Setting the Tone for My First Engaged Holiday

This is my first engaged holiday! While I haven’t really thought TOO much about it, I’ve realized that I’m beginning to set the tone for my role and interaction and future family meals. I have a great relationship with my fiance’s family, even after my large family training kicked in and I have redone their buffet flow because I just couldn’t NOT! I feel like now that it’s really going to be officially a long-term relationship, this is when I put in the work to solidify so many things. Is it going to be my macaroni and cheese that unofficially is the best mac and cheese so others just stop making it? Not that it’s a competition.

It is.

I will win it.

(Mom, I know you’re worried reading this. No one has a supreme mac and cheese recipe in the new in-law family so this is free turf. I promise that your manners and family holiday recipe lessons did not go to waste.)

Funny enough, I think that my families territorial-ness about recipes and dishes has prepared me for this. I’ve already texted the hostess who honestly is so sweet and laid about this. I asked her about what the theme is, what she wants, etc. She pretty much was like honey just tell me what you would like to make and that’s what we’ll plan on. Bless her heart.

So we’ve got all the side dishes and all that good stuff worked out. I know. You were all on pins and needles waiting to make sure that was taken care of.

I’m actually worried something not food related this first engaged holiday. That thing? What to wear to my first future in-law’s holiday. This has me more worried than the casserole situation. People can forget about your mashed potatoes (but if you do them right they will NOT) but they will remember if you show up in the wrong thing. A very wrong thing. I still remember some significant others that didn’t heed this advice and didn’t make the cut.

This month’s Rent the Runway items I purposely chose to work for Thanksgiving. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go dressy or casual. Who am I kidding? I am going dressy, the casual options I actually struggled with styling! I loved this DVF wrap dress because it’s SO comfortable! The only issue is that it’s weirdly low-cut and definitely NOT appropriate. I actually find that DVF is extremely flattering on me, but almost indecent on my chest so I am always planning on double safety-pining them.

Trust me, not safety-pining this dress if you have a fuller bust will put you into the memorable category. On the flip side, this dress can take you from Thanksgiving to the Thursday night mid-winter club scene. So it’s got that going for it.

So I’m going to be wearing this wrap dress while I walk in with macaroni and cheese along with other side dishes (I’m really going for volume for my first official forage into this whole thing) and feeling confident. Oh and some Spanx. Because that little wrap dress is killer, but one can never be too careful.

A DVF wrap dress, macaroni and cheese and Spanx. What else could be more Thanksgiving than that?