Organise a successful engagement party using this expert how-to guide.
Here at Diamond Dealer Direct, we know all there is to know about engagements and engagement parties. It is our aim to provide clear, effective guides for our clients on how best to celebrate their new engagement. We have spent years perfecting the ideal style of engagement ring or fine jewellery. Over those years we have encountered thousands of couples who have gone on to tie the knot. With this guide to creating an idyllic engagement party which perfectly represents you as a couple, you should be ready to throw the perfect party in no time.
An engagement party should reflect your enthusiasm for celebrating such a magnificent milestone. These top ten tips will help you create a celebration nobody will soon forget.
The first step to any successful party planning venture is to set that budget early on. Leave it too late and you will spend disproportionate amounts on finishing touches which you might not need later on in the planning. Forgetting your budget means you potentially spend your food allowance on decorations, or your open-bar allowance on dressing the tables.
Set a budget before you begin to stay on course. Remember to factor in engagement jewellery, too. If you have the party before you get the rings you will confuse your guests. Everyone will want to see that new ring bling!
Your date needs to work for everyone involved with the party. The most important people are those who will play a role on the day of the wedding. This means yourselves, your chosen bridal party, everyone’s mother-in-law and father-in-law, your kids, your brother and sister’s kids, your partner’s brother’s and sister’s kids… and so on.
Top tip? Do this using an online calendar. Get everyone to mark the days they cannot attend, and then pick a date from there. Moving forward you will know that you did your best. Anyone who can’t make it has some explaining to do.
If you don’t have a favourite venue in mind, choosing the right place to have your engagement party is tough. If you are in Birmingham, you can pop into Diamond Dealer Direct and talk to our agents. They can advise you on a range of local popular venues to house your party.
A good tip is to match the style of the engagement ring and jewellery to the venue, just as you might match the engagement ring to the wedding venue. This ensures there are no style clashes involved.
Plan your invitations early on. Why? Because availability of wedding materials changes. If you need 180 of one type of invitation to account for each guest, you might find your local wedding store only provides packs of 20. This could mean that the store has to order that volume in for you.
Pick key family members first, then key friends, then pepper your list with those you’d like to share the day with. Top tip? Invite fun friends for a day spent laughing.
Now white is a standard wedding colour and theme, but if you don’t want your female guests to show up in white dresses then you need to team it with another colour. You can do this by choosing seasonal colours, like teal and brown in autumn or yellow and orange in summer, or you can match the décor and theme to your engagement jewellery again.
If you team your rings, theme, and venue together this way, you will create a layered party where everyone understands your style. Celebrity, rustic, vintage, garden, and gothic are all popular wedding and engagement party themes.
Are you choosing a catering company or a buffet? Do you even want to feed people? What about a dessert based sweet treat station complete with chocolate fountain? If you want to save money, set a couple of eager-to-help relatives on the task of food provision. You get far more sandwiches for your money if you make them yourself.
You could hire a live band, use a DJ, or match your entertainment style to the theme of the night. For example, a magician matches a 1920’s themed engagement party. So would an MC and a few singers. A football themed engagement party could have a fake betting station, where players donate money in exchange for essential wedding gifts.
This part is important. Do you want to fan yourself with your hands until your friends see the engagement ring? Or do you want to propose again, this time with all the people you love present? It’s nerve wracking, but wait until you hit your wedding day… dress yourself with fine jewellery to accentuate the ring, and to wear on your Big Day.
Hiring a photographer for your engagement party is just as important as the one you hire for your wedding. Plus, it might save you the task of finding one for the wedding if you find one now. Make sure they take plenty of pictures that showcase the ring. Diamond rings are vital at an engagement party. It is the symbol of things to come. Make it work.
Don’t make the faux pas of forgetting to write thank you notes to those who came along. It’s bad luck to start wedding planning when everyone thinks you’re conceited.
As long as you have the right engagement ring, a venue which is enchanting, and stick to your budget, your engagement party will go off without a hitch. Browse our collection of diamond rings and engagement rings to get a feel for the style you like. Remember: matching your ring to your venue and to your theme will produce an engagement-perfect party, every time. We also offer a selection of fine jewellery that can make your future wedding even more special.
