ENGAGEMENT PARTIES

Whichever way you decide to do it, it’s important to celebrate your impending wedding. At the end of the day you have just decided to tell the world that you want to spend the rest of your life together - that must be worth celebrating!

You can celebrate it in a range of ways from a quiet meal as a couple, or with family and friends, to a wild engagement party somewhere special. Celebrating your engagement provides a chance for your families to meet (possibly for the first time) and for the focus to be on you, your partner, your future life together and your thoughts about the wedding.

A small gathering of your immediate family can sometimes be uncomfortable - particularly if this is the first time they’ve met each other so you may wish to avoid certain topics around the meal table. How much each set of parents is planning to contribute financially to the wedding, for example, may be best left for another occasion. Having said that, the families will have to meet at some point, so there’s no better place to start than when they all have a common occasion to celebrate.

Some of your friends and relatives will be keen on holding a big engagement party to celebrate the happy news. Planning such an occasion can be time and money consuming, so rather than hiring out a big marquee and using the same caterers as the Royal Family, you may wish to keep the numbers smaller and hold it at your house or one of your parent’s houses. Getting the future in-laws to help send out invitations and co-ordinate responses and subsequent arrangements is a great way to ease the burden and also to involve others.

A large engagement party will give you the opportunity to make a big announcement in one go - this can be especially exciting if you have set the date for your wedding, and as we all know, parties equal presents. That said, the presents aren’t guaranteed and when they do arrive they tend to be in the form of champagne or posh wine, perfect if you’re up for a good old drink, but not so hot if you're a T-totaller.