My friends at Basic Invite recently launched a fabulous new line of engagement party invitations, While looking through them I was thinking about my own engagement all over again! One of the best decisions my husband and I made during our engagement was to round up our family and friends and celebrate with an engagement party. Looking back now, I can tell you just how much FUN it was to bring everyone together! But I can also tell you that it was a very important milestone in our wedding journey. Based on my experience, here’s why every couple can benefit from throwing an engagement party – and these stellar she said yes engagement invites can help you do it with style!

1. Engagement Parties Bring Your Tribe Together

I love to spend time with my friends and family. One of my love languages is quality time. A huge priority for me on my actual wedding weekend was getting as much time with my bridesmaids and bridal party as possible. Shortly after we became engaged, my husband and I were discussing how excited we were to bring everyone together for our wedding. Then, we had the most brilliant idea: WHY wait for the wedding?! So, we decided to have an engagement party. We invited our families, close friends, and bridal party. This allowed us to celebrate together, spend time with our loved ones, and soak in the general excitement with those who were most excited with us! And the casualness of the party allowed everyone to hang out in a relaxed environment. (Which is very different from a typical wedding day!)

2. Your Bridal Party Will Get to Meet Sooner

My bridesmaids were from all different seasons of my life. And it was the same with our groomsmen. Throwing an engagement party allowed everyone to become acquainted. It gave them the opportunity to get to know each other prior to the wedding day. Not to mention, by the time the bachelorette and bachelor parties happened, everyone truly felt like friends! Throwing an engagement party or doing something similar in advance is a great way for your bridal party to meet, mingle and form meaningful relationships BEFORE your big day. Then, when the wedding day does arrive, no one is a stranger!

3. An Engagement Party Creates A Fun Environment For Your Future In-Laws

Before our engagement party, mine and my husband’s families had never met. (Yep, you read that right!) Even though we dated for almost two years before getting engaged, our families’ schedules just never lined up for the perfect meeting. Our engagement party was a great, low-pressure experience for our parents and siblings to meet one another and hang out. I won’t say I wasn’t still a little nervous about it. (How could I not have been, right?!) But it really was the perfect way to introduce them!

 

4. Celebrate Your Engagement, Not Just Your Marriage!

My husband and I had a decently long engagement that lasted a little over a year. We knew there was going to be a lot of time spent planning and preparing, but we also didn’t want to miss celebrating such a sweet season either. Engagements are fleeting and it is important to commemorate the time before the wedding, too! Plus, when you’re happy and in love and surrounded by people that are happy for you, there really is no reason NOT to celebrate as much as you can!

Whether you’re getting married in spring or winter, and however short or long your engagement is, consider getting your tribe together to celebrate with an engagement party. Choose a fun theme, go crazy planning a lavish menu, or just have a casual night of dinner and drinks in your family’s backyard. Regardless of how you do it, you won’t regret having that extra time with your loved ones. And you definitely won’t regret having another chance to swoon over your proposal story and show off that BEAUTIFUL engagement ring!

These are some of my favorite she said yes engagement invites from Basic invite. Have you checked them out yet? They are a great source for all of your stationery needs during life’s biggest milestones! They have it all, from custom wedding invitations, engagement announcement cards, envelope addressing and gorgeous wedding websites!