Your engagement party is a special time which provides both families of the bride and groom the ability and the chance to get to know one another better. This can be the first time in some cases that the two families have gotten the chance to meet and talk further.
The Bride’s family traditionally plans the engagement party but we live in modern times so of course the groom and his family can have equal input. It is a great place for the families to meet in a relaxed fun atmosphere. Engagement parties normally include some food, lots of drinks and involve close families and friends of both the bride and groom. Occasionally this type of format can result in people congregating in cliques and not mingling properly. Here are a few tips to prevent that from happening.
1. “Meet the Happy Couple”
This take on trivial pursuit allows people to get to know the happycouple in more detail and others to boast about how well they know them. Divide the room into teams, you can either do this in groups such as ‘the grooms family’ ‘the bridesmaids’ ‘the friends’ ect. Or you can randomize the groups to get a mixture of people. Questions normally run along the lines of ‘where did the happy couple meet’, ‘how long did it take for the bride to say yes’ or ‘what embarrassing thing happened to the groom on his stag night’ no, sorry scrap that last one, it’s probably best that remains a secret!
2. “Search and Find”
This is a game that is used in most Universities during fresher weeks and can be just as effective at an engagement party. Each guest gets a card with a list of questions. These questions go along the line of ‘Find someone who’s last name begins with the same letter as your first’ or find someone with the same star sign as you’. This encourages mingling of different groups. The idea is that the bride’s parents will end up talking to the grooms work friends ect.
3. “Guess the wine”
This game is based on the office water cooler theory. When people congregate around something, they chat! Place a few bottles of wine in a certain area of the party and remove all the labels (It doesn’t have to be wine it can be anything you fancy). Tell guests that throughout the night they must sample the wine and right down where they think it is from. The person who gets it right or is the closest wins a bottle! The idea is people with gather in this area to try the drink and end up talking to one another with the wine as something in common i.e. ‘Oooh its fruity isn’t it?’
Organizing participant types of activities in your engagement will act as a great ice breaker. This will enable the guests to your engagement party to have more fun. Your guests will be better able to mingle and chat with one another once the have become better acquainted and comfortable around one another.
You can organize other activities of course involving teams and what not. Just be sure that you know your guests well enough not to put them in uncomfortable positions through any activities that you decide to do. You should be able to have fun and enjoy a great and memorable engagement party for you and your guests.
