Congratulations, you just got engaged!! When making the decision of when to have an engagement party, a key determining factor is how long your engagement will be. Depending on the length of your engagement you will want to have your party sooner or later.
Below you will find recommendations based on several time frames for engagement. Keep in mind that these are just recommendations, based on traditional etiquette. They are not hard and fast rules.
The main reason for throwing an engagement party is to celebrate this special event with people you and your fiance care about. Move forward with your decision of when to have an engagement party with that in mind, and don’t stress over it too much!
1+ Yr engagement
So you have a longer engagement? This is great for you and your fiance to have time to really enjoy your engagement stage. You also have a lot of time for your wedding planning, yay!
When trying to determine when to have an engagement party with a year or more engagement time-frame, you have several things to consider. Who do you want to be there? How much do you want to spend on your party? Where do you want to hold the party?
These factors, along with other items that are important to you, will help to determine when you want to hold your engagement party. Typically with this length of engagement, a celebration would be held between 2-3 months after getting engaged.
This gives you and your fiance time to celebrate on your own and relish in the moment. This is a special time!! Having it around this timeframe also allows for plenty of time after for your wedding planning. You don’t want to be planning two events at the same time.. Yikes!
If you want family there to celebrate, you will have time for them to make travel arrangements. If you plan to travel, you will have the same convenience. If you want to go all out, these few months will provide time to plan and budget for your engagement party!
6-month engagement
Ok, so you’ve got some time, but not a ton of time. That’s great! Definitely do-able, so don’t worry! Take some time to soak in moments with your brand new fiance, woohoo! Show off that ring!
You definitely have different circumstances from the couple mentioned above. You will still want to think about similar factors though when asking when to have an engagement party. How extravagant do you want your party to be, and who will be your guests?
With less time, you can still have a wonderful engagement party to celebrate with your loved ones. Simpler will help with the stress-levels of planning your party, because you will likely want to have it at about the one-month mark of being engaged.
When thinking about guests, you may not be able to afford flying all your favorite people out, but you can get creative. Maybe road trips are possible due to flight expenses, and now we are all used to the whole virtual events. Have you considered a zoom element?
A month to plan will allow for you to come up with clever and fun ways to celebrate where and how you want. Remember that the whole goal is to introduce your new fiance and to celebrate the decision you have both made to get MARRIED!!
The 5 months after that will be focused on the wedding planning, so be sure to not stress yourself out in that first month. Again, remember the beauty of simplicity. But also, make it something that you will love!
Less than 6-month engagement
You are on a tight timeline! And you are very brave! I did my planning in less than 6 months, and if I can do it, you DEFINITELY can do it! Just know now it won’t be easy.
Because of where your head is at and how much you have to get planned and ready, you may or may not be planning on having an engagement party. This for you probably largely depends on how much you like to party (and plan)!
One thing to keep in mind is that you likely won’t regret celebrating this time more rather than less. Having an engagement party gives you the opportunity to introduce your fiance to close friends and family, and to revel in the moment when you are freshly engaged.
Speaking of being freshly engaged, I mean really fresh, freaky fresh! When deciding on when to have an engagement party, you are going to want to plan for 2-3 weeks after you get engaged. Obviously you can adjust as needed.
Giving yourself a few weeks to get prepared will give your guests a heads up and time for you to gather celebration goodies. Not waiting too long will definitely save you on the anxiety front.
Diving into wedding planning when you have a short timeline can be very stressful. I highly recommend that you take a few deep breaths, enjoy a few weeks of being engaged, and then hop into that beautiful planning pool.
Elopement
You decided that you don’t want to bother with the whole ruckus of planning a traditional wedding. Maybe you want to save money. Maybe you are getting married after a difficult divorce. Maybe you just WANT TO elope! Good for you. Probably every bride hits a wall where she envies your decision.
Your whole process and decision making will be unique. This is no exception for deciding when or if you should have an engagement party! Is it tacky to celebrate getting engaged with friends, but not the actual marriage with them? In my opinion… not really!
Here are some things to keep in mind as you make your decision. Do you have friends or family members who will not be part of the elopement? If so, what will be the consequences of inviting them to this and not that? How much do you care about these consequences?
Overall, the timeline for when to plan your engagement party follows the guidance listed above. If you have a longer timeline, you can wait longer, etc. Feel free to celebrate as you wish!
This can be a great opportunity to celebrate with people who won’t be able to celebrate with you and meet your fiance on your wedding day. Don’t worry too much about what other people think too, this is definitely your call! It’s all about you right now.
Do I need to have an engagement party?
An engagement party is a great time to come together with friends and family to celebrate such a big step in your relationship with your new fiance. Having this party also gives you both an excuse (and a fun one at that) to hold back on starting the wedding planning.
This engagement period goes so fast, it definitely doesn’t hurt to celebrate it and relish in these moments as much as possible. Have fun, enjoy, don’t stress!
Is it required? Absolutely not! Will people be upset if you don’t have an engagement party? Maybe, but most likely no!
A key to remember is that these decisions during wedding planning and engagement timeline are completely up to you and your fiance. Nobody can tell you what to do. If you want to party, party! If you don’t want to be bothered, sister, you are good! Don’t feel guilty! Just do you.
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