And, if so, what kind of gift? I always thought that an engagement party was have everyone meet the bride and groom, and their families. I could be wrong, what's done in your area?

I don't think a gift is in order for an engagement party. The couple is supposed to announcing their engagement to "enlist" family and friend support. I would save the gifts for the wedding shower and the actually wedding. IMHO.

__________________
Lyn Clarke

I personally wouldn't bring a gift. I would bring a card congratulating them on their engagement or perhaps a bottle of wine. Like someone else said, there are bridal showers galore and the actual wedding where they will be getting gifts.

__________________
I've had a Foreman Grill for about six years. I've done about 85% of my cooking on it, but I've never burnt myself. Probably because I don't use it as a pillow.

i agree, the wedding gift is enough, for a engagement party i would just bring a card, but if they were close friends i would probably bring a little something with some special meaning, but not a big fancy gift. there are all sorts of celebrations associated with weddings that are terrific, but i do not think people should feel obligated to bring gifts to them all. they are mainly for the fun of the event and the memories, at least IMO!

I agree, and was going to suggest the wine as well. I have never been to an "engagement party", but, would treat it like a dinner invitation, and when we are invited to dinner at someone's house, we bring wine, or some basket of food (coffee and biscotti,etc.), or a plant.

HTH.

__________________
Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

A gift is not required for an engagement party but I usually bring a bottle of wine and a congratulatory card, as mentioned by previous posters. These parties are a way for the couple to share their good news with family and friends and to meet the prospective bride or groom.

__________________
Jocelyn



My babies are the joys of my life and keep me young:
The twins,Tatiana Gabrielle and William Joseph , 1/29/97, and baby boy, Jared Lawrence, 8/27/02.

There was no gifts at my granddaughter's engagement party.

It was a back yard party with food served. There were soft and hard beverages available.
After dinner the bride and groom to be each made a little speach.
Following their talks, each of the bridal party spoke about how and how long they had known both the bride and groom to be, and a little about their friendship or relationship.
Following that, both sets of parents talked.
Following that, any of the guests or relatives could talk if they chose to.

It gave the guests from both sides a chance to get aquainted if they were'nt already.

It was a very nice and informal gathering.

__________________
Barb


My GOD Bless our Country and our Troops, and rid the World of terroists.

Gosh, I guess maybe I'm in the minority here, but every Engagement party that I have ever been to, there were presents. Usually housewarming type gifts. I've been to engagement party that were thrown for co-workers, family members and neighbors. All with gifts. I went by their gift registry or if there wasn't one, I buy a pretty picture frame and put a small GC in it.

__________________
~LOL~
ladyoleisure@lycos.com

Your heart understands what your head cannot yet conceive; trust your heart..

I found this on http://www.ultimatewedding.com

Etiquette dictates that gifts should not be expected at engagement parties. This rule may vary, however, depending on your regional culture. You may want to explicitly state �best wishes only� in your invitations, or by word of mouth, if you do not expect gifts. Some guests will want to bring a gift even if they are not expected to. In these instances, you may want to wait until after the party to open them so as to not make your other guests feel guilty. You will also want to send a thank-you note to those guests who do give you a gift.

__________________
This space for rent

I think it's regional. Every engagement party I've been to gifts are brought. Picture frames or small household items are the usual.

I have always seen people bring gifts to the engagement party becuase sometimes the people inmvited to the engagement party may not be invited to the wedding.

Now that is tacky. Invite people to a party where they are expected (in your area) to bring gifts and not invite them to the wedding? That is the same as inviting someone to a shower and not inviting them to the wedding.

__________________
Raising my baby RIGHT!!!!!!

All the cool babies are wearing cloth!

I've never seen gifts at an engagement party. That's what the shower and wedding are for. I would take a card and bottle of wine (or case of beer if they are more the beer drinking type).

__________________
Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I'm on the side of the fence that says: engagement parties= no gift (maybe just a card, or a bottle of wine) and showers/weddings= gift giving.
It's interesting how it varies, but I do tend to think this practice is in the majority on this issue.

Wow I cannot believe how many say no to gifts- I could never go to a party emtyhanded. The only exception to this is an invite that specifically says "No Gifts"

__________________
All you can do is All you can do-- But All you can do is enough!!!

Where I live, I've never heard of an engagement party! Showers, yes, weddings, yes, receptions, yes, but not for engagements.

Also, there is no expectation that someone who gave a shower gift is to also give a wedding gift. The mindset is that any gift given to the couple is "the" gift given to the new couple to celebrate their new life and launch them into a new household together, rather than one of a series of gifts from the same person/family.

wowitsdark... I was going to say the same thing! I've never heard of an engagement party either.

Glad I'm not alone, Cuthie!

I am apt to say, "That's what such-and-such got us when we got married!"

There is no, "That's the engagement party gift we got from Bob and Kara, the thing on the table is the shower present we got from them, and then for our wedding, they brought us that gizmo on the shelf!"

It's not expected at all that anyone would give you multiple items to launch your new life together.

I remember back when we got married. We went to nine weddings that summer, since all our friends were of marrying age, too. I went to bridal showers for each of the brides. Getting shower gifts was a stretch on the budget at that time, and I probably just got them $15 towel sets! I see here (from another thread) that people tend to spend $25 - $100 on such gifts. Had it been a social standard that we were spending that kind of cash, and doing it for the shower AND the wedding, we'd have spent nearly $2,000 that summer on other people... way more than we even had to spend on ourselves!

We had an engagement picnic for my DD last summer because the wedding wasn't going to take place for another year and everybody wanted to "celebrate now". We had specified "no gifts" -- just come and hang out and eat and socialize - very informal.

It was such a great time

Most of the people did, in fact, bring gifts -- mostly gift certificates to places like Linens 'n Things and Home Depot -- which, of course, were very much appreciated

I don't know, here most people dont have engagement parties but I would bring a bottle of wine or something small. but as for the shower/wedding gifts people buy actual gifts from a registry for a shower and give monetary gifts at the wedding/wedding cards. Isnt' that the norm? I'm in PA.

I agree and do the same thing.