Alexandra Rembac of Sterling Engagements is not just a planner, but a bride-to-be too! And from the looks of this fun engagement party celebration with friends and family, it definitely looks like she’s feeling the L-O-V-E! The party was held near Valentine’s Day this year, so of course the love-inspired theme tied in perfectly with the holiday – but when it comes to engagement parties & bridal showers, LOVE is always an appropriate theme, which means there’s lots of great inspiration here for celebrations year-round!

For example, one of my favorite details is from the beautiful dessert display – where darling “cookie toppers” were used to spell out “The Best Is Yet To Be. A♥J” across 4 different cakes. Cute + clever! And then of course there are the fabulous lace-adorned table runners, chic stationery details (I just adore their invite!), gorgeous black & white anemones, and an overall vibe that’s charming and homespun.

Read on for LOTS more fun party images + all the details from Alexandra – including the super cute ways that she and Jonathan “officially” invited their bridal party to be in the wedding {during the party}!

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Alexandra…

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Inspiration & Theme

“I wanted something very playful, kitschy and really just FUN! I love to love and am a hopeless romantic so the theme of love really began with just that. We got engaged right before the holiday season, so we selected the weekend before Valentine’s Day purposely – as it seemed fitting to share our love close to one of the most love filled holidays of the year!

The color scheme of various reds & pinks + hints of black & white developed naturally in staying with the theme of love.  From the invite to the decor – to even our sweets and candy station – all of the party’s elements  shared the common bond of LOVE.

DECOR

With such a vibrant color scheme and being so close to Valentine’s Day, it was really easy for me to create a fun environment for our guests using the décor.  And since our party was in our home, I really wanted everything to have a homemade factor to it.

Linens

All of our linens were hot pink, red and black.  Designer Specialty Linens really helped me take my vision to the next level by creating custom runners using the matching red or pink with a black lace overlay.

Flowers

Because I went so bright with my linens, I decided it would be best to keep the floral design simple – using all whites with a hint of black.  I selected texture-rich flowers like ranunculus, white fringed tulips, hydrangea and anemones and used simple black glasses vases as vessels for the flowers.

Branded Details

I went out of my way to make sure that every last detail from the bags at the candy station, to the personalized napkins at the dessert buffet were all branded with our theme.  All of my signage from the wood signs to the description cards to even the banners were in our color scheme but not super matchy matchy.  Even our dogs had heart bandanas to fit in with the festivities.

Menu & Drinks

Tapas: We love Mexican food so we know we brought in El Tapatio to provide a taco cart and make tacos on site, helping the event feel less formal.  Additionally, we had a woman make tortillas on site and added in enchiladas, taquitos and Mexican Caesar salad.   We also served finger foods – a cheese display with antipasto items and various spreads.

Dessert: Our dessert setup was one of my favorite elements from the party! I worked with Leslie Maynor of Fantasy Frostings, and since she’ll also be doing my wedding cake & several other sweet at our reception, it was important that I also did not have her design anything that could resemble what we’d be doing for my big day.  I knew I wanted to do mini satellite cakes, and we created custom flavors so there would be no overlap.  This also gave me the advantage to name the cakes using various “love inspired” descriptions.

Beverages:
We served our favorite wines and beers along with various non-alcohol options, like watermelon and horchata agua frescas.

Bridal Party

It was really important to me that during our party we asked our bridal party to officially be in our wedding. Using various vendors on Etsy, I ordered special items to give them when we asked. For my Bridesmaids & Maid of Honor I found cute personalized tote bags. I also fell in love with Definition Cards and ordered these for all of the girls, as well as the flower girls and ring bearers. The kids each were gifted a book explaining their role in our wedding too and the girls received a mini flower girl tote.  The men were all given a personalized shot glass – which seemed appropriate – and when my fiancé asked them, they all toasted to the occasion!  This was very special to us and one of our favorite moments from the night!”