You or someone close to you got engaged! This, of course, calls for a celebration. If you want to ensure a smooth engagement party planning process and the event, then remember these dos and don’ts. After all, you will be spending a lot of time finalizing a venue, décor, party tent rentals, and other stuff, so this list will help you stay on track.
Engagement Party Planning Dos And Don’ts
Do Decide The Host
Although if there are talks of an engagement party, you may know who the host is, but still, it’s important to go through this point and decide who will be hosting the event.
Traditionally, the bride’s parents host the engagement party. However, now, anyone close to the couple or the couple themselves can organize the party. It can be the bride’s parents, the groom’s parents, the couple’s parents sharing the responsibilities, the couple themselves, or a sibling or a friend of the couple.
Deciding on the host will make everyone aware of who to ask questions related to the event, and everyone will know their roles and what they will be paying for, which becomes important if multiple people are hosting the event.
Also, it’s not uncommon to see a couple celebrate multiple engagement parties, each planned by a different host.
Don’t Make It Too Formal
An engagement party is a party, so making it too formal will not do much if you want to entertain the guests and make sure that the engagement party looks like a party and the wedding looks like a perfect wedding.
So, keep the vibe of both events contrasting so both don’t look the same because that will make your wedding appear boring and repetitive, and you definitely don’t want that.
Do Pick The Right Date
Picking the date seems simple, but many couples or engagement party hosts get this part wrong. Hosting a party only a week or two after the proposal will be too rushed and may not be a great idea.
Usually, the best time for throwing an engagement party is a few months after the proposal. It won’t look too soon or too late, and there will be enough time to properly plan a party that goes smoothly without any hiccups.
Don’t Pick Major Holidays
This ties in with the above point. When picking a date, it would sound perfect to host it on a holiday, but it’s usually far from it, especially if you’re picking a major holiday like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Valentine’s Day.
This is because many people have family gatherings or other plans for these holidays, so many of your guests won’t make it who otherwise would have.
If you do want to combine the engagement party with another important day, it should be a personal one, like your birthday, first date, etc.
Do Choose A Convenient Venue
The venue should be cool and have the vibe you’re going for, but it should not be too distant. Usually, people don’t want to travel for hours to an engagement party. So, apart from choosing your home’s backyard (the couple’s or the host’s), you can pick a private room of a restaurant or any other venue that is close to the city or town where most of the guests are from.
Don’t Invite Everyone You Would Invite To The Wedding
You just got engaged and you want to share the celebration with all the people you know, but it’s better to keep the guest list small and only invite people who are close to you, because engagement parties are usually intimate and casual.
And it’s a wedding etiquette that those whom you invite to the engagement party should be invited to the wedding as well. But you don’t need to invite everyone to the engagement party who you would invite to the wedding. Keep this in mind when creating your guest list.
The guest list also depends on the person who is hosting the event and where the party will be hosted. If the party is in your hometown or your parents are hosting it, you may have to invite a few of your relatives. Similarly, if the party is away from your home and where you currently live, inviting your family, friends, and some coworkers would make more sense. But there is no hard and fast rule of who to invite. However, the small guest list rule does help.
Do Choose Digital Invitations
Unless you’re hosting a formal engagement party and want to keep things classic with traditional paper invites, sending out digital invitations should be your preference as they are quick, have tons of designs, and are eco-friendly.
However, make sure to send the digital invitations at least a month before the date so the guests have enough time to RSVP and prepare for the party. And the invites should also include the dress code.
Don’t Overspend
We suggested before in this guide to keep the guest list small. This does keep your budget in check, too. However, some couples or hosts take the small guest list as an opportunity to spend much more than they would on that number of people.
Although spending more can make an engagement party look better and awesome, it can throw your finances off-balance, especially when you have to create a wedding budget as well, and plan for many more parties before and after the wedding. So, it’s better to keep things entertaining and cool yet inside your budget.
Do Include Activities
Activities at any party can make it more interesting as they act as icebreakers and also entertain the guests. There are many activities like quizzes, lawn games, photo booth, truth and lie or truth and dare, team sports, and more that can keep your guests engaged. You can search the internet for dozens of games and entertainment ideas you can include in your engagement party.
Don’t Expect Gifts But Share Registry Information
Engagement parties are not wedding ceremonies, so you should not expect every guest to bring gifts. However, the trend of bringing gifts is becoming popular, so you should include registry information. But avoid sharing it on the invites directly, as it may force the guests to bring gifts. Instead, create a wedding website, include registry information on it, and share the site’s link on the invites.
However, if you want to keep guests relaxed and don’t want them to bring gifts, you can mention it directly on the invitations.
Do Make The Decor About The Couple
The engagement party is already about the couple, so including decor items or sharing history may seem like overkill, but it won’t be if done well. The focus should be on creating a beautiful and joyous vibe that reflects the couple’s memories and preferences. For instance, photo walls and framed pictures of the couple are classics that can put a lovely smile on anyone’s face.
Conclusion
There is a lot that goes into planning an engagement party, like hiring a venue, creating a guest list, and hiring outdoor party rentals Northern VA, but at the end of the day, the purpose is to have fun and celebrate the new bond. So, remember to stay stress-free and enjoy the party!