Congratulations on your engagement! Now it is time to make the big announcements and create the ultimate celebration. Announcing your engagement to friends and family involves planning an engagement party that brings everyone together under one roof. Get comfortable and let’s delve into what you need to know about planning the engagement party.
What Tradition Says
The engagement party is not to be confused with the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner is hosted by the groom’s parents just a couple days prior to the wedding, while the bride’s parents host the engagement party within a couple months after the couple gets engaged. As traditions, roles and circumstances change over time, we find more and more couples throwing their own engagement party. When planning a long engagement, it is okay to delay the celebration.
Announcing the Engagement and Invitations
Couples get creative with the ways they make the big announcement and create the invitations. Before you can design invitations and send them out, it is important to plan how you will make the announcement and determine the scale of the party you will be planning. Whether email, phone call or you are taking this one to print with foil and tassels, you will need to make an announcement and invite a few important people to a specific location. Your invitations will generally match the theme of your venue. Many choose an email invitation for small restaurants and informal backyard affairs. An elegant and formal venue calls for a formal invitation. Formal invitations remain popular and follow tradition. If you are planning a themed engagement party, make sure your invitations portray your theme. Keep in mind that the same guests will expect an invitation to the wedding.
Choosing a Venue
An engagement party can be celebrated in various settings, depending on the scale of the event you plan to hold. The venue can be anywhere on the spectrum from casual garden party to formal ballroom. Most engagement parties are formal affairs that involve service of a fine cuisine and alcoholic beverages. The sit down dinner can be planned in your home, a restaurant or a formal event venue. An all-inclusive event venue can accommodate your guests while providing all of the chinaware, table settings, banquet staff, bartender and décor to make your engagement party an unforgettable celebration.
The Backyard Engagement Party
When it comes to an engagement party, a backyard barbecue is just as acceptable as a formal banquet hall. You might want to plan the wedding at the formal venue and plan a backyard gathering for an intimate and low-key engagement party. Seating on a deck or beneath a backyard tent with stringed lighting will add a little touch of formal to the setting. Add floral centerpieces to the tables and votive candles. Staging a garden setting around the event can make it a little extra romantic. Backyards create opportunity for games and outdoor fun, such as cornhole and horseshoes. Make the engagement party festive and romantic with sparklers.
Themed Engagement Party
An engagement party can be inspired by a fairy tale or a season. Many engagement parties incorporate a season into the theme. Fall months offer pumpkin patches and hayrides. Add pumpkin pie and apple pie to the menu. Have guests bring a homemade pie for a tasting contest. October vineyards can make the perfect backdrop for a romantic engagement party. Summer creates island themes. Winter is a wonderland. February is all about hearts and Valentine's Day. Passport themed invitations can be the extra touch to travel or destination themed engagement party. Stamp the invitations as the guests answer trivia questions about the couple correctly. Add a few geography questions to stick to the theme. The first passport to fill with stamps wins the game. Serve dishes inspired by destinations around the globe. Get creative and have fun designing your theme.
Formal Engagement Party
For most, announcing the engagement can be nothing less than an extravagant and formal affair. Crystal Ballroom Clearwater creates formal engagement party celebrations to match any theme of your imagination. Create your magical celebration in a whimsical ballroom on Florida's coast. Meet with an in-house design team and planners to customize your unique theme with napkins, linens, sashes, runners, overlays, charger plates, votive candles and centerpieces at the location of your dreams. Customize your magical moments the way you want them remembered forever.
