Your Engagement

Congratulations! What an exciting time for you and your fiance. Your engagement will be filled with excitement and anticipation of what is to come. Be sure to enjoy every moment including planning for the big day. You will always remember your engagement as well as the wedding day, so make it special for you both.

Length of Engagement

The engagement is a period of time that allows the bride and groom tomentally adjust to spending a life time toguether. There is no specific length of time you have to be engaged before getting married. For a more traditional wedding, the longer the engagement the bette, so you have ample time to make the manu necessary arrangements. Whether your ceremony to celebrate life's greatest commitment is big or small, enjoy your period of engagement. It is a very special time for growing closer together and planning your future.

Announcing Your Engagement

After you have discussed your marriage and adopted a share vision for your big day, it is time to let people know about your good news.

The usual order of announcement is, if you have children, to inform them first. If you don't have children, your parents should be first). If you don't have children, your parents should be first (traditionally the bride's parents first). It is important to inform both sets of parents as close in time as possible-you don't want one family to feel left out. Then you can announce it to the rest of your family and close relatives. Next, tell your close friends who will participate in or attend your wedding. Once you make your personal announcements you may choose to make a formal one.

Your family members and close friends should hear about your upcoming wedding directly from you, either by personal visit, phone call, or letter, and not learn second hand via the gravevine or from the newspaper. Traditionally, the groom's family call the bride's family to welcome her to the family.

Formal Announcements

There are several ways to make a formal wedding announcement. Many people choose to have an engagement party and others may simply choose to have a newspaper announcement. The engagement party is a perfect time for your family to announce your engagement to their colleagues and relatives. It is also a good time to let all your co-workers and friends in on the big news. Frequently the bride's parents, or other close relatives (or even friends) will hold an engagement party for the couple to honor their union. If you organize the party yourself, you may consider not announcing the purpose until your guest are present. Whoever host the party, it is best to make personal phone calls as an invitation so that guest do not feel they need to bring gifts.

Newspaper announcements are an easy and formal way to let your community know about your union. If you choose to make a formal newspapers have guidelines and a fee for announcemnts and can take months before they have space for it. You should place announcements in the couple's area of residence newspaper and the hometown newpapers of the bride and groom's parents.

Important Details to Remember