How to Plan an Engagement Party:
So, you and your partner have recently become engaged and you want to celebrate! Deciding to have a party is the easy part, but planning it will be a more trying task... But it will be great practice for planning your wedding.
The following are a few key points to consider before you enter full-blown party planning mode:
• Think of the tone and theme you want to set for your wedding. Even though this is only your engagement party, you want both events to run together in synch and for the engagement party to be a subsidiary of the wedding. For example – if you are going to have a grand ballroom wedding with 200 guests in black tie and make it the event of the year, you may consider having a black tie cocktail party or a large high tea running into the evening for an engagement party rather than a backyard barbeque.
• Think guest lists. There are a few common approaches people take when considering guest lists for both the engagement party and the wedding: 1. Have the same people for both the engagement party and wedding 2. As above, sans children for either event 3. Invite everyone you want to celebrate with you to the engagement party and less to the wedding 4. As above, vice versa • BUDGET! If you and your future husband are planning on paying for the wedding on your own, factor costs of the engagement party into your wedding budget. If you don’t do this, you may be in for a big surprise later on when the wedding planning begins! • If you’re planning on having a big event, consider hiring a professional photographer to document the event. You may find that a photographer will give you a bulk discount for doing both the wedding and engagement party. It’s also a great way to trial your wedding photographer! • Decide early on what you will do for music. If you don’t want to hire a DJ, either make up some iPod playlists or some CD’s and play them throughout the night. Organise the order of the songs prior to the event so you don’t have to be preoccupied with running around changing the music all night.
If you want to keep your engagement party fairly simple, but still want to have a celebration with people you love then a banquet dinner is always a fun and fairly inexpensive option. This is a great excuse for family members from both you and your partner’s sides to meet and mingle a little more before the marriage. With one or two long tables with banquet style food, people can walk around and mingle and laugh and feel free to have a ball more than with a formal sit down dinner.
Cost Cutting Ideas!
• The Aussie barbeque is a favourite for many planning an engagement party. The beauty of this is that it can be done fairly cheaply. A great idea for people on a tight budget is to ask for guests to bring a dish in lieu of a gift. This way you can either spend more money on decorations or alcohol, or save more for the wedding itself. • Outdoor fairy lights are always beautiful and add so much to any party. They are a very inexpensive way of jazzing up any party!
• Plan ahead. If you are supplying alcohol and food for the entire party, for the months leading up to the event, keep your eye out for bulk specials on things like meat and cases of wine and beer. You will be surprised how much you can save when buying in bulk when on special!
• If a professional photographer doesn’t fit into your budget, think of any family members or friends who are particularly interested in photography and enlist them to be in charge of documenting the night. Many people will be honoured with the task!
Once you have your tone/theme/guest list etc organised, it’s time to get into bull blown party planning mode! Either have your invites made, or make them yourself and send them out at least a month prior to the event. Organise catering if necessary and think about decorations.
If there is anything that you would particularly love to incorporate into your wedding celebrations that is either viewed as inappropriate for a wedding, or something that some family members won’t agree with, then consider incorporating them into the engagement party! That way you don’t have to give up things you had your heart set on doing.
Think of any family traditions from either side and try to incorporate them into the engagement party too. This is great if you have any personal dislike for a tradition and would prefer it not be incorporated into the wedding. This way everyone is happy. After all this is done, all people need to do is turn up! The party should run itself if organised properly. All you need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. Good luck with your party planning... Remember, enjoy every minute of it!
• Think of the tone and theme you want to set for your wedding. Even though this is only your engagement party, you want both events to run together in synch and for the engagement party to be a subsidiary of the wedding. For example – if you are going to have a grand ballroom wedding with 200 guests in black tie and make it the event of the year, you may consider having a black tie cocktail party or a large high tea running into the evening for an engagement party rather than a backyard barbeque.
• Think guest lists. There are a few common approaches people take when considering guest lists for both the engagement party and the wedding: 1. Have the same people for both the engagement party and wedding 2. As above, sans children for either event 3. Invite everyone you want to celebrate with you to the engagement party and less to the wedding 4. As above, vice versa • BUDGET! If you and your future husband are planning on paying for the wedding on your own, factor costs of the engagement party into your wedding budget. If you don’t do this, you may be in for a big surprise later on when the wedding planning begins! • If you’re planning on having a big event, consider hiring a professional photographer to document the event. You may find that a photographer will give you a bulk discount for doing both the wedding and engagement party. It’s also a great way to trial your wedding photographer! • Decide early on what you will do for music. If you don’t want to hire a DJ, either make up some iPod playlists or some CD’s and play them throughout the night. Organise the order of the songs prior to the event so you don’t have to be preoccupied with running around changing the music all night.
If you want to keep your engagement party fairly simple, but still want to have a celebration with people you love then a banquet dinner is always a fun and fairly inexpensive option. This is a great excuse for family members from both you and your partner’s sides to meet and mingle a little more before the marriage. With one or two long tables with banquet style food, people can walk around and mingle and laugh and feel free to have a ball more than with a formal sit down dinner.
Cost Cutting Ideas!
• The Aussie barbeque is a favourite for many planning an engagement party. The beauty of this is that it can be done fairly cheaply. A great idea for people on a tight budget is to ask for guests to bring a dish in lieu of a gift. This way you can either spend more money on decorations or alcohol, or save more for the wedding itself. • Outdoor fairy lights are always beautiful and add so much to any party. They are a very inexpensive way of jazzing up any party!
• Plan ahead. If you are supplying alcohol and food for the entire party, for the months leading up to the event, keep your eye out for bulk specials on things like meat and cases of wine and beer. You will be surprised how much you can save when buying in bulk when on special!
• If a professional photographer doesn’t fit into your budget, think of any family members or friends who are particularly interested in photography and enlist them to be in charge of documenting the night. Many people will be honoured with the task!
Once you have your tone/theme/guest list etc organised, it’s time to get into bull blown party planning mode! Either have your invites made, or make them yourself and send them out at least a month prior to the event. Organise catering if necessary and think about decorations.
If there is anything that you would particularly love to incorporate into your wedding celebrations that is either viewed as inappropriate for a wedding, or something that some family members won’t agree with, then consider incorporating them into the engagement party! That way you don’t have to give up things you had your heart set on doing.
Think of any family traditions from either side and try to incorporate them into the engagement party too. This is great if you have any personal dislike for a tradition and would prefer it not be incorporated into the wedding. This way everyone is happy. After all this is done, all people need to do is turn up! The party should run itself if organised properly. All you need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. Good luck with your party planning... Remember, enjoy every minute of it!