Let Them Eat Cupcakes!

One of the other ways I tried to incorporate Mama Lioness' creativity was by having her host our engagement party.  I love seeing inspiration boards featuring engagement parties that could rival a wedding.  I didn't want all of that, though.  I wanted something low-key, inexpensive, and casual.  Also, I didn't want people to bring presents, as we hadn't had a chance to register yet.  We decided to have it at Mama Lioness' townhouse on December 26th, 2009.  We were in South Florida visiting three of our four divorced parents for the holidays, so it was a perfect opportunity to take advantage of already having many of our favorite people in the same place at the same time.  Five of my six bridesmaids are also from South Florida, so they were home visiting family as well.

Mama Lioness sent out evites (did I mention how casual I wanted this to be?) and started brainstorming with Sister Lioness.  They decided on afternoon cupcakes and champagne with DIY decor.  They got mini-cupcakes from Allegria at The Promenade in Coconut Creek.  (They sell froyo and cupcakes...who could ask for anything more?)  These are the flavors they decided on:

• Strawberry Meringue
• Mocha Espresso
• Tres Leches (it was very important to me that we include something more traditional to Mr. Lion's side of the family)
• Apple Streusel
• Key Lime
• Cookies and Cream
• Reeses Peanut Butter
• Red Velvet Cheesecake

Mama and Sister Lioness also made Black Bottom Cupcakes, a family favorite...so much so in fact, that I think people would have been disappointed if the Lionesses served cupcakes without a Black Bottom appearance!  Mama Lioness does not have cupcake trees, so she stacked glass cup and saucers together.  She bought a few heart-shaped cupcake liners and made a few Funfetti cupcakes to serve as toppers for her cupcake trees.  Then, she hand-made little bride and groom toppers to be toothpicked into the top cupcake.  Sister Lioness hand-made signs indicating the flavors (I wish I had her handwriting).  Here are the final results:

You can't see, but we had personalized confetti with our names!  A very nice touch from Mama Lioness, since she knows I'm into the details.  The lovely 8x10 frame and commemorative letterpress was a very nice gift from FMIL Lion!

Sister Lioness' amazing work

The only thing store-bought on here are the bottom two tiers of cupcakes.  Yay for DIY!

And here's a recap of how much fun we had!

When getting ready for an engagement party, it is necessary to wear an Ariel tiara and make a princess face.

Us with our Mamas...I am literally the whitest person here.

By the way, how fun our our buttons?!

 Mr. Lion and Lion Corgi...dancing!

 With Sister Lioness and Daddy Lioness

With 4 of my 6 bridesmaids...aren't they fabulous?

{all personal photos}

We had a ball.  The best part was having so many people that we care about in the same room at the same time.  If that's any indication of what the wedding itself will be like, I'm psyched!