Countdown to Fun

Friends, we are almost 13 months out from the wedding and being a frugal and utterly practical bride (right) I've been very good and refrained from doing too much buying or planning.  But I'm itching to get my DIY craftiness on and start whipping up some adorable decorations and stationary!  So what's a girl obsessed with party planning to do?

Throw an engagement party!

Buying this game probably would have been cheaper [src]

My parents are visiting on Memorial Day weekend this year, and since that nicely coincided with the negative one-year anniversary of our future wedding I bullied them into hosting they graciously offered to host an engagement party.  And by "host" I mean put-their-name-on-the-invite-for-etiquette-reasons since I've already started planning the whole thing and also, it's at my and M's house.

We're calling it our "Countdown" party, a la Mrs. Bruschetta and it's a complete departure from everything we've planned for the wedding so far.  I wanted something whimsical and casual - we'll be barbequing in our backyard, entertaining throughout the house, and friends and family should feel welcome to come and go.  But most of all, I wanted the theme to reflect M and I and some of our shared history.  You all remember my obsession with themes, right?

Here's the thing - M and I love Disney.  We sing duets to "A Whole New World" during car trips, we watch Mulan on rainy days, my favorite coffee mug has Mickey all over it.  Our first vacation as a couple was to Walt Disney World, and we still reminisce about how much fun we had.  So our engagement party will be Disney themed - hopefully in a very classy,  "child at heart" way.

NOT LIKE THIS.  Never like this.  [src]

More details ahead... stay tuned!