If you are recently engaged, you likely feel ready to announce it to the world.  I can remember how excited I was when my husband and I decided we were going to get married.  I was just brewing with excitement.  At the time, I never even thought about having an engagement party and, quite honestly, we probably were not in the right financial position to have one of these little get-togethers.  If you and your betrothed have the financial means, however, having an engagement party can be a great way to announce your upcoming nuptials to your family and friends.

Of course, having an engagement party is completely optional.  But, they can be a whole lot of fun – particularly if you keep your engagement a secret and announce it to everyone at the party. That way, you can see the excitement and happiness on everyone’s face as you make your big announcement.  For the sake of etiquette, however, you might want to tell the bride’s parents ahead of time.  You and your fiancé will have to decide together whether or not this should be done.  You might also want to bring both sets of parents together before announcing the upcoming nuptials.  This way, you don’t have to worry about one set of parents feeling “left out” or otherwise hurt because one set of parents knew first.

If you do decide to have an enagement party, there are plenty of engagement party invitation styles to select from here on wedding-needs.com.  These invitations are typically less extravagant than wedding invitations, but can still be quite formal if you so desire.  You can also go with soft and feminine, like this one:

Or, you might go with something that is really simple, such as this one:

 You don’t have to actually have a party to announce your engagement if you don’t want to.  Another option is to announce your engagement in the local newspaper or to send out engagement announcements.  Engagement announcement should not be as intricately detailed as wedding invitations, however, as this is considered to be poor etiquette.  In fact, a simple card is usually the best option when sending engagement announcements.

Getting engaged is one of the single most important moments for any couple.  Whether you decide to stay low key or celebrate your love with a huge engagement party, the most important thing is that you are together!