everyone and enjoying such wonderful company.
Thank you!
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