Race to the Altar: Marathon Themed Engagement Party

My sister-in-law, Sara, and her boyfriend, Joe,  recently got engaged during a trip to Europe. On their first morning in Barcelona he suggested that they go take a run to the beach. As they were dipping their toes in the Mediterranean Sea he bent down on one knee and proposed to her. They are a wonderful couple and I couldn't be happier for the two of them.

As soon as I heard they were engaged I wanted to help throw them a party! As Sara and Joe were runners, and they got engaged while running, what better theme could there be than a Marathon Themed Engagement Party. The two of them were a little hesitant at first but we promised them that we would make it work. 

Our first hurtle was the invite (and yes I am trying to use as much sports lingo as possible). Since the wedding day is our finish line, we decided on making the engagement party the starting line. After a few iterations we decided on this:

Join us as the starting line, 

as we cheer on 

Sara and Joe 

as they race to the altar

Next was the decorations. I asked the couple to send me dates that were important to their relationship. When they first met, when they started dating, their first races together, etc. I then made racing bibs in their wedding colors that said what the dates meant to them.

I also made pom-poms out of dollar store table cloths. I plan on writing a post later on how to make them, so for now you just get pictures.

I stalked them on Facebook and found some fun pictures of them throughout their relationship and updated the picture display from my wedding to match the theme of the party.

We also set up a photo booth were people could write signs that gave words of encouragement to the couple. My favorites were "Plan like you love each other" and "Only 287 days to go"

Finally the dessert! This was my pride and joy!

Everybody had a wonderful time and the theme really set the mood for the party!