As surprised as you are, and probably still find it unbelievable who needs to be pinched, having a surprise engagement party is an exciting way to tell to your father and mother. Both your parents may have been longing to see you getting married. To see their happy reaction is something to cherish about since your proposal.
While most couples just casually tell their parents and family members about their engagement, planning a discreet party is a unique way to throw a great engagement dinner. This is not an easy thing to do, because there is always risk to pull it out successfully. You need some people to help you out, but keeping your parents out of the loop is the only thing about it that makes you feel guilty. However, it is going to be worth it if you see them smiling and crying when you spill the moment of truth.
To help you get started with this surprise engagement party like no other, the following are basic things you need to do.
Pick the Best Date
The date to announce your engagement and celebrate can be at any day and time. Just think of the best date your parents and guests can surely attend. For sure, one of the weekends is the ideal time to host this surprise party. When selecting a date, always choose a time that is closer to your engagement than the wedding date. You may not have decided about the wedding date yet, so that’s good. If you originally planned to get married within the year of your engagement, throwing the engagement party must be sooner. If your engagement is longer, it is also much better so you can plan well for this particular pre-nuptial occasion.
List Your Guests
Remember that the most important guests of your engagement party are your own parents. Aside from them, your other family members and closest friends must be invited. While you can trim down the number of people to attend this wonderful occasion as opposed to the wedding, letting a few people know what this is all about has a greater chance of making it discreet. You do not want all of the guests to know that you are engaged. Otherwise, they may not even plan to join because they know already. Also, there is a high risk that your parents may find this out. It is better that you only choose those people you can really trust and won’t spoil the purpose of the event. These may refer to your best friends, your partner’s best friends, and your siblings.
Send an Informal Invitation
One way that can help you not make your attendees guess the occasion is your engagement party is to invite them by words. Do not give out any paper or card that they are invited for such an event. Just casually tell them you are having a small dinner, whether by direct contact, phone call, email or private message on Facebook. You can tell them that you have been promoted, have a newly remodeled house, or whatever you can use as an excuse. Just do not let them know yet that you are engaged, except those people you want to tell and can help you plan this party.
Choose the Venue
Traditionally, it is the father of the bride who hosts the engagement party. Since you are planning to surprise your parents, the bride’s father’s house is out of the list of choices. You can simply have the dinner in your place, especially if you are both living together. You may also select one of the affordable restaurants or hotels in your area. Just do not choose a high-end, world class or expensive place. Take note, you must just let your parents and guests that it is a small, informal dinner.
Cook or Order Food and Drinks
Because you only have a handful of guests to serve for the party, cooking won’t be so much difficult. Besides, you have a few friends and siblings to help you out. You can easily make a variety of dinner recipes that can complete the special occasion. There is nothing wrong with ordering food from a local restaurant, too. If your party is held in your place, you can just either cook or order. If you decide to have it in a meeting hall of a hotel or a restaurant, you need catering for that. Regardless, do not miss to have a bottle of champagne or wine, because at some point you are going to make toast after officially announcing your engagement.
What you really need to prepare for this beautiful occasion is yourselves. Make sure that the both of you are ready to let your family and friends, whom you dearly love and care for, know that you are tying the knot soon. You may even need to prepare a formal speech on how to reveal the actual reason why you invited everybody in the first place. Speaking which, do not forget to thank everyone, especially your parents for everything, as this is definitely credited for them as well.
If your parents are somehow skeptical about your relationship, it may be difficult to give them a surprise, and not in front of your other family members and friends. So, a surprise engagement party must be only for couples who have nobody against their relationship. And if you are among those lovers, then hosting this kind of event would be an exciting thing to do.
