The 3 P’s of Announcing your Engagement…

     People, Pictures, Party

  First thing you should do after saying ‘I do’ is… call everyone! If you have children already ideally they should be the first to hear, then of course your parents should be next (if no kids, jump right into telling mom and dad). Traditionally the Brides parents are told first then the Grooms. Both Bride and Groom should be present for this big announcement. After calling your parents, you should call siblings, friends, and family. If you want to get personal with your close friends its always fun to invite them over for a movie night or a casual barbeque and share the good news face to face. Once you’ve called every living, breathing person in your address book, the next step is to set a date for a dinner with both the Bride and Groom’s parents to get together and discus minor details such as mood, theme, budget and dates. BUT, don’t forget that the key to this dinner is to celebrate. Keep the conversation light during dinner and avoid any and all stressful conversation.

   Next thing on the list is to get your engagement pictures taken. Not all couples opt for engagement shots but the upside to these is that wedding pictures are rarely handed out to friends and family, engagement shots however are less personal and can be printed in a wallet size and handed out to loved ones. The decision between having them taken professionally or having a friend do them is up to you. Professional photographers will most likely offer an engagement package with different poses and outfit changes, however these can always get expensive. If you have a friend who’s a bit camera saavy, as more and more people are these days, you can have someone close to you take them and then have the shots printed locally in any size. These can sometimes look just as good as professional shots. Another hint is, ask your local photographers if they might want to trade time for print. This means, the photographer does a shoot with you and you get a copy of all the pictures on a CD in exchange for allowing that photographer to use your photos on their website and in their portfolio (which, most engagement photo packages require use on the photographers website anyway). You can then take your CD and have them printed anywhere, like mentioned before.

   Then lastly, throw a party! Find or make your own engagement party invitations and add in a picture of you and your new soon-to-be-mate. Next you’ll need to pick a mood for your engagement party. You could either go for something more casual or more traditional, then once you decided… start looking for the perfect location. Casual locations may include lakeside, beach side, in a park or garden, a backyard barbeque, pool party, or even something as simple as a dinner party thrown in the comfort of your own home. For a more traditional setting you could always go with a banquet facility, a country club, a restaurant, your city’s local Union Station, maybe a concert hall, or even a simple black tie night with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Remember, no matter what style you both choose for the night… be sure your number one concern is that it is STRESS FREE!