engagement party perplexion

joelie

what exactly is the function of an engagement party? in pragmatic terms, is it necessary? i'm latin, i haven't heard of these soirees taken place as a wedding thing - not even for my sister's wedding. i never thought of throwing one of these but if someone can enlighten me with its practicality, maybe i'll do a picnic

shoegal715

We did a very informal one, with only family and wedding party. It was a drop-in open house my parents threw for us, which was for his very small family to meet my LARGE family.

We said no gifts, just come for some drinks, foods and bring your well wishes.

sdelmoore

My family does not do engagement parties either.  They are a new kind of tradition.  You do not have to have one, it is not necessary at all.  I think if you are getting married with in the next year to year and a half you should not have an engagement party.  If you were to have a destination wedding, then an engagement party might be nice.  Good luck to you and congratulations.

joelie

i didn't know there were gifts involved. i thought that was what the bridal shower was for... i'm confused now. in my ignorant little mind, the engagement party was an excuse to get the families together and to "announce"/celebrate the engagement. heck i even thought it was where you exchange wedding planning ideas! so is the engagement party the first part of the bridal shower?

emilyinchile

E party has nothing to do with the bridal shower. Some people might want to throw you a party to celebrate your engagement, in which case some guests at that party might bring you a gift. It's usually nothing huge, something like a bottle of wine would be pretty standard. But as PPs have said, you don't throw them for yourself.

If you want an excuse to get your families together and talk about wedding planning, just throw a party. You don't have to call it anything, just tell your families you want to do an event so they can get to know each other.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

The engagement party usually take place within a few months of your engagement. The shower and bachelorette parties take place within a few months of your wedding.

The e-party is usually, but not always, thrown by the bride's parents as a way for families to meet.

In some circles, people will bring gifts, and friends of the couple are invited.

Like all pre-wedding parties, they are thrown FOR you and not BY you, and everyone invited to the party must be invited to the wedding.

riverjib

We got engaged in September, and my family wants to throw an engagement party mainly to introduce the families. I don't think an engagement party is necessarily "standard," but it's a nice touch. Ours is totally informal...it's going to be a backyard barbeque. I don't expect gifts of any kind.

LisaTyler1984

I had an engagement party thrown by my mom. It is just to celebrate your enagagement and its like a mini-kickoff to everything wedding. My FI's friends flew up to NY from Georgia and his family came in to meet mine. It was nice having his friends meet my friends and his family meet my family. It was also nice to help plan something like a wedding when my real wedding was two years away. I have to admit mine was on the more extravagent side but it was a blast. We had ours in a catering hall/restaurant and had a cocktail hour, followed by dinner, and had a DJ for dancing- also cupcakes and an sundae bar for dessert. It was like a mini-wedding

AmandalovesAl

my mother is throwing us an engagment party in june.  it is just going to be a bbq kinda thing with my FI family and mine so they can all meet the extended family.  I don't want to have a huge thing, but it is a nice excuse to get everyone together and celebrate.

sunkissd onanoko

My FI's sister and BIL are throwing us an e-party in the middle of May (We got engaged in Feb but didn't announce it to everyone until March). We have been together for almost 8 years and our family's all know each other well, we do holiday's with both family's together. They just want to celebrate the union and get everyone together. We wont be doing anything fancy, just bbq in the backyard. We told them it wasn't necessary but they wanted to get the family's together to celebrate.

Laluden55

Like one of the otheir girls said, It's something exciting that you can only do once!! It gets you and everyone excited about your wedding! My sister threw us and engagement party at her house. We had a cocktail party because I wanted to dress up and we just had some appetizers and nice finger foods. My family started a toast and however wanted to say something did! We just had our closest friends and immediate family there! We got engaged last May and our party was in september! A picnic sounds great whatever is you and your fiance's favorite thing you should do that! I am so happy we had one it was so much fun!

hoopitup4e

An engagement party is a great way for families to meet. In my family it is very traditional to have an engagement party thrown by the parents of the bride. It is also very traditional for us to bring monetary gifts. I think the traditions or nontraditions of an engagement party depend on your culture and what region in the country you live. With that said.. I think it's a great idea.. whether its formal or informal.. it's just a fun way to hang out with everyone and enjoy your new happiness! My suggestion would be to have one it was a lot of fun and a picnic sounds great!