You’re engaged, congratulations! Before diving in the deep end of wedding planning, consider having an engagement party to celebrate first! A lot of people haven’t been to or thrown an engagement party before but it is really just a big celebration of your engagement. Not only is it fun but it has some great benefits too.
An engagement party is great, especially for couples who are thinking about having their wedding a little further down the line. Having an engagement party let’s you celebrate your engagement in a big way and will alleviate the anxiety of thinking it will be forever before the big day and your time to celebrate.
Engagement parties are also great because you can have a bigger guest list. This is the time to invite all your friends and family because you know you may not be able to invite them all to the wedding. The per person cost of an engagement party is much less than a wedding; so this way, everyone gets to celebrate with you at least once.
The engagement party is a great time and place to give a sneak peak into your wedding. Showcase your colors, theme, and style to give a sense of what to expect at the wedding.
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TIPS:
Get professional engagement photos done! Make sure to schedule the shoot in enough time so that you can have them displayed during the engagement party.
Be prepared to answer questions from guests about the upcoming wedding; specifically about date and venue. Do some light preliminary planning/searching in the months leading to the engagement party to have some answers or at least ideas. And if you know for sure, this is a great time to hand out save-the-dates.
Make sure you have plenty of people to help set-up and coordinate. Trust me, it will take longer than you think by yourself; especially if you’re planning on having a lot of elements. If you have the budget for it, I definitely recommend hiring a planner or coordinator to make sure everything is beautiful and perfect.
Don’t overwhelm yourself trying to fully plan an engagement party and wedding at the same time. The two should be spaced out enough to where you can truly focus on one at a time. Trust me you’ll drive yourself crazy otherwise.
