The Engagement Party

Cubans, Leo tells me, are prone to exaggeration.

So when Leo’s parents, Lucy and Leo, started planning our engagement party, I knew they weren’t going to toss together a few hors d’oeuvres and call it a party. This was going to be big.

They spent a week preparing food for an army. Leo and I bought six cases of beer. I prepared my friends, telling them to make their boyfriends drive them home, save room for LOTS of Cuban food and be ready to dance.

The party was perfect. Leo and I arrived early, to find the house beautifully decorated. Black-and-white photos of peppered the room, standing up on the counter, hanging from the dining room chandelier with ribbons and standing in frames on the fruit and cheese table. Candles, glitter, glass decorative rocks.

Best of all, they’d ordered blue and white M&Ms with “Leo and Jen” written on some and OUR FACES on the others.

And the food! Lucy and Leo prepared grapes, strawberries, three types of cheese and crackers for one table. Another table featured Cuban munchies, including a traditional potato omelet, Spanish sausage, and a tray full of other goodies. Several bottles of delicious wine stood ready for their divine purpose. And they were cooking a huge Cuban meal: pork, plantains, rice, black beans, paella and shrimp.

Once people began to arrive, two servers circulated with trays of more hors d’oeuvres. They cranked up the music, and the party began. About 50 people attended, many of whom have known Lucy and Leo since they lived in Florida. Their crew of friends all followed them from Sunshine State to Tar Heel State. This wonderful group of Cubans became the life of the party, creating a dance floor.

And it wouldn’t be  a party without a Conga line. I had not drunk enough wine to join in, but was dragged into it anyway.

That’s the way it goes.

Shortly after nine, Lucy and Leo stood up and thanked everyone for coming. There may have been a few sips of wine among his words, by Leo gave a beautiful speech, welcoming me to the Suarez family.

“It’s official,” he said. “She’s even going to be our Christmas card this year,” he said.

My friends, impressed with the food and the Conga line, kept telling me how lucky I am to be joining such a wonderful family. They are right. And that’s no exaggeration.

Thank you to our friends and family who were able to share this lovely night with us.

Click on the first photo to see a slideshow of the night.