Dear Future Hubby,
See that planter on the left? Don't end up there.
Yeah, I’ve been neglectful for the past few days. I wish I had a good story for you like St. Patrick’s Day just turned into a really long St. Patrick’s Weekend and I woke up Sunday morning to find myself asleep in a flower planter outside Irish Eyes in Chicago nursing a huge hangover. No, I’m not speaking from experience, I’m not that balls crazy. But I do know someone who that did happen to. Remind me to tell you when you meet him so you can mock him for that.
Being half Irish, my St. Patrick’s Day was mildly uneventful. I know, I know. How the hell am I allowed to have Gaelic Gala when I can’t even stomach corned beef and cabbage and celebrated the holiday by watching Millionaire Matchmaker while drinking a Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s? Fail right there. They are taking away my Irish genes as we speak.
But the thought of St. Patrick’s Day got me to thinking about how we can incorporate the greatest holiday ever into our wedding. Gaelic Gala is going to be in June so having our wedding on St. Paddy’s Day is a little out of the question. There is no way in hell I’m getting married in freezing Ireland in the middle of March. So having our engagement party on the holiday is a great compromise. We can be here or anywhere really. Honestly, Chicago would be preferred. No city except Chicago (and maybe Boston) knows how to properly celebrate it.
I used to think that I’d want to have some ridiculously prim and proper engagement party where everyone was standing around, sipping champagne and everything looking like a scene out of The Stepford Wives. Yeah, clearly I was delusional. As much as I love elegant affairs, I want our engagement party to be reflective of us as well. A celebration. A chance for our friends to come, have a pint, and rejoice in merriment. 10 bucks to the first person who gets drunk enough to do an Irish jig (BowieBride, I’m looking at you).
Ok, maybe it doesn’t have to be balls crazy Irish, like a eight bar pub crawl, someone dressing up as a leprechaun, or people kissing a fake Blarney stone, but it would be kind of cool to perhaps rent out an Irish bar on St. Patrick’s Day and have our friends not only come to celebrate the holiday, but celebrate our engagement as well. Here are some ideas I’ve come up with to not have our engagement party be in the spirit of the holiday, but elegant as well.
Admit it, this is an awesome idea.
Whiskey and Beer tasting stations: Think wine tasting party but with whiskey and beer. You’d be surprised how much Irish booze one can assemble when needed.
Irish inspired foods: Yes, I hate corned beef and cabbage, but that doesn’t mean I’m opposed to serving it at our St. Paddy’s Day engagement party. I’ll just be over at the desert bar hording Bonnafee Pie or eating Brown Bread (aka Soda Bread) and Champ like it’s going out of style.
Irish Music: No, we cannot have Celtic Thunder at the engagement party. I don’t want to ruin their grand performance at the reception, but there are wonderful Irish bands that would make great entertainment like Flogging Molly or hell, I may even pull Gaelic Gala in for a warm up performance to their gig at the Stag/Hen party.
So start prepping you liver now as this will be the warm up event to Gaelic Gala. Really, the whole reason we’re having our engagement party on St. Paddy’s Day is so everyone can be fully prepared by the time they hit Ireland. Just please for the love of god don’t end up passed out in a planter. If you do, you will be mocked and there will be photographic evidence available for everyone afterward.
Xo,
Your future wife
