to an amazing engagement party

July has started out as a fun filled and BUSY month. We spent July 4-9 traveling to Austin for a few days and then to Denver. We were productive, we partied, we planned and we celebrated with all of our family and friends.

Our First Stop- Austin

Departure: 6:20 am Fort Lauderdale- Austin

            Wednesday July 4^th– Saturday July 7^th

We arrived in Austin on the fourth of July. We have not been in the USA to celebrate the 4^th since 2015, because the past two years we were in Dominica. We were so excited to actually have plans with family and friends! We went on a party boat cruising through Lake Travis where we barbecued and partied while watching the fireworks shows all around the lake’s perimeter. We got home pretty late that night since the boat party ended around 12 am. We fell right asleep and had to wake up bright and early for our full day of wedding planning meetings.

Our schedule for the day was back to back appointments with florists, caterers and bakers from 10 am to 6 pm. We brought Jordan (Denzel’s little brother) along and met our wonderful wedding planner, Ally, at the florist appointment. HOLY COW you would not believe how many decisions you have to make at a florist. We have Pinterest-ed our wedding ideas for a while now and honestly, we were not prepared for all the choices we needed to make for our day. In retrospect, I wish I would’ve made individual Pinterest boards for each category of wedding planning to make it simpler when I attended appointments. Anyway, after a long conversation, Denzel and I finally felt like all the pieces we love finally fit together in one cohesive vision. I left feeling excited for what the décor would look like on our wedding day while I think the guys left more excited for our next appointment which was a bakery.

I hate cake. Ill just tell you that now, because trying 5-10 cake flavors and just as many frosting and filling combinations was not as pleasant as it sounds. I did not like any of the cakes or combinations from our first appointment so I was afraid at that point that we would have to end up going for a typical flavor and frosting combo which I did not want to do. Thankfully our next appointment was life changing. Our third appointment was with a caterer that also had a bakery. We tried many different appetizer, entree and cake options to choose a menu for our wedding. Denzel and I had a goal to pick wedding food that was unique and delicious, so we were over the moon with happiness after tasting this caterer’s food. We picked our menu and I even picked a wedding cake that I LOVED (I told you, life changing).

After our tasting, we rolled our stuffed selves out to the car and went and picked our linens for the wedding. That was easy since we just had to channel our colors and the décor we picked with the florist. We then went to an appointment with another florist and at that point we were so exhausted we could barely make it through explaining our entire vision again with a different person. As you meet multiple vendors, you just know when you have met the right one as a couple. Some vendors just get your vibe and personality without having to try too hard. We have been lucky to find vendors we really enjoy and mesh with. Friday we had one more catering appointment. It was very different from the first tasting, even though we chose a similar menu to try.

Overall, after all of the appointments we were 100% certain as to which vendors we would be selecting. We have been planning away for our wedding that is now in less than a year! Can you believe it?! It has honestly been a blast making decisions for our big day. Like many ladies, I have been looking forward to my wedding day since I was young and seeing it all come together has been a blessing.

Friday night we attended the wedding of one of Denzel’s cousins. Denzel was a groomsman so it was an experience seeing him all dressed up standing up by his cousin at the alter. It made me think about what our wedding day will be like. Because of this I, of course, shed quite a few tears through the ceremony. We had a great time dancing the night away with his family.

 

Our Second Stop- Denver

Departure: 6:20 am Austin-Denver

  Saturday July 7^th– Monday July 9^th

After three days of busy plans and parties, we were depleted. We arrived at 7:30 am in Denver and headed straight to the store to pick up a few things for our engagement party that night. Just after we got home, Nam (my good friend from medical school) arrived at the house. Denzel was so tired he went to take a nap- it ended up being a 5-hour nap!! Nam and I put together the bridesmaid’s proposal boxes for the party. It took us the majority of the day, because we were catching up and had to run to the store one more time. It got closer to party time and we all got ready to go.

When we arrived, my mom had set up the clubhouse with Middle Eastern Themed décor, food, and deserts. It was so cute! Soon after, all of our friends and family started arriving and from there it was just a busy night of hello’s, hugs, happy tears, and picture taking. Denzel got to meet the rest of the family friends he had not met previously. His family also came from Austin and had the chance to meet everyone as well. I “proposed” to my bridesmaids who could attend that day and enjoyed the night with everyone (check out Shop Shannon Sweeney). After the party ended, a group of us went out to Denver and had a blast dancing and singing all night long. We finally got home at 3 am exhausted, but we were all so happy to be spending time together.

The next morning (Sunday), about 14 of our friends, Denzel and I planned to go white water rafting in Idaho Springs which is up close to the mountains. Only three of us had done it before, so everyone was ready to try something new. We split up into a few different rafts, got our lifejackets and helmets on and had a great time rafting down the Upper Clear Creek river. Before we got in the river, the raft guides said “someone’s raft is bound to flip over”. And that raft was ours people. All seven of us toppled on top of each other under the rapids after the biggest fall on the stretch. Paddles and all, it was a pile up of chaos. After the initial shock of falling into the cold water, we swam to the edge of the river and got back into our tube. We walked away with one battle bruise (Yexica y’all), a few scrapes and soaking wet clothes, but mostly with laughs. We boarded back onto our boat, finished the stretch, and had lunch together at Beau Jo’s Pizza.

When we got home that night, we were exhausted! We looked through all the photos from the weekend and relaxed. Monday we headed back home to Miami in the afternoon, not quite ready to leave our family and friends, but ready to get back to studying.