You’ve got that super sparkly ring on your finger and now it’s time to celebrate! Planning an engagement party is the perfect way to get all your family and friends together ahead of the wedding to celebrate this milestone in your lives.
You can read about the best ways to announce your engagement here.
An engagement party is also a really handy ice-breaker if your families or close friends are yet to meet each other. It’s easy to get everyone chatting and mingling at a relaxed environment like an engagement party than it is at a more formal affair like a wedding.
No matter what style of engagement party you’re thinking of, we’ve got everything you need here to help you plan the perfect one!
What to Consider When Planning an Engagement Party
Planning a party takes time and consideration – not quite as much as a wedding, but this is a good place to start if you want to practise. Here are the top things you must consider when planning an engagement party:
1. Where Will it Be?
Where will you host your engagement party? Can you have it at home or do you need to book a venue?
2. When Will You Have It?
Do you want to start celebrating straight away or give yourselves a little more time to plan?
3. Is There a Budget?
How much are you going to spend? Do you need to set out a budget for this?
4. Who to Invite?
Do you have a guest list or is it more casual? Considering who to invite will help with your budget and venue requirements.
5. Invitations?
Will you send out invitations, or will a Facebook invite suffice?
6. Food and Drink
What will you serve to your guests? Will you have a buffet, a barbecue or a full, sit-down meal? And how about drinks – can you host it somewhere with a bar or is it BYOB?
7. Decorations
Are you going to decorate your party venue? Do you need a games area, a photo booth, will you give out party favours? There’s a lot to consider.
Browse our favourite engagement party décor ideas for more inspiration.
Things to Do at an Engagement Party
You might be concerned about what you’ll do at an engagement party. To be honest, your guests will enjoy themselves with a good selection of food and drink, but if you want some game ideas, we’ve got you covered.
1. Hunt the Ring
Hide fake engagement rings somewhere around the venue – whether it’s giant faux-sparklers from Claire’s Accessories or sweet ones from a packet of Haribo – and instruct your guests to find as many as they can in a set time frame. The winner is the one with the most rings.
2. Ring Toss
Set up a traditional ring toss game, but customise all the rings with cardboard diamonds so they look like giant engagement rings!
3. Engaged Charades
Love a good old-fashioned game of Charades? Give it a wedding-worthy twist by only allowing wedding and engagement themed films, books and shows to be acted out.
Engagement Party Ideas
If you want to do something extra special for your engagement party, why not introduce a theme or a dress code? You could ask your guests to come dressed as their favourite celebrity couples, or dressed all in white to reference your impending wedding.
If you want a broader theme, consider being inspired by a joint hobby or passion you both have. We love the idea of a movie-themed celebration – you could give out boxes of popcorn saying ‘S/he popped the question’!
Who to Invite to Your Engagement Party
The official rule is that everyone you’re planning to invite to your engagement party should be invited to your wedding. That doesn’t mean you have to invite your whole wedding guest list to your engagement party, but those that do come to the engagement celebration may well expect an invitation to your big day.
If you want to keep it simple, you could always arrange a gathering with friends and have dinner with family to avoid the formality of a big party.
Ultimately, it’s your celebration so invite who you want – if you’re planning a small wedding but want a big engagement bash, just make sure people are aware of it so their expectations are managed.
Gifts at an Engagement Party
It’s quite likely your guests will bring you at least a card, if not a gift too to celebrate your engagement, but don’t expect anything and certainly don’t provide a gift list – save that for your wedding!
If you have got guests asking about gifts, or you’re off to an engagement party and want to take a gift, why not check out the gorgeous engagement gifts section in the Confetti shop?
Planning an Engagement Party at Home
If you don’t want to pay for a venue or just love a good old house party, you could always host your engagement party at home. This is also a good option if you have a small guest list, or you’re looking for a reason to cut back on guests!
Why not ask everyone to bring a dish and have a pot-luck style feast? You could set up a DIY cocktail station in your house and ask everyone to submit a favourite song to generate a playlist that no one can resist dancing to.
Engagement Party Ideas on a Budget
Are you planning an engagement party on a budget? There are plenty of ways to celebrate your recent engagement without breaking the bank. As mentioned above, you could host your engagement party at home. Another good way to host an engagement party on a budget is to keep the guest list small and to provide your own entertainment.
You can set up games and a DIY photo booth, and also pull together your own playlist on Spotify, rather than pay for entertainment. We’ve put together our own engagement party playlist to help you out below!
If you can’t host it at your home or in your garden, why not have a picnic in the park if it’s summer, or chat to a local pub about hiring their function room – some pubs offer free function room hire if you have a certain number of guests.
Now you know exactly how to plan your engagement party, why not read our guide to the best engagement gifts? It’s ideal if your guests keep asking what they can get you!
