Who plans the engagement party? The engagement party is usually planned by the bride's parents. Occasionally, it's planned by a close friend or the engaged couple. You might even opt in for a party planner, but most people save that expense for the wedding party. Whatever you decide to do, engagement party venues need lots of planning. From dealing with vendors to choosing your engagement party theme, the party can be as stressful as planning your wedding day. The point is to have as much fun as possible to celebrate your special engagement day! In this article, we'll go over creative engagement party ideas so that the party planning process isn't as stressful as it can be.

There's no set time to start planning your engagement party. But it's a good idea to start thinking about it after you've been engaged for some time. You want to give yourself time to figure out what kind of party you want, who you want to invite, and how to best celebrate your engagement. If you want a large engagement party, it's best to start planning early. This makes it so that you can book a venue and send out invitations on time. A huge party needs plenty of planning ahead of time, much like planning your actual wedding. If you are planning a smaller, more intimate gathering, you can wait a bit longer to start planning, then you can probably get away with planning a bit later.

When you plan the party, you have to plan out the guest list, venue, meals, décor, entertainment, and the budget. You're also going to want to figure out a theme. Like a wedding theme, the engagement party's theme ideas need to match and complement one another. To make things easier, we recommend the following steps:

1. Deciding who will host the party: This can be the parents of the bride and groom, the Maid of Honor, the Best Man, or the groomsman. There's lots of flexibility here.

2. Setting a date and time for the party: It's important to consider the schedules of the bride, groom, and their guests when choosing a date and time.

3. Creating a guest list: This list should include close family and friends of the bride and groom. The guest list determines the size and scale of the party, so it's important to make sure that everyone who is invited actually wants to attend.

4. Deciding on a location for the party: Are you going to have an outdoor party or a cocktail party? Will you have a formal party indoors with suits and immaculate dresses? What about a tiny movie night party with a handful of your friends? The location will heavily influence your choice in theme. Everything about your engagement party depends on the number of guests and the budget. You'll want to know what your upcoming wedding budget is to make sure you properly budget for your engagement party. The last thing you want to do is have insufficient funds before your wedding. The venue will also play a role in how many people can attend and what kind of activities can take place. You'll ideally want plenty of beautiful space.

6. Planning activities: Activities can include fun games, dancing, or a photo booth. The number of activities should scale up or down depending on the size of your venue. Do you need a lot of outdoor space? Are you going to be indoors? Smaller locations will needs much more planning, but it's perfectly doable. Engagement party games can range from board games to a fun casino night with friends.

7. Ordering food and drinks and planning the menu: You're going to want to serve some of your favorite foods to your guests. A lot of couples opt in for homemade food made by their families too, and that works perfectly well! As long as you have delicious food available, your guests are going to have a wonderful time. If you aren't going to make homemade food, make sure you talk to vendors way before the party day to make sure you aren't short supplied.

8. Planning transportation: This is important if the party is being held at a location that isn't easily accessible by public transportation. If there's going to be alcohol at your party, you'll definitely want an easy way to get your guests home safely!

Gifts aren't usually required. But sometimes, they're given to the happy couple as a way to show them how much they are loved and supported. But this is mostly up to you. If you don't like the idea of anybody giving you an engagement gift, consider communicating that in the guest invitation.

From the above steps, you probably realize that the possibilities are endless for your ideal venue. It's easy to get overwhelmed by it all, but you'll be able to find something in any city of any size. You don't have to make things extravagant if you don't want to. Just focus on the perfect spot and a fun party for your family and friends.

Now, to make things easier, the below ideas are the tip of the iceberg, since a lot of this will depend on you and your guests. These engagement party venues are just examples. Each venue ranges in size depending on the location, but you'll be able to get your theme by basing it off your venue location. Are you having your party at a laser tag facility? Consider a dinner party surrounded by flashy light effects . Are you going to aim for a dark party at a haunted house with spooky themes.

1. A restaurant in a fancy hotel with outdoor courtyards surrounded by creative spaces

2. A public park during the summer or spring for great freshly taken photos of panoramic views

3. A private beach party in the summer

4. A ski lodge weekend with room and board for all your guests

5. A family member's home or your own place for a backyard engagement party

6. A private outdoor garden at a beautiful resort

7. A golf course with an in-house catering service and opportunities for everyone to play golf

8. A tennis club restaurant that regularly hosts private parties

9. A spa with treatments for all your party guests

10. A yacht rented or borrowed for the sake of a one night party

Hanging Decorations: Streamers, balloons, banners, and garlands are all great ways to decorate for an engagement party. You can use colors that match the bride and groom's wedding colors, or stick to more neutral tones like white, silver, and gold.

Centerpieces: For engagement party centerpieces, you can use floral arrangements, candles, or even fun, personalized engagement photo handouts with your engagement story.

Tableware: Dress up your tables with special party tableware like patterned napkins, pretty plates, and festive glasses.

Lighting: Soft lighting is key for creating a romantic and festive mood. String lights, lanterns, and candles are all great options.

Music: Create a playlist of love songs, or choose a mix of upbeat tunes and slow ballads.

Guest List: Certain engagement party guest invitation ideas involve matching your theme to the physical invitations sent out. This is extremely important if you're going to have a consistent theme. Some themes may need your guests to wear certain colors or fabrics. Regardless of what your dress code will be, how'll they know without laid out rules? If you're hosting a surprise engagement party for your partner, you have to make sure the guests don't somehow spoil it.

Engagement Party Dessert: You can do so much when you choose engagement party cakes for dessert. Focus on having a cake with decorations that match your theme. You'll want to match the colors to the venue or the actual theme. If this part of your engagement party is bogging you down, then take a few steps back and go for something simpler. Put you and your partner's initials, or maybe fill the top layer with your faces. The possibilities are endless, but most engagement party cakes will ease anybody's sweet tooth.

Engagement Party Signs: Like the flexibility of engagement party cakes, engagement party signs can be anything. Funny quotes related to your theme or relationship will create funny memories that'll last a lifetime. You can also put up engagement party signs throughout the venue to enhance the atmosphere and direct your guests to certain parts of your venue. A larger venue will need a little help with directions for people who haven't been to the location before.

Regardless of who's in charge of planning the engagement party, by now you realize that it isn't an easy task. A lot of brainstorming and problem solving has to go into the party. It can be just as stressful to plan your engagement party as it is to plan your wedding. Things get worse when you start overthinking it. Hopefully, now that we've broken down the process down into an outline with tons of engagement party ideas, the preparation process will be much easier to tackle! Need help finding an engagement ring or wedding band?