I was talking to my personal trainer about engagement parties a while back and he asked what the point of an engagement party was. [I gave him a break; he’s male, not married, younger, and has never been to one – I couldn’t hold it against him] Plus I thought it would be a great excuse for a blog post!

Traditionally, an engagement party is hosted by the Bride’s parents. It is used as an ice breaker for both sides of the family to get to know each other better.

However, it is 2019 and a lot of traditions are thrown out the window. My fiancé and I, just hosted our engagement party last month and we decided to do things a bit more “untraditionally”. We used it as an excuse to bring our family and friends together, to celebrate this exciting time in our life! We also just want a reason to throw a party.

Make sure you enjoy yourself! Take time after the proposal to soak in that fiancé and fiancée time! Most people get married within 18 months of getting engaged. Don’t rush the engagement party.

We hosted a small dinner with our immediate family; grandparents, parents, and siblings plus my daughter and nephew. After dinner, we invited everyone who we were important to us, and couldn’t imagine celebrating without, for drinks. These were people from close co-workers, to childhood friends, to aunts and uncles. Each person who was handpicked by both of us and this was also a good time for us to let these people know that we weren’t planning a wedding any time soon.

[Also helped us cut down our guest list for when the wedding rolled around and wasn’t able to make the engagement party!]

5 days before our party, our original venue ended up falling through. THANK-GOD I have a few connections and was able to make a call. Malt & Mortar came through for us and were incredible for the entire thing.

Keep it casual. They helped us with the casual atmosphere we were going for. We had the entire back area, which is very open! Perfect for our size.

Hire A Photographer! Something that was important to me, was having photos of the evening. I feel I never get enough photos. I stand by this being the best investment of the party. Thank-you Chelsey Cieslik Photography for capturing our amazing evening!

Personalize! Whether it’s personalizing a menu or the decor. make it all about the two of you. Since we used the family day long weekend, I piggybacked off Valentines Day a bit and went for the love theme. I also created a slideshow with all our photos dating back to 2009!

Incorporate the proposal into the party! If you’ve read past posts, you know we did our engagement photos in New York City in December; I ordered some customized chocolates from The Sweet Side with a photo from our engagement shoot! It was a nice touch, plus who doesn’t love chocolate. The quality/color wasn’t great, but the chocolate itself was pretty good.

At the end of the night, we went home feeling extremely lucky to be surrounded by so many people who loved and supported us.