Making the Engagement Party Fun
Engagement parties are the perfect time for the families and close friends of the couple to get to know each other. Often for many this is the first meeting between them, with each side gauging the other curiously. Games are a perfect way to break the ice and no matter who is the host, planning a few games can help each side get to know the other in a relaxed and fun filled atmosphere.
A kind of trivial pursuit is a good ice breaker. The questions should relate to events in the couples’ lives and facts about the couple, their meeting and courting, including from birth if possible. This will not only help the guests to know each other but for all including the couple to know things about each other. An old aunt could tell some funny childhood story or embarrassing childhood incident. The groups could be divided into two, not according to whose side they are on, but randomly counting 1 or 2. Then the teams could get points for each correct answer with the winning team getting prizes.
Corporate functions use an icebreaker that works well for engagement parties as well. In this game everyone must be encouraged to move around and work the guests, even those they do not know. Everyone has a card taped to their back and they chat up different guests and before moving on, each should write something on each other’s card about the person. Some examples….he is handsome, she is smart, he likes politics etc. After a while everyone reads their own card and the comments about themselves to the crowd. Of course the comments are meant to be funny, complimentary and generally in a positive sense. It is most certainly inappropriate to use nasty or hurtful comments.
Another card game is a sort of memory game. Often this will be the first time many have met and names tend to get confused or forgotten. Here everyone wears a card with their names on it but at the back of the card is a number that no one sees. People mingle and introduce each other and chat. Then everyone flips over the cards and now the names are gone and there is a number. The guests are given paper and pencil and have to match up the names against the numbers. It would be nice to give the one with the most correct matches of name and number a small gift.
Another fun activity is to allow the marrieds to give advice to the to-be marrieds. Hang up two poster boards with, “advice from women” on one and “advice from men”, on the other. The guests offer advice on wedding planning, including ideas from their own wedding. This is not about marriage but about the wedding. The comments can be diverse and entertaining depending on the age of the married couple, where they live…city vs. small town etc.