Announcing your Engagement
From LoveToKnow Weddings
The first thing a couple should do upon becoming engaged is to announce their good news. In order to set a date people such as parents and close family members will need to be consulted. Also, if the special people in your life aren’t informed in a timely manner, it can lead to hurt feelings. It’s important to share your news as soon as possible.
Who do you tell first?
According to the rules of etiquette, the Happy Couple should tell the parents of the bride first. A visit is then paid to the parents of the groom. If one set of parents is going to be hurt because the other set of parents are told first, perhaps it would best to tell all parents together. The only exception to this is if either the bride or groom have a child from a previous relationship, in which case that child should be told first. Once parents are told, it’s best to tell close family members such as sisters and grandparents so that no one is left out.
Engagement Announcements
If you’d like, you can send out engagement announcements to the rest of your friends and family alerting them to the happy news. It’s considered improper etiquette to have elaborately engraved cards printed up as the recipient can become confused as to whether it’s an announcement or invitation. Instead, announcements can be printed out on special computer paper or even hand written, it all depends on your budget. Engagement announcements aren’t mandatory, but they’re a nice way to spread the news without having to call everyone you know.
Newspaper Announcements
If you’d like, you can announce your engagement by placing the information in the newspaper. In addition to announcing the engagement and giving any pertinent details regarding the proposal, the newspaper announcements will list the bride and groom’s occupation, schooling, and the occupations of their parents among other things. It will also list the occupations of the parents and even show a picture of the Happy Couple.
Engagement Party
Like newspaper announcements, an engagement party is purely optional. If it’s the Happy Couple’s wish, the party’s intended purpose, announcing your engagement, can be a surprise only to be revealed after the guests have arrive. The announcement doesn’t have to be a surprise, however. Engagement parties can also be thrown as a celebration after the news is announced. In some cultures, an engagement party is a necessary part of the wedding festivities.
In many cases you won’t even have to announce your engagement. Your engagement ring, and the happiness you feel, will do that for you.
For more information on engagement parties, announcements, and other engagement tips, visit LoveToKnow Engagement Rings..
Comments
ME AND JODY ARE ENGAGED!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-- Contributed by: WillLinda - Some newspapers do print engagement announcements, and they are generally worded differently than wedding announcments. It's perfectly appropriate, and a phrase such as "a summer 2009 wedding is planned" can indicate a general idea of the wedding date so people aren't always asking. If the wedding will take place within the next 8 months or so, however, an engagement announcement is fairly redundant and newspaper announcements should be saved for the wedding itself. If, as you say, it is more than a year away, an engagement announcement is perfectly fine. Best wishes!
-- Contributed by: Melissa Mayntzis it appropriate to have a newspaper announcement soon after the engagement even though the wedding will not be until next year?
-- Contributed by: lindaThis page has been accessed 6,935 times. This page was last modified 19:53, 28 February 2008.
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