The Go-To Guide For Planning Your Engagement Party

Once the initial excitement of the engagement calms down and you’ve shared the news with your family and friends, it’s time to think about a party.

Having an engagement party is not a necessity, seeing as it’s rarely used to announce the engagement as it was in the past. That being said, having a party is a wonderful way to celebrate and introduce your family and friends to one another before your wedding.

Here’s what you need to do to get your engagement party planning done and dusted:

First thing’s first: the announcement

How will you announce your engagement? It’s a common courtesy to call or send a note in the mail to your close family and friends before sharing the news on social media. If you want to surprise your family and friends, you could throw a spontaneous party to share the news with them in person.

Engagement party guest lis

The first of many rules when it comes to wedding guest lists is, only invite them to the engagement party if you’ll be inviting them to the wedding as well. That is, of course, unless you choose to have an intimate wedding with few people from the other side of the world. A general rule of thumb is to first think about how big you want your wedding to be, and make the engagement party the same.

Who’s hosting?

Traditionally the bride’s parents host the engagement party, however as with most traditions, these lines are blurred today. Speak to your parents or close friends and decide how you want to celebrate - if at all. If the bride and groom come from different places, you may want to have two parties to celebrate with friends far away.

Set the style

The engagement party kick starts the wedding celebrations, so it’s fitting for the party to set the tone for the style and theme of the wedding. If you’re planning on having a low key backyard wedding, having a glamorous cocktail engagement party may not suit and vice versa.

Gifts

Typically speaking, it isn’t common for the bride and groom to specify to receive gifts for their engagement as this usually happens at the wedding.

Here is a handy checklist for planning your engagement party:

• Agree on the host or venue
• Decide on a date
• Set the guest list
• Organise and send the invitations
• Plan the party decorations
• Set the menu and drinks
• Prepare any ice-breaking activities for your friends and family to mingle
• Plan your outfits (you are the engaged couple, after all!)