Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

It turns out that there is an important decision to make when you get engaged. No, its not creating a profile on theknot.com. For Mr. Alexander and myself, the first decision was how we were going to tell our friends and family about the engagment.
It must be said that Mr. Alexander and I are both from larger families as well as blended families. (This is the incredibly PC term for divoriced and re-married parents). For us, the announcement had the possiblility of running the course of our engagement if we chose to tell relatives as we saw them at various birthday parties, weddings, and holidays. I took to the internet to decipher my options.
According to the be all end all etiquette queen Martha Stewart, simply declaring that you are engaged is not the best option. One should choose to host a party where friends and relatives can be brought together, celebrating this happy occasion and kicking off the wedding planning. In decades past, you also had the option of sending out an announcement in the mail, as well as submitting it to the local paper. However, Ms.Stewart cautioned, in today's society, this is an outdated option. Yes, a party was the way to go.
I immediately went to Mr. Alexander with my findings....Who is not the most comfortable person in large groups, or parties.... And told him my idea of having an engagment party for our close friends and family. Would you believe it, he had a deflection for my every suggestion. Where would we hold it? How many people would go? Who is going to pay for such a party?
Damn him, his great common sense and party aversions!
What would we do then? How could we spread the news throughout this great nation as well as avoid the stigma of "outdated"?
...We sent out announcements. But, in an effort to still be ourselves, we designed a postcard on Snapfish. A postcard with all fun and silly pictures of us that showed our personalities together. And, if that were not enough, we added a tag line along the bottom. A wonderful quote by the most famous philospher in all history. A serious man who thought deeply on all subjects. A man with a giant, curly, white beard, so you know he's serious.

"Love is a grave mental disease".

...Mr. Alexander and I agree wholeheartedly.