The Engagement Party is traditionally there for people who can't/won't attend the wedding & reception.

Marriage is not for you.

i wouldnt say that... i just dont like the idea of big dumb weddings.

Our plan is to get married at the registry office then have a party... i dont really care about gifts.. but if i was having a massive wedding and spending a fuckton of cash (which is something id never do) then id expect a fuck load of gifts as compensation for having a wedding in the fashion that i didnt want.

as for an engagement party, we were planning on just going out for a dinner and inviting who ever wanted to come, but we find the whole idea abit redundant. Well see.

we don't expect gifts

Bookmarking this thread for when I show up with no present.

if i was having a massive wedding and spending a fuckton of cash (which is something id never do) then id expect a fuck load of gifts as compensation for having a wedding in the fashion that i didnt want

That's logically inconsistent! You'd expect people you invite to your big wedding to pay for it because you didn't want to have it?!

As you mentioned, if you don't want to fork out for it don't have a big fucking wedding. Expecting your guests to pay for your extravagance with extravagant gifts is a bit stupid.

The only people who win are the fucking retailers & wedding industry who take ALL THE MONIES.

I think the reception cost us about 6 grand + band or something. We're in Cairns though so don't pay as much for shit liek this as city suckers.

Most places in brissy for a 100 person wedding would be about $100 a head, if you want it on a saturday night.

It is getting more popular to bring cash but a lot of the oldies will refuse. But even after you say that you would prefer cash or something off the registry, people still bring whatever they want, which is fine by me.

But there are only so many platters/dinner plate sets/wine glasses that I need.

edit: These kinds of prices aren't particularly extravagant or particular to weddings, more just the standard price you would pay to hire out a venue with a sit down dinner for a large group.

last edited by Thundercracker at 12:21:07 27/Oct/09

anyone who thinks they are going to furnish their house from a engagement party/reception can go DIAF

fuck traditions. do what ever you n yur partner want to do... coz ya know you're gonna get roped into some lame-o traditional wedding down the track.

last two mates who had engagement parties were little house affairs. One with catered foods and one with BBQ. They were both pretty good. Save your money for the wedding/honeymoon or setting yourself up imo.

We invited 80 people. Close friends and family. People we actually wanted to invite not people we were told we had to or would get upset.

We told people that we just wanted them to rock up and have fun. They didn't need to buy us a gift and we don't believe in the 'buy a gift according to your meal' bs. We paid for the wedding we wanted because we wanted that wedding. It wasn't so we would get more back from our guests.

We ended up with gifts, vouchers, and cash. We only ended up with one double up present and it wasn't such a big deal to sell it on ebay.

Have a wedding because it represents you as a couple and invite people you want to be there because you want them to be apart of the day.

At least you're down to earth Kat.

I dont really think there's a need for an engagement party.
An anouncement at another event where a lot of your friends/family that would intend on inviting to the wedding would suffice.

But i'm a guy, so when it happens it's not really going to be my choice anyway...

Disagree - parties are awesome. More rather than less!

Haha I would love to go to a wedding and be told my present was not expensive enough. Would be the end of that fucking wedding, and the couple, let me tell you.

thermite would be all pop a cap fo sho

I dont really think there's a need for an engagement party.
An anouncement at another event where a lot of your friends/family that would intend on inviting to the wedding would suffice.

But i'm a guy, so when it happens it's not really going to be my choice anyway...

What Hogfather said.

Also, I can't imagine a gathering that'd have even 10% of the people on the list we've started on.

Make a smaller list.
If you dont reguarly see/visit/hang out with 80+ % of the people you would like at your wedding, you're doing it wrong.

If your groups dont cross over, you could make the announcement 2-3 times without one sect bitching they wern'nt the privledged first ones to find out.

Well, we've got a nice hall booked. We're going to start it at 7ish so people will have probably eaten so will be serving hot and cold savories etc.

Just working out how much of what we should buy. I remember a friend said he allowed 6 beers per guest at his wedding reception and he had about 10 cartons left at the end of the night.

So how many is the right amount to allocate to each person (obviously there won't be a limit on who drinks what but as an overall amount to buy)?

in today's age i would go for half of that, probably 4 standards per person (combined between beer and wine). there will usually always be a designated drinker so that limits things a bit.

I remember a friend said he allowed 6 beers per guest at his wedding reception and he had about 10 cartons left at the end of the night.

Really? I normally estimate half a case per person

12 cans per person. shyeah right.

Syco - http://www.danmurphys.com.au/build-an-event-plan.html

The wedding industry is just that, an industry.

It's job is to convince young people that they need to do something and that it needs to be expensive.


Elope. You are getting married not impress family or friends. And if they feel so strongly about it tell them that if they want they can throw you a party.

Myers and DJs both do registries as do some companies that specialize in fleecing brides.

Yeah, but but Obes. For most people it's about the wedding and not the marriage. It's about how they look and not how they feel. They need to make such a song and dance about it so everyone cannot doubt their love.

DUH

Elope. You are getting married not impress family or friends. And if they feel so strongly about it tell them that if they want they can throw you a party.

Well, my old man offered to pay for the grog and food so they kind of are heh. I've got to work it all out and give him a price though.

I got another engagement party planning trip, don't make it 3 days after I get back from overseas@!%

I attended and engagement party last weekend.

The couple chose the option of a waterfront restaurant/bar. They did a beer and wine TAB.

It was a really nice venue and was really formal but you have to way up your options. If you can afford something fancy for the reception and engagement then do it. If you can't then just have it at home and put on some nice nibblies and drinks. Save you a ton of dosh.

Syco - http://www.danmurphys.com.au/build-an-event-plan.html

Thanks Kat!

Tiny, I've already got a venue booked now.

if i was only allocated 4 beers at a function, i would be upturning tables post haste

Yeah, but but Obes. For most people it's about the wedding and not the marriage. It's about how they look and not how they feel. They need to make such a song and dance about it so everyone cannot doubt their love.

yeah thats it, or maybe they just have different ideas, different taste, more friends/family and more money?

Maybe they are greek or jewish and have a massive tradition that goes back through generations, or maybe they just don't conform to Kat's opinions....


We had an engagement party that was essentially for people we knew couldn't make the wedding, or friends/family we weren't going to invite because we didn't want the wedding getting too big.

We actually had 2 x engagement parties, one in Brisbane for local friends/family and one in Melbourne for all my friends/family. We didn't expect people to fly interstate ust for an engagement party so we flew to them.

We had them both at our family homes and they cost bugger all.

I just like parties, any excuse for one is good :)