Ultimate Guide to Planning an Engagement Party
Have you gotten engaged recently? Congratulations!
For many couples, engagement is a fantastic time filled with excitement and joy. So, take some time to enjoy that newly engaged bliss.
If you’re wondering where to start with engagement party planning, what happens at one and who gets invited, you’re in the right place. Below we’ve answered some of the most asked questions about engagement parties including guest lists, invitations, engagement gifts and every other important detail, plus a complete guide to planning an engagement party.
What is an Engagement Party?
An engagement party is a celebration of a recently engaged couple that brings together friends and family to toast to the new chapter of their lives. It’s one of the best ways to kick off your marriage celebrations and mark the exciting milestone.
What Happens at an Engagement Party?
What happens at an engagement party is totally up to you. When it comes to engagement party planning, the options for venues, activities and food options are endless. It’s a chance to get all your friends and family together, catch up with loved ones and show off your engagement ring.
While there is no strict rule outlining the activities that take place during an engagement celebration, the engaged couple and their guests tend to mingle while enjoying a medley of food and drinks, playing engagement party games and dancing to music. According to engagement party etiquette, speeches from the newly engaged couple are a must. Parents and friends of the couple may also be invited to make a heartfelt toast, depending on the couple’s preferences.
When to Have an Engagement Party?
Engagement parties typically take place around two or three months after the proposal. This allows you plenty of time to enjoy the recently engaged phase and enough time to plan your engagement party as well as any other pre-wedding festivities and the big day itself.
Depending on when you plan on having your wedding, you can be flexible with the date of your engagement party. For example, if you’re having a longer engagement, you can push the engagement party date back or if you’re getting married sooner, you may prefer to throw the engagement celebration within a month of the proposal.
Additionally, depending on the type and size of the party, you might want more time to coordinate the details.
Who Should be Invited to an Engagement Party?
As with all your pre-wedding parties, anyone who makes the guest list for your engagement party must also be invited to the wedding, so start by drawing up a preliminary guest list for your wedding. The most important thing to remember is that your engagement party is about you and your partner and who you want to celebrate with is totally up to you. On the other hand, if you’re planning an intimate family wedding, invite all the guests you want to the party and make it clear that this is your way to celebrate with them, as the wedding will be a much smaller affair.
Do You Take a Gift to an Engagement Party?
Guests are not typically required to bring gifts to an engagement party, but it is a nice gesture to bring an engagement gift when attending this type of celebration. Some popular engagement party gifts include a handwritten card, toasting flutes, a couples massage or champagne, though the amount you spend on an engagement party gift solely depends on an individual’s budget.
How to Plan an Engagement Party:
Set a budget
First on our engagement party checklist is setting a realistic budget as this will help inform other engagement party planning decisions. How much your engagement party costs will depend entirely on your preferences and how much you are willing to spend. Your engagement party budget should include the venue, food, beverages, decorations and entertainment.
If you’re happy to host your engagement party at home or at the home of one of your parents, you can throw an engagement celebration for as little as a couple hundred pounds. If you’re looking to hire an engagement party venue, as well as a DJ and any other entertainment, it might cost a few thousand pounds.
Create the guest list
If you and your partner are planning an engagement party, come together to jot down all your closest friends and family members. If someone else is hosting the engagement party on your behalf, consult them before mailing invitations. Just make sure that anyone who makes the guest list at your engagement party will receive an invite to the wedding!
Pick a date
As mentioned above, the best time to have an engagement party is within the first few months of the proposal. This way the excitement is still fresh, and it allows guests enough time to keep the date free. What’s more, at this stage, any potential wedding planning stress has yet to kick in. You should pick a date that works for you and your partner’s schedules and consider that you’re more likely to have more attendees if the event takes place over a weekend.
Choose a venue
The date that you choose for your engagement celebration will also depend on when your desired venue is available, so these two steps often go hand in hand. When choosing an engagement party venue, consider the number of guests and overall vibe of your event.
While casual and small gatherings are suited to someone’s home or garden, larger and more formal engagement parties are better suited to well-equipped venues. You might also want to consider the ambience you want to achieve for your engagement party, as the venue will play a huge role in this.
Choose a theme
Because you’re unlikely to know your wedding theme yet, it’s best to stick with a non-restrictive engagement party theme for now. Seasonal themes can be a great choice. For example, if you’re having a party in the summer, you could host an outdoor garden party of if you’re having an engagement celebration in the winter, you could decorate your venue with lots of cosy fairy lights.
Choose the decorations
Engagement party decorations will help tie everything together and make the event visually engaging. Decorations can also be used to highlight key elements of the event such as the welcome entrance, tables and more. You can go as all out or as simple as you like with the décor, but it usually ties in with your chosen theme – it’s totally up to you.
Send invitations
Aim to send out your engagement party invitations 4 to 6 weeks before the event, so your guests have plenty of time to save the date and RSVP. The type of engagement party invitations that you choose will be based on the type of event you’re throwing. Paper invitations are beautiful, but you could opt for digital invitations for convenience. Either way, your engagement party invitations should reflect the overall theme of the event and should include important details about the event including the date, venue and dress code as well as an RSVP date.
Plan any activities
Make sure to have some engagement party games ready, such as the Shoe Game. To set up the Shoe Game, you and your partner should sit on two chairs back-to-back and pick a host. The host should start reading out questions about the couple, for example “who made the first move?” When responding to the questions, you should raise the shoe of the person the question best describes. Games are perfect icebreakers as they encourage interaction and provide plenty of fun for younger and older generations. Depending on your budget, you can also consider hiring a professional entertainer or DJ, who will keep spirits high and ensure that everyone has a fantastic time.
Plan the speeches and toasts
As with other parts of your wedding celebrations, there are likely to be speeches at your engagement party. This might include the party host, your parents, siblings, friends or even you. You don’t have to say much, but it’s a good idea to plan ahead. The best engagement party speeches are short and sweet – just thank your guests for being there to celebrate this special time with you.
Find the perfect outfit
What you choose to wear for your engagement party will be influenced by the style and formality of the event. If it’s an outdoor BBQ, a summery dress or polo shirt should be fine. If it’s a sit-down meal, you might want to dress up a little. The most important thing is that you are comfortable. It’s also important to let your guests know in the invite if they should wear anything specific.
In Summary
Planning an engagement party is just one of the exciting steps towards getting married. It allows you to get all your friends and family together to celebrate the exciting milestone in your lives. The best thing about engagement party planning is that you can make the event totally personal to your preferences – it can be as extravagant or as low-key as you want. Just remember, you needn’t fuss over your engagement party too much as you don’t want it to outshine your wedding day! Here at the Lawrence Hotel we have a choice of intimate entertainment spaces and dining options enabling you to bring your engagement party ideas to life.
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