"Bella Notte"

Over Memorial Day weekend, Bobby and I hosted an engagement party for Bobby's brother, Joey, and Bethany, his bride-to-be.

Joey and Bethany met while Bethany was working at Fazoli's restaurant, and Bethany's favorite Disney movie is "Lady and the Tramp". Between their history and her love of that classic movie, the "Bella Notte", Italian cafe party theme was practically begging to be used. I simply had no other choice but to run with it!

Italian dinner music in the background helped create a festive ambiance. (I mean, it practically felt like we were in Italy. Practically.) We all enjoyed homemade Greek salad, homemade fettuccine alfredo, spaghetti with meat sauce catered by Fazoli's, tons of Fazoli's breadsticks, a lot of vino, and mini cheesecakes & chocolate chip cookies for dessert. No one went hungry.

Our air conditioner quit a couple of days before the party, and the fans could only do so much in the 80 degree weather. So, the house was a little warm for all twenty of us, and that was obviously less than ideal.  (What can you do?!) But, the show went on, and other than the unfortunate temperature, the party was a great success. The guests of honor seemed to have a wonderful time, and sweetly gave Bobby and me a snow-cone maker as a thank-you gift. Definitely a win-win!

Unfortunately, this is the only party photo I managed to get of the happy couple.
Hostessing + tending to Emerson's evening needs was manageable;
playing event photographer, also, proved to be too much.
Lesson learned.

It was such a pleasure to celebrate Joey and Bethany, and the fun is only beginning! We're excited for the months ahead and all of the celebrations yet to come. Congratulations, you two!