Slighty OT... Did you have an engagement party?

There are no "rules" of what there should be or what there shouldn't be, it totally depends on your preference. The main reason for an engagement party is to announce you and your fiance as an engaged couple. It is normally held very soon after you become engaged, and the announcement is made during the party, often as a surprise to the guests.

Of course, you may have a party at any time and celebrate whatever you want. But generally, once your friends all know that you are engaged and it is old news, it seems affected to have an "engagement party". As with any other interesting social news, it is much more exciting when the news is fresh.

There are some factors to consider when deciding when and if you should even have this type of party. The main issues to consider are how far the wedding is from the party, how much the party will cost, and how much extra money you have to spend on this party.



We didn't bother, although we aren't the partying types so even if it was 'required' we probably wouldn't have bothered.

I had one just because i love being the centre of attention lol!! It is a good way 2 let everyone know although i think they were all wondering when on earth the wedding would happen!! it was 3 years ago x

We had one last year, it was really nice. If your planning a long engagement (we was originally) I think its nice to have something to look forward to and break up the time between planning and waiting for the wedding day.

I dont think you have to spend alot of the partys either we had a hall, dj, food, cake and a few decs and most importantly all our close friends and family, it was great!

Nah we didnt bother with one

I didn't. Purely because I was pregnant, and didn't want to be the only sober one there!

We didn't have a party as such, but invited people to join us for drinks at my parents' local pub. I have only known one couple to throw a proper party with a marquee and hog roast. All my other friends either didn't bother, or just did something informal, like a party at home.

We were going to but it just seemed a bit too much hassle in the end! I'd like to get my friends and OH's together before the wedding so might have a v informal party when we move.

My OH proposed to me while on his r&r from Afghan, so we made his welcome back party 6 weeks later our engagement announcement party too.

If we hadn't already planned the party as it was we wouldn't have had one, simply as we wanted a shortish engagement and so thought the money could be better spent on the wedding.

No we didnt have one, we went out for a meal with close friends and family to celebrate.

Well, we didnt intend on having on until everyone kept asking when we were!!

In the end we just had everyone, friends and family, come to ours one friday evening, was a good night but didnt feel like an engagement party, more like a normal friday ngiht at our house but kept everyone happy lol

We didnt have one. Not really the partying type anyway. It just seemed a lot of hassle when all we really wanted to do was tell the important people and be with each other.

Do something more informal if you want to gather people together and then plow all the time effort and money into the big celebration of the actual wedding!

We had one - nothing fancy - we hired a function room at our local football club, we had a dj and buffet and then decorated the room ourselves with balloons, streamers etc. We got engaged six weeks after meeting each other so the party was a good way of meeting all the friends and families and showing everyone that it was real and not just a joke!

Yeah we had one. it was one of the best nights ever!! wasnt too expensive and gave us chance to celebrate together with all family and friends around us

Nope - we got engaged christmas eve 2008 & we were all partied / champagned out over the holidays! Though if we'd got engaged at a different time if year we probably would have x

We had one.

It was great fun and also a good practise for the big day itself

This the position I am in, because the wedding won't be until 2013 I feel like I want to celebrate with everyone while the news is fresh!

Hurray! Not just us then... We got engaged 2 months after we met.

We're big party people and having been engaged on the Thursday night, organised some drinks the following Tuesday at the place where we had our first date, hiring a section of the brasserie at the back. We put some money behind the bar, and many brought presents and cards which was unexpected... We had around 40 people - not bad for a few days notice.

I recommend having one - whether it is an informal gathering, or a bit bigger.

Sort of. We tend to have a bbq/house party each summer so we turned last summer's into our engagement party/wetting of the baby's head.

If I do have one it'll be in the hall of our local rugby club (within walking distance from my & my OH's so we can get tipsy) with a DJ etc... Don't even have to get a buffet, as my mam's been in catering all her life and the OH's mam is a school chef

I believe we had one. I remember planning one and there are photos floating around...

However, H and I both got v drunk and neither of us remember much of it! We were too busy during the day to eat and then were bought drink after drink. ? I knew it was bad when my mum and sister conspired against me - one bought me a lemonade and the other a plate of food!

The shame... ?

We had one and it was fab, but remember those that you invite to the engagement party generally "expect" to be invited to the wedding, so choose carefully!

We had a fab night and I would def recommend it!

Ahahaha!! I hope this is me too, you have a right to when you spend the whole time organising it. And thanks for the heads up about people expecting to be invited to the wedding - there's one or two I've invited that won't be coming to the wedding :\ This will be fun!!!!!!!!

We didn't have an 'official' one but my in-laws to be did put on a bit of cake and champers as a surprise for us when OH's Aunt and Uncle and cousins came to visit.

It would've been a bit awkward to arrange as OH and I were still living at opposite ends of the country then, I think we thought co-ordinating friends and family to meet in one place for the wedding would be enough for us to handle!

We had a bbq in my MIL2B back garden and it was brilliant. We are a big partying family and so the party was still going at 4am, loved it!

We did and we didn't. We got engaged on 15/12 and we normally host a NYE party at wherever we happen to be living anyway, so we waited until then to announce the engagement to our friends and it sort of became an engagement party. If things had happened differently then I doubt we would have bothered. As with most things, if you want one then why not?

We had one. We invited friends and family to our local pub and stuck some money behind the bar. We kept it very informal and just said it'd be great to see those who could make it.

It was a great evening!

We didn't bother. I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with a fractured pelvis & was pretty much wheel chair bound at the time! I have been to a few engagement parties & I don't know if it's just the ones I've been to but they can have the potential to be a bit 'naff'. Maybe I've just been to the bad ones though!

We didnt have a party as such, we just had a meal out which our close friends and family came too, it was lovely.

lol Im with you on that one!!

Yes we had one but we both love a good party adn it was another excuse to buy a fab dress and have my hair done!

TBH I have always thought that engagement parties are a bit pointless ?

Surely the engagement party is the weddding?!?

I think having a celebratory drink with friends is fine, but I just don't get why you would have a pre-wedding party!

I think I understand it a little more if the couple are having a long engagement.