Engagement Party Gift Ideas

Great Engagement Gifts

It's wedding season. No need to mark it on my calendar, a trip to my mailbox reveals it all. My first engagement party invitation of the year just arrived and I'm now brimming with engagement party gift ideas.

So, the first question on everyone's minds when they get an engagement party or an engagement shower invitation is: "Is there any engagement party gift etiquette I should follow?" 

Well, yes. First answer the following question:

Are you attending an engagement shower or an engagement party? When the word 'shower' is attached to any party, whether it's a bridal shower, wedding shower, or engagement shower, gifts are always appropriate because the idea of the party is to "shower" the bride or couple with gifts.

Engagement parties, differ in that they simply celebrate the couple and give everyone on both the groom's and bride's side a chance to mingle and get to know one another. Engagement parties are formal announcements of the wedding to come.

Many people bring gifts to an engagement party. Here's are a few tips to help you decide what gifts to bring to an engagement party.

Engagement Gift Ideas

1. Engagement party gifts are not in place of wedding gifts. If you attend the wedding you should send or bring a wedding gift.
2. While wedding gifts are often chosen from a registry and are intended to set up household, engagement party gifts are not. Leave the toasters and place settings for the wedding or bridal shower and select something more fun or casual.
3. Engagement gifts need not be expensive, reserve more expensive gifts for the wedding.
4. Select gifts that celebrate the engagement, or could be used on the honeymoon or the wedding day itself. For example, engraved toasting glasses, a restaurant gift certificate, a cake server for the cake cutting, leather luggage tags and the like are inexpensive gifts that are more whimsical than household gifts.

My favorite tip of all: If you know the couple well, get them something personal.

Personalized Engagement Gifts

Let's face it, the bride and groom will register for place settings, mixing bowls, and silverware. They want them and we should get it for them (as wedding gifts). The engagement gift is your chance to give something meaningful, even if it's just very small gift. These small tokens of friendship and affection may be the gift they remember most.

Now, as I said earlier, I've just been invited to an engagement party. I know the couple well, so what am I bringing? Well, I can't post it on the blog (because they might see it). 

Here's a BIG hint: I've created a shop of the best engagement party gifts on the themed-party-ideas website. I'm bringing one of the gifts located on this page: engagement party gift ideas to my friends engagement party.

Can you guess which one it is? Add your comments if you like.

Can't get enough engagement stuff? We've got engagement party themes, ideas, romantic gifts, planning tips and more. Visit the engagement party ideas page.