The first person we told was the waitress who served us champagne at our hotel bar. Then the concierge whom we asked for a dinner recommendation. We had an amazing seafood dinner at his sister's place. When the check came, she asked us how we were. "Fabulous!" I answered "We just got engaged." Audible joy came from her lips and she asked if she should go get the priest right then and there. They'd be happy to host the wedding supper she cheered sincerely. Tell everybody, but by all means, if you find yourself engaged in Greece, tell the waiter before dinner. Our check arrived with a litre of lovely Greek wine gratis. Lovely, but after a bottle of champagne before and the bottle of wine with dinner, we couldn't imagine downing the whole thing. Luckily for us we were able to cajole the wait staff into drinking toasts with us. Everyone celebrated, we only got slightly drunker, and we didn't look like ungrateful buffoons. Problem solved. Managing the old steps to the hotel room, all 107 of them, took considerably more aplomb.
The next day we found an internet cafe and told our parents and sisters. I also sent a group email subject line "I said Yes" content "xoxo" to a dear group of friends that is like a second family to me. My favorite response came from the paternal head of the group, R, a man who is so excited about us getting married I swear if he could arrange it all to happen tomorrow he would. He simply wrote back "as well you should." I couldn't wait to get back to NYC to tell him in person. We'd already arranged a welcome home brunch for just such an occasion.
On the plane home I searched through all our pictures to find the perfect engagement photo. My DIY, budget conscious self couldn't imagine sending out prim engagement announcements from a printer. So I photoshopped the best picture to look like a picture postcard and loaded it as a PDF into an HTML template in my outlook. I send out a flurry of e-mail to all my friends and family subject line "Happy News!" and saved a bundle on printing costs and postage.
No one complained or thought we were being cheap. No one had trouble opening it. We did send hard copies to our mothers, because they are both the sort of woman who will like the memento and will hold on to it. Easy enough to print them on quality card stock from our inkjet color printer and still far less expensive than printed announcements. Taking the time to make a pretty announcement, even if it is in an email, pays off here. Plus it's the kind of email you want to put some attention and care into crafting.
The payoff was the slew of congratulatory responses. It was instantly gratifying and flooded us with an added glow of good wishes. Email is definitely the way to go if you want to up the instant gratification level.
The next day we found an internet cafe and told our parents and sisters. I also sent a group email subject line "I said Yes" content "xoxo" to a dear group of friends that is like a second family to me. My favorite response came from the paternal head of the group, R, a man who is so excited about us getting married I swear if he could arrange it all to happen tomorrow he would. He simply wrote back "as well you should." I couldn't wait to get back to NYC to tell him in person. We'd already arranged a welcome home brunch for just such an occasion.
On the plane home I searched through all our pictures to find the perfect engagement photo. My DIY, budget conscious self couldn't imagine sending out prim engagement announcements from a printer. So I photoshopped the best picture to look like a picture postcard and loaded it as a PDF into an HTML template in my outlook. I send out a flurry of e-mail to all my friends and family subject line "Happy News!" and saved a bundle on printing costs and postage.
No one complained or thought we were being cheap. No one had trouble opening it. We did send hard copies to our mothers, because they are both the sort of woman who will like the memento and will hold on to it. Easy enough to print them on quality card stock from our inkjet color printer and still far less expensive than printed announcements. Taking the time to make a pretty announcement, even if it is in an email, pays off here. Plus it's the kind of email you want to put some attention and care into crafting.
The payoff was the slew of congratulatory responses. It was instantly gratifying and flooded us with an added glow of good wishes. Email is definitely the way to go if you want to up the instant gratification level.
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