How to Plan an Engagement Party

Weddings are some of the happiest times of people’s lives. The couple celebrates their true love with the one they were meant to be with. Weddings come with several mini-events that allow loved ones to celebrate the couple all the way until the big day. One of the first bits of knowledge you’ll need is how to plan an engagement party.

People aren’t in a hurry to marry quickly. More women are getting a college education and focusing on their careers. Couples tend to be pushing marriages back to concentrate on other goals. Still, if you have set goals for your life and wedding, you’ll want every event to fall within your timeline. Here’s everything you need to know about planning an engagement party.

Who Should Plan the Engagement Party?

Traditionally, the bride’s parents host the engagement party. Some couples who already live together might choose to host the party in their own home for themselves, while other couples may feel more comfortable with both sets of parents working together as one big family to throw a party worth remembering.

Other loved ones close to the couple, like a group of friends, might choose to host the engagement party. Still, hosting and planning are two different things. If you want your event to meet every expectation you have, you need to learn how to plan an engagement party. With all you may be shouldering due to planning the rest of your wedding, the engagement party might be the best time for you to take a backseat and enjoy all the events that have yet to happen.

How to Plan an Engagement Party: Step By Step

Knowing how to plan an engagement party is useful knowledge that will benefit you during your wedding season and those of your loved ones, if they ever ask you to design or host one for them. As such, even if you don’t expect to plan any other engagement party soon, you should know what to prioritize. When you have fundamental knowledge of all things engagement parties, you’ll better understand what you want and can help guide your loved ones.

1. Choose the Date

Since your engagement party will be all about you, it’s only natural for you to be the one to set a date for the party. If you have no other hand in planning the engagement party, make sure the date is up to you and works well with your timeline. You want your engagement party to take place while your engagement is still fresh, but you don’t want to do it too soon. Take about a month to enjoy your engagement before thinking of how to plan an engagement party.

2. Plan a Theme

Engagement parties don’t need to have themes the same way children’s birthday parties do. Unless you want to adhere to a specific theme, like one that aligns with the overall theme for your wedding, you don’t need to stress too much about decorations. A theme for your engagement party could mean anything from cuisine to the time of day. Setting a theme is a simple way to elevate your event, and it helps your guests understand how to dress and the overall tone of the party.

3. Go Over the List

Your guest list will help you determine how much food you’ll need, where you should host the event and so many other elements of the engagement party. If you’re planning an engagement party that isn’t for yourself, you’ll want to talk to the happy couple and see who they want to be included. Traditionally, engagement parties involve both sides of the family and friends. You’ll need to get the contact information of everyone you plan to invite.

Then, you’ll need to decide whether paper invitations or e-vites are better for the occasion. Think of your guests. Are they mostly made up of people the planner can find on social media, or would older people benefit from an invitation received in the mail? You may also opt for an e-vite if the engagement party is more casual, while paper invitations are more elegant and formal, likely as your wedding will be.

4. Stick to Your Budget

The budget for a wedding is what you make it. The average cost of a wedding is $34,000, and while weddings may go above or below that price, you want to adhere to your set budget as best as possible. You also need to determine whether the cost for your engagement party will come from your overall wedding budget or if you plan to give it a separate budget altogether. Once you know how many people to expect at the party, you can start determining how much of your budget can go into each category, such as food or decorations.

5. Make a Plan for Gifts

Lastly, some people are going to bring you gifts for your engagement. While gifts are often saved for bridal showers and the wedding itself, some people will go out of their way to get you something sentimental. Engagement gifts typically aren’t too big — sometimes, they’re as simple as a beloved book or a fine bottle of wine the couple can share on a date night. Make sure to allocate space for gifts wherever you plan your party, just in case someone brings one for you.

Take Time to Enjoy Your Engagement

When you’re planning a wedding, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the big day. If you’re planning your own engagement party, you need to slow down and give yourself time to enjoy everything around you — or else what’s the point of planning everything out? 

This season of your life is bound to be one of the best, so you should take it slow and enjoy every step. Knowing how to plan an engagement party can take you a long way, through your wedding journey and beyond, in case you ever have to plan another one. Above all, if you had fun, it would be a successful party.