Announcing your engagement
A majority of couples get engaged over the holidays. Now that you are engaged, you need to know how to announce the engagement. Here are some helpful hints to make sure you don’t offend anyone.
If you have kids from a previous marriage, they should be the first to know. You don’t want them to find out through the grapevine. They are often overlooked during the announcement period. Hopefully, you have prepared them for the possibility. This may be hard news for some children. Reassure them that the new spouse will not replace them in your heart.
Your parents should be on the list next. If you’re close enough to tell them in person, this would be the best option. Having both sets of parents over for a nice dinner to announce the news is always a great idea. If this isn’t an option, then typically the bride’s parents are the first to be told with the groom’s immediately afterwards. If they are not near, over the phone is a fine way of letting them in on the news.
Grandparents, siblings and other close relatives should follow the parents. Some want their best friends to know prior to everyone else, but consider the fact that it will hurt feelings if family discovers they were not one of the first to know.
A phone call to your closest friends is the next step, unless you want to surprise everyone and tell them all at once. A nice get together is the best way to take care of that.
Once you are ready to announce your engagement to everyone else, you have a few options.
Publish your announcement in the local newspaper. Make sure that you really want to take this step as many people that aren’t that close to you may see the announcement and feel they should be invited to the wedding. This makes the guest list a bit tricky.
Hosting a gathering is a great way to announce your engagement to all of family and friends. It is acceptable to invite close co-workers to this gathering if you choose. If you choose to host a party, make sure you register prior to the shindig as many will want to purchase an engagement present for you.
Create a wedding website. This is one of the most common ways couples are announcing today. This is a very easy thing to do through hosted sites. It allows you to email the link to those you want to share your news with, keep them up-to-date with wedding plans and details as well as allow them to link to your registries. Make sure this is not the way you announce to your family or close friends. This way can seem a bit impersonal and you should not use this as your tool for sharing your news with those closest to you.
Mailing formal announcements is a great idea. These can also serve as a save-the-date. Make sure that you are registered prior to them hitting the mailboxes. If you have an engagement photo session, a nice photo of the couple is a great touch to the announcement.