Surprise wedding , disguised as engagement party..

Welcome to the right place! I don't know how to delete the other post in hitched awards. Hopefully some one on here will remember the surprise wedding I'm sure I read about where they invited their family to a meal and said we decided on a date... And it's now!

Search google for surprise wedding. There is quite a lot there!

Yes, I have been a guest at one of these (might even be the one Jayne E is referring to as I have posted about it on here once before).

The couple did it for exactly the reasons you mentioned above, and also he had been engaged a couple of times before and didn't want to be the butt of lots of jokes.

We were invited to a pre-party lunch (which was sold to us as "bride and grooms parents meeting for the first time, please come and make it less awkward), then they surprised us with, 'we've set a date... It's now' at which point we all left for the registry office. We didn't have any idea before hand apart from a little joke on the way to the lunch of 'do you think it's ironic that they picked a pub right opposite the registry office... Maybe they should just get it over with now... Hehe' - little did we know. After the ceremony, we all posed for a 'surprise wedding selfie' outside the registry office which was posted on Facebook about an hour before the 'engagement party'. It was funny to see people arriving at the party, some had seen it on fb and some found out when they arrived.

I certainly see the appeal of doing it this way. No I'm planning my wedding I won't do this myself, but I don't think our friends have any regrets. They are very spontaneous people so really suited them.

Oh my god I love this!!! I have no experience of surprise weddings but I definitely think you could pull it off!

xxxx

I love this idea, how exciting. I'm sure you will pull it off so long as your immediate family are good at keeping secrets!! ?

Love this idea! Am sort of jealous I'm not doing this! haha

Love it and you will definitely pull it off

A friend of mine did this! They invited their family and friends for a hike! Then when they got there surprised them with a wedding ceremony. Reception was bacon butties and a pub crawl. She said it was perfect for them as they never wanted a big wedding and wanted something stress free. The only downside was that a few people didn't make it. And a few others were a bit annoyed they weren't told it was a wedding as they didn't get the chance to get dressed up! But they have no regrets :-) must admit, I was tempted by the idea myself!

Ahh thanks all!

The only people that would know would literally be me and OH, I wouldn't even tell the children until the day!

im also a bit "stingy" and don't want to pay for relatives that I barely know or like- I'm a bad person , I know!

The good thing with my parents not knowing is that they can't say anything negative as they themselves eloped to Scotland- just them, Nobody knew- it was a bit romantic as they got married on valentines day!

The only thing that would be a bit difficult is having the engagement party ASAP as to not raise suspicion , I think I could pull off a wedding within 3weeks though and under 3k!

Yes I've been to one of these! It was AMAZING!

We turned up to the engagement party and noticed that the bride wasn't there, lots of jokes about how she's even late for her own engagement party. Turned out she was in her dress and didn't want anyone to see.

About an hour into it the groom got up to do a speech and announced they'd actually got married that afternoon and he'd like us to join him in welcome the new Mrs x at which point she walked in with her dad!!!

No experience but I know a couple that got married on there children's christening. All family & friends there they went back to their house for good but could easily go to a venue/ pub! It's so sweet & very romantic I think! X

Oh my word. What a fab idea and so memorable for everyone!

We went to a Christening party and it was revealed at the Christening party that the couple had got married the day before and didn't tell anyone. It was meant to be a surprise but it went down like a rat sandwich! When they announced it on stage, there was an awkward silence and then a slow ripple o f applause. Very embarrassing. However, I'm sure if the guests were actually invited to the surprise wedding, it would be amazing!

Apart from the ok it's now and we are going to the registry office mentioned on here I've also seen one similar to another mentioned where the engagement party was the wedding. They were all taken into the party room but no bride. Groom made an excuse and then he left to find her taking her dad with him. It was then announced that they were about to get married and everyone was taken into another room for the service. Groom was there at the front ready. The last bits of obvious decorations were put in place in the 'party room' while the wedding was taking place. A photographer was there to photograph the 'engagement party'. It was pretty wonderful actually.

My Fiance's friends had a party where family/friends were invited and the bride and groom appeared in the room in their wedding clothes - people were apparently asking whether it was a fancy dress party but no, they'd just come from the registry office! They seem very happy with the way they did it and I've been told it was a great party!