Engagement Party Planning Guide

Engaged? Start the first step in your wedding festivities planning with your engagement party! Check out our engagement party planning guide to help guide you through the process.

Decide who’s hosting

Traditionally the parents of the bride host the engagement party. But there are many other options for hosts: your siblings, your fiancé’s parents, your best friend, or even you and your fiancé put on the show.

Choose a date 

Once your significant other pops the big question, planning your engagement party is soon to follow.

Budget!

For any smart party planner, setting your budget is always a good first step. Deciding how much you, or whoever is hosting, want to spend is a great step to get solidified.

Create a guest list

A good go-to rule for inviting people to your engagement party is that whoever you invite to your engagement party should also be invited to your wedding. In regards to the size of the party think about how big you want your wedding to be. This is a good foundation to build on when creating your guest list.

Create your gift registry 

Start building your gift registry! It’s possible people will want to purchase gifts for you and your fiancé to bring to your engagement party. So start to create your gift registry beforehand. It is a great resource they can go off of for buying gifts for your engagement party and obviously future wedding festivities.

Plenty of time ahead to send out invites

Don’t be the one who sends out invites last minute. Be ahead of the ball by sending out invites in plenty of time for your guests to mark their calendar.

Decide on the food

Your engagement party can be as casual as you want it to be or as formal as you desire. Picking out your menu is important whether it’s being hosted at a smaller venue, someone’s house, or restaurant. Be sure to include what your guests should expect like, “Please join us in celebration of Trevor and Kaitlyn’s engagement with appetizers and cocktails”, or “Join us in a wonderful celebration of Trevor and Kaitlyn’s engagement with a sit-down dinner”.

Create your vision for decorating 

Last but not least, plan your decor! Picking out your decor for your engagement party should have thought put into it but not be overdone. You don’t need special floral arrangements and elegant linens and over-the-top lighting, small floral arrangements and candle votives are the perfect way to spruce up any room or tabletop.