The Engagement

Announce Your Engagement

OK, first things first, you are engaged so you need to announce your engagement to friends and family. Call your parents and enjoy the excitement of now having a fiancée! If you like, place a notice in your local news paper (this can be a nice way of telling those that perhaps you went to school with or distant family friends that may not be in the direct circle of people you see on a regular basis). Dare I say it (but it is a reality these days) pop a notice on your Facebook “update your status” or tweet it on twitter.

You will find that as soon as you announce your engagement the first question you will be asked repeatedly is, “have you set a date?” Do not be daunted by this, you have every right to take your time and there is no massive urgency to do this straight away. So many times I have seen newly engaged couples feel as though they MUST get married 12 months from the engagement. I want to point out there is no set amount of time for an engagement, this is a personal decision.

Arrange An Engagement Party

Celebrate your engagement with a party!!! Depending on your style this can be something as simple as a backyard BBQ, a small gathering at a restaurant or perhaps the hiring of a venue with all the bibs and bobs. I won’t go into a great detail about engagement parties, because at the end of the day I want this series to be more about wedding planning.

One thing I will cover on this topic is a frequently asked etiquette question regarding wishing wells and gifts at an engagement party. I’m speaking 100% from an etiquette point of view (and not my own beliefs). It is considered bad etiquette to have a wishing well at an engagement party or to expect gifts at all. However, depending on friends and family, you will find most people will bring a gift to an engagement party, the bad etiquette is simply in the expectations and the encouragement of gift giving.