Engagement parties have long been a tradition that couples indulge in before getting married. However, younger Canadians have been putting a unique spin on this custom in recent years by throwing surprise engagement parties. This can be a great way to delight the happy couple and show them how much their connection means to their family and friends. Still, you need to go about the process in the right manner for it to work. Review this guide and gain more perspective on how to properly throw a surprise engagement party.
Ask the Right Preliminary Questions
Before you do anything else, you need to ask yourself a handful of questions about the couple. Namely, you must consider whether or not they will appreciate being surprised. Some people absolutely hate surprises, especially individuals who like to have a lot of control over their lives. If the couple likes to meticulously plan every detail of their routine without change, then you may want to nix the idea of surprising them. You should also consider whether the guests can keep a secret. If you’re working with people who love to gossip, you may want to consider other options.
Create the Guest-list For The Engagement Party
Next, you need to figure out who will be invited to the party. This can be a tricky step, especially if you don’t know all the people the couple would want present at the event. Since you cannot ask the couple without giving away the secret, you must work with other friends and family members to put together a succinct list. You must be very careful with who you invite, as custom dictates people who are invited to the engagement party must also be invited to the wedding. Be thorough to avoid any awkward situations for the couple.
Pick a Place
One of the more challenging aspects of planning a surprise engagement party is selecting a location. Opting for a venue like a restaurant can make it easier to figure out food and drink concerns, but it also can be more expensive and limit how many guests you can invite. The popular alternative younger Canadians have been taking advantage of in recent years is hosting the party at someone’s home. This can help to create a relaxed and welcoming environment for everyone. If you decide to use a venue, be sure to book the space at least three months in advance.
Plan Activities At Your Engagement Party
To make the event more personal, you may wish to include a variety of activities. Specifically, it can be a good idea to plan games that are centered around the couple and their relationship. For example, you can create a list of questions about the couple and have all of the guests answer them to the best of their abilities. When the answers are read aloud, it can make for a fun and hilarious experience as the couple learns who knows the most about them. Look at sites like Pinterest for more inspiration on party games.
Figure Out the Final Plan
Once you have all of the details figured out, you must create a plan for the day of the party. How are you going to get the couple to the venue without giving away the secret? Will someone be in charge of spending time with the couple beforehand so that they make it to the venue in a timely manner? You may also want to consider having guests park their vehicles away from the venue where the party is being held. This will help to keep the party a total surprise until the last possible moment.
Throw a Wonderful Engagement Party
While surprise engagement parties have become a popular trend among younger Canadians, a lot of work goes into planning such events. As long as you’re prepared to handle all the details, a surprise party can be a wonderful way to celebrate a special couple.
For Canadian couples who are either engaged or considering it, an engagement party is a great way to start the wedding festivities. This party is widely thought to be the official start of a couple’s wedding, even if the actual date of the nuptials is far off. Although this pre-wedding event is not usually as formal as a rehearsal dinner or the actual wedding, a little planning can go a long way into making an engagement party all the more special.
Exploring the History of Engagement Parties
The tradition of an engagement party goes as far back as Ancient Greece, where this event was part of an oral contract between the groom and the father of the bride. In Western culture, such a celebration appeared as a typical shindig where a bride’s parents made a surprise announcement to attendees that their daughter was to tie the knot. As a result, engagement parties historically don’t involve giving presents. Today’s gatherings are known as celebrations of an engaged couple’s happiness. They may be thrown by the bride’s parents, other family members, friends or even the couple to be wed.
Picking a Date
Although there’s no set rule as to when the festivities must be held, typically the party should be thrown within a few months of the actual proposal. The engagement should be fairly new when you inform loved ones of the celebration. If there are attendees who live far away, you’ll want to give them plenty of time to make arrangements to come.
Handling Invitations
Engagement party invitations don’t need to be as formal as that of a wedding. You can go old-school with mailed cards or take advantage of a wedding website and social media to spread the word. Creating an event on a platform like Facebook or using sites such as Zazzle to make and send ecards leverages the power of technology to inform loved ones of the event. Invitations, whether printed or digital, don’t need to match a wedding theme, especially if you haven’t yet gotten to that part of nuptials planning.
Choosing a Location
Because this pre-wedding event doesn’t have to be very formal, there are several options for this gathering:
House of a friend, family member or your own: Home is where the heart is, and where’s a better place to celebrate pledging love to another person than a home? This environment is familiar, comfortable and relaxed.
Private room at a favorite restaurant: If you or your partner have a restaurant you enjoy, see if it has a private room you can use. Depending on the number of attendees, those celebrating can order food off the menu or a prix fixe option might be more your speed. Did you and your partner meet at a particular place? Throwing your engagement party there can make it extra special.
Rented hall or public space: A large number of guests may require a venue such as an event hall, neighborhood clubhouse or country club space.
Wherever you hold the event, remember that it’s not supposed to outshine your actual wedding ceremony.
Planning Activities For Your Engagement Party
It’s important to remember that the engagement party isn’t like a bridal shower or other pre-wedding events that might involve gifts. Some attendees may bring presents, so you should have a space to collect those, but opening them shouldn’t be a scheduled activity. This is the time to eat, drink, be merry and introduce friends and family to one another. Laid-back group games are perfectly fine for such an event. You and others may feel compelled to share well wishes, but formal toasts aren’t required.
Congratulations to you and your partner, or some near-and-dear ones who you’re planning for. An engagement party is a lovely way to start the countdown to a big day ahead. It can be as laid-back and fuss-free as you make it.
Before you start planning your wedding, consider whether or not you should have an engagement party, which can be a great way to build excitement.
After you and your significant other have decided to tie the knot, there are a number of preliminary steps you need to take. Before you start planning the details of your wedding, consider whether or not you should have an engagement party. For many couples, this event is a great way to announce an engagement and get family and friends excited for the upcoming marriage. Of course, you are also not required to have this kind of party if you do not wish for it or want to spend the money on it.
Planning an engagement party requires a bit of forethought. There are a number of traditions to consider and rules of etiquette to adhere to. Think over these points and decide if this gathering is the right fit for your needs.
The Details of the Engagement Party
Traditionally, there are a few guidelines for the planning of an engagement party. For one, make sure that this party takes place within the first few months after you have decided to wed. Waiting too long can push the date far too close to the wedding and create conflicts. In addition, you also need to think about who will be hosting the event. According to some experts, the bride’s family takes care of this cost, though there is no reason to adhere to this tradition.
Modern couples have found that combined efforts produce far better results. Instead of asking one side of the family to host the event, see if both sides want to come together to plan out the engagement party. This can be a fun way to bring everyone into the same space before the wedding and see how they interact. If you don’t wish to ask your families to host this event, then you and your significant other can take on the task on your own.
Simple Etiquette
No matter who hosts the party, there are a few etiquette tips to stay mindful of throughout the process. For one, it is very important that you only invite people to the engagement party who will be invited to your actual wedding. It is considered poor taste to ask people to attend the preliminary events and not the final event. Things can get tricky when parents or other relatives decide to invite someone to a pre-party without telling you. Talk to family members in advance and set ground rules to avoid uncomfortable discussions about who gets invitations.
While some guests will bring gifts to this event, it is not expected according to custom. Showers and the wedding itself are usually more focused around presents. While some guests might still bring you a gift, you should not mention presents on invitations at all. Your friends and family will show you plenty of love in this department during your actual wedding, so don’t worry yourself about gifts for this event.
Food and Drink
Finally, don’t go overboard with food and drink. While you should provide refreshments, there’s no need for a full meal. Depending on the size of the group, appetizers and smaller snacks can suffice. Some people opt to host these gatherings at restaurants, which can solve the problem of food and drink. You’re not trying to feed everyone so much as you are offering a little something to keep everyone satisfied while enjoying the company. As long as everyone has enough to munch and sip on through the duration of the party, you’ve got plenty.
Determining whether or not an engagement party is the right choice for you may take a bit of time. Weigh out your options and discuss the idea with your partner to decide if you’d like to host – or have others host – this type of event, and do your research to find the right fit for your pre-wedding needs.
Engagement parties have long been a tradition that couples indulge in before getting married. However, younger Canadians have been putting a unique spin on this custom in recent years by throwing surprise engagement parties. This can be a great way to delight the happy couple and show them how much their connection means to their family and friends. Still, you need to go about the process in the right manner for it to work. Review this guide and gain more perspective on how to properly throw a surprise engagement party.
Ask the Right Preliminary Questions
Before you do anything else, you need to ask yourself a handful of questions about the couple. Namely, you must consider whether or not they will appreciate being surprised. Some people absolutely hate surprises, especially individuals who like to have a lot of control over their lives. If the couple likes to meticulously plan every detail of their routine without change, then you may want to nix the idea of surprising them. You should also consider whether the guests can keep a secret. If you’re working with people who love to gossip, you may want to consider other options.
Create the Guest-list For The Engagement Party
Next, you need to figure out who will be invited to the party. This can be a tricky step, especially if you don’t know all the people the couple would want present at the event. Since you cannot ask the couple without giving away the secret, you must work with other friends and family members to put together a succinct list. You must be very careful with who you invite, as custom dictates people who are invited to the engagement party must also be invited to the wedding. Be thorough to avoid any awkward situations for the couple.
Pick a Place
One of the more challenging aspects of planning a surprise engagement party is selecting a location. Opting for a venue like a restaurant can make it easier to figure out food and drink concerns, but it also can be more expensive and limit how many guests you can invite. The popular alternative younger Canadians have been taking advantage of in recent years is hosting the party at someone’s home. This can help to create a relaxed and welcoming environment for everyone. If you decide to use a venue, be sure to book the space at least three months in advance.
Plan Activities At Your Engagement Party
To make the event more personal, you may wish to include a variety of activities. Specifically, it can be a good idea to plan games that are centered around the couple and their relationship. For example, you can create a list of questions about the couple and have all of the guests answer them to the best of their abilities. When the answers are read aloud, it can make for a fun and hilarious experience as the couple learns who knows the most about them. Look at sites like Pinterest for more inspiration on party games.
Figure Out the Final Plan
Once you have all of the details figured out, you must create a plan for the day of the party. How are you going to get the couple to the venue without giving away the secret? Will someone be in charge of spending time with the couple beforehand so that they make it to the venue in a timely manner? You may also want to consider having guests park their vehicles away from the venue where the party is being held. This will help to keep the party a total surprise until the last possible moment.
Throw a Wonderful Engagement Party
While surprise engagement parties have become a popular trend among younger Canadians, a lot of work goes into planning such events. As long as you’re prepared to handle all the details, a surprise party can be a wonderful way to celebrate a special couple.
For Canadian couples who are either engaged or considering it, an engagement party is a great way to start the wedding festivities. This party is widely thought to be the official start of a couple’s wedding, even if the actual date of the nuptials is far off. Although this pre-wedding event is not usually as formal as a rehearsal dinner or the actual wedding, a little planning can go a long way into making an engagement party all the more special.
Exploring the History of Engagement Parties
The tradition of an engagement party goes as far back as Ancient Greece, where this event was part of an oral contract between the groom and the father of the bride. In Western culture, such a celebration appeared as a typical shindig where a bride’s parents made a surprise announcement to attendees that their daughter was to tie the knot. As a result, engagement parties historically don’t involve giving presents. Today’s gatherings are known as celebrations of an engaged couple’s happiness. They may be thrown by the bride’s parents, other family members, friends or even the couple to be wed.
Picking a Date
Although there’s no set rule as to when the festivities must be held, typically the party should be thrown within a few months of the actual proposal. The engagement should be fairly new when you inform loved ones of the celebration. If there are attendees who live far away, you’ll want to give them plenty of time to make arrangements to come.
Handling Invitations
Engagement party invitations don’t need to be as formal as that of a wedding. You can go old-school with mailed cards or take advantage of a wedding website and social media to spread the word. Creating an event on a platform like Facebook or using sites such as Zazzle to make and send ecards leverages the power of technology to inform loved ones of the event. Invitations, whether printed or digital, don’t need to match a wedding theme, especially if you haven’t yet gotten to that part of nuptials planning.
Choosing a Location
Because this pre-wedding event doesn’t have to be very formal, there are several options for this gathering:
House of a friend, family member or your own: Home is where the heart is, and where’s a better place to celebrate pledging love to another person than a home? This environment is familiar, comfortable and relaxed.
Private room at a favorite restaurant: If you or your partner have a restaurant you enjoy, see if it has a private room you can use. Depending on the number of attendees, those celebrating can order food off the menu or a prix fixe option might be more your speed. Did you and your partner meet at a particular place? Throwing your engagement party there can make it extra special.
Rented hall or public space: A large number of guests may require a venue such as an event hall, neighborhood clubhouse or country club space.
Wherever you hold the event, remember that it’s not supposed to outshine your actual wedding ceremony.
Planning Activities For Your Engagement Party
It’s important to remember that the engagement party isn’t like a bridal shower or other pre-wedding events that might involve gifts. Some attendees may bring presents, so you should have a space to collect those, but opening them shouldn’t be a scheduled activity. This is the time to eat, drink, be merry and introduce friends and family to one another. Laid-back group games are perfectly fine for such an event. You and others may feel compelled to share well wishes, but formal toasts aren’t required.
Congratulations to you and your partner, or some near-and-dear ones who you’re planning for. An engagement party is a lovely way to start the countdown to a big day ahead. It can be as laid-back and fuss-free as you make it.
Before you start planning your wedding, consider whether or not you should have an engagement party, which can be a great way to build excitement.
After you and your significant other have decided to tie the knot, there are a number of preliminary steps you need to take. Before you start planning the details of your wedding, consider whether or not you should have an engagement party. For many couples, this event is a great way to announce an engagement and get family and friends excited for the upcoming marriage. Of course, you are also not required to have this kind of party if you do not wish for it or want to spend the money on it.
Planning an engagement party requires a bit of forethought. There are a number of traditions to consider and rules of etiquette to adhere to. Think over these points and decide if this gathering is the right fit for your needs.
The Details of the Engagement Party
Traditionally, there are a few guidelines for the planning of an engagement party. For one, make sure that this party takes place within the first few months after you have decided to wed. Waiting too long can push the date far too close to the wedding and create conflicts. In addition, you also need to think about who will be hosting the event. According to some experts, the bride’s family takes care of this cost, though there is no reason to adhere to this tradition.
Modern couples have found that combined efforts produce far better results. Instead of asking one side of the family to host the event, see if both sides want to come together to plan out the engagement party. This can be a fun way to bring everyone into the same space before the wedding and see how they interact. If you don’t wish to ask your families to host this event, then you and your significant other can take on the task on your own.
Simple Etiquette
No matter who hosts the party, there are a few etiquette tips to stay mindful of throughout the process. For one, it is very important that you only invite people to the engagement party who will be invited to your actual wedding. It is considered poor taste to ask people to attend the preliminary events and not the final event. Things can get tricky when parents or other relatives decide to invite someone to a pre-party without telling you. Talk to family members in advance and set ground rules to avoid uncomfortable discussions about who gets invitations.
While some guests will bring gifts to this event, it is not expected according to custom. Showers and the wedding itself are usually more focused around presents. While some guests might still bring you a gift, you should not mention presents on invitations at all. Your friends and family will show you plenty of love in this department during your actual wedding, so don’t worry yourself about gifts for this event.
Food and Drink
Finally, don’t go overboard with food and drink. While you should provide refreshments, there’s no need for a full meal. Depending on the size of the group, appetizers and smaller snacks can suffice. Some people opt to host these gatherings at restaurants, which can solve the problem of food and drink. You’re not trying to feed everyone so much as you are offering a little something to keep everyone satisfied while enjoying the company. As long as everyone has enough to munch and sip on through the duration of the party, you’ve got plenty.
Determining whether or not an engagement party is the right choice for you may take a bit of time. Weigh out your options and discuss the idea with your partner to decide if you’d like to host – or have others host – this type of event, and do your research to find the right fit for your pre-wedding needs.
