Congratulations… you’re engaged! If you want to tell the world and throw a party, read on.
Announcing your engagement
As soon as you get engaged, you’ll be keen to tell as many relatives and friends as possible your good news. Make a list and decide whether you want to tell them by letter, telephone, e‐mail, in person or at a celebratory party. If you’d like to make an additional, more formal announcement, it’s traditional for the bride’s parents to announce the engagement in a local or national newspaper.
Of course, you can tell everyone by making your announcement on the Internet, so that friends and family around the world can see it ‐‐ and pictures of the happy couple too. All users of confetti.co.uk can set up their own personal wedding web pages.
Throwing a party
Whether or not you hold an engagement party is up to you. You may prefer to keep your celebrations to a romantic dinner for two or a special holiday together and leave celebrating with friends and family for the wedding itself.
Alternatively, you might want a great big party!
An engagement party is often held at the bride’s parents’ house, or in a local restaurant or venue. Friends of the family might also offer to host the party, in which case the invitations should be sent from them. Today though, anything goes and many couples, particularly those who have lived together before deciding to get married, will host their own engagement party. Guests may bring gifts but these are usually small and personal, rather than gifts for the home.
More traditional invitations might say that the party is held ‘in honour’ of you and your fiancé. They don’t have to mention that the event is to be held to celebrate your engagement, as this is generally a given. Have a look at the examples of invitations below.
If you want to announce your engagement at the party, neither your name nor your fiancé’s should appear on the invitations so as not to give away the surprise!
Engagement party invitations
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Mr. and Mrs. (Bride’s parents’ name) request the pleasure of your company at a dinner in honour of |
or
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Miss (Bride’s name) and Mr. (Groom’s name) request the pleasure of your company at a party in their honour |
Wording for a local newspaper
Mr and Mrs Trevor Jones of Midsummer Cottage, Norton, Norfolk are delighted to announce the engagement of their daughter Felicity Jane to Mark Edward, son of Mr and Mrs Anthony Shaw of Kingsbridge, Devon.
Wording for a national newspaper
The engagement is announced between Mark, younger son of Mr and Mrs Anthony Shaw of Kingsbridge, Devon, and Felicity Jane, only daughter of Mr and Mrs Trevor Jones of Norton, Norfolk.
