x-post: engagement party questions

so my family wants to throw me and FH an engagement party which we are excited about but totally clueless about too!

my parents were thinking more of a brunch/lunch at a restaurant type of thing. we would take a private room in a restaurant and have 3 courses - appetizer, entree and occasion cake and have some alcohol (either champagne punch or mimosa's depending on the place). we wouldn't have a DJ/dancing. We would decorate with small flower centerpieces on the tables.

is that normal for an engagement party? i don't really know if i've ever been to one so i was hoping you guys could give me any insight on what an engagement party is like and if we should do anything specific. does what i mentioned sound okay or is that too similar to a shower? besides playing games at a shower, is there any real difference between the two parties? what should i add or change to what i already mentioned?

Please help! I'm so confused! ANY help is appreciated. TIA!!

also, any info about your parties is much appreciated! thanks again!

Okay ...i have not had one LOL..but all my friends had one and my one friend had a dj and stuff and my other friend just had her ipod playing in the background so there was music but u really dont need a dj at all...my other friend didnt have one and it was just her family and friends and we had a great time ...but u can do whatever u want really

And at all the parties we didnt play games ..thats more for the shower

I just had my engagement party 2 weekends ago in my mom's backyard.

We hd wine, beer, and a specialty drink - whte peach sangria. The sangria was such a hit that we had an entire cooler of beer and 6 bottles of wine left over!

We didn't have a DJ... just had a Sirius radio that we used. It blended in nice in the background so that u could hear it, but it didn't overpower ur conversations. I was glad we didn't get a DJ!

My mom and I made our centerpieces.... they were beautiful and inexpensive - I'll post pics in my album once I get them this week.

We actually rented a projection screen and put together a slideshow of pictures of us growing up, with all our friends and family, and together. It wasn't too expensive and everyone loved it - people are still talking about how it was so nice and they're favorite part of the night! The company that put it together did a great job - High Energy Entertainment... ask for Ralph.

We had all our friends and family take pictures and send them to us by e-mail and it worked out great! We got so many nice pictures.

As far as food goes, we had appetizers of bruschetta, mini hotdogs, and potato puffs passed around and a buffet-style dinner with chicken fingers, sausage and peppers, chicken parm, chicken francese, & penne ala vodka.

Our cake was from Taste of Home Bakery in Bellmore.... beautiful and sooo delicious! Again, I'll post pics this week.

We didnt wanna go too crazy on the engagement party because there are so many other things we need/want to save money for... It was still a great party and everyone had a lot of fun!

mines in my fiances backyard this saturday. there is still so much to do. we rented a tent with tables and chairs from clark tents in east islip. they are setting it up friday and breaking it down sun/mon. we are making all the food ourselves with the help from our families. and setting up a playlist on my ipod . we bought beautiful decorations and his brothers gf is a professional baker so shes making us a cake.

I cant wait till the party is here and hoping the weather holds out!

if you have any questions or you need help. let me know <