The Ultimate Guide to Planning a Perfect Engagement Party

Your engagement party should be exciting and announce the upcoming union between you and your partner - so making it a happy occasion is a must!

With this in mind, North East wedding venue Langley Castle have crunched the numbers on around 1,000 Spotify “engagement party” playlists to find the top songs for any engagement bash.

The top spot in the ultimate engagement playlist is taken by Whitney Houston with I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), a song to really get the party started, with dancefloor staples Toploader’s Dancing in the Moonlight and then ABBA’s classic Dancing Queen following.

Other tracks worthy of mention include Mr Brightside by The Killers, Crazy In Love by Beyonce and Jay-Z, Uptown Girl by Billy Joel and Neil Diamond's classic floor-filler Sweet Caroline.

Katie Livingstone-Evans Lowes, weddings and events coordinator at Langley Castle said: “This playlist brings the best of the best dancefloor fillers together, and provides the perfect soundtrack to your special evening.

“Of course, you should add your own personal choices – the song you heard on your first date, the song that played when you fell in love or the song that was playing when you knew your partner was ‘the one’.

“When you get engaged, no one tells you just how much planning is involved from the off. Whether it is the proposal itself, an engagement party, or even the wedding, plans need to be made across all aspects of the run up to your marriage.

But these choices don’t have to be daunting. In fact, an engagement party could be the perfect practice for your wedding decisions – taking the guess work out of your guests, venues, and even playlists!”

Starting with the music – the most important part – we bring you a step-by-step guide to putting on the perfect engagement party.

The playlist

You playlist should be a personalised thing, but with plenty of floor-fillers and anthems to get everybody off their feet.

What songs do you and your partner frequently listen to or what song was playing when you met?

These little easter eggs of personal information can add a bit more romance into an already heart-filling day.

But make sure to keep some surprises to yourself, such as your first dance choice, if this is something you are particularly excited about.

Decide who is hosting

One of the early decisions to make is quite a simple one – who will be hosting. Some couples like to host the event themselves; others like to choose their wedding party early and let them plan the event, and others have a trusted family member do it.

Traditionally, this was a task for the parents of the bride and in many cultures and religions, this is still the case. But choosing who hosts the party can be an entirely personal choice between you and your loved one.

And if you want more creative control, and a chance to practice your party planning before your wedding, this could be a great option to choose.

Pick a venue

The venue is then crucial to making the event a good one and this will largely depend on who is hosting it. Some people, such as your parent’s, might want to host in at their house and make it a personal affair – and who wouldn’t want to celebrate such a bit life event in a place where it all started?

Others might consider bigger venues, especially if you plan on having many people attending. You could even use this as an excuse to feel like royalty for the day and try out castle wedding venues by hosting your party inside some historic grounds.

No matter where you host it, ensuring your entire party can fit is key. This is a time to spend with loved ones to celebrate your union-to-come. So don’t worry too much about the where, that stress is yet to come!

Choose a date

Of course, what is any party without the date scheduled into our calendars? Sending out invitations to your nearest and dearest is clearly the way forward – but picking when to invite everyone can be difficult.

If you haven’t informed everyone you are engaged yet, you might want to throw a party quickly and announce it there. But finding a reason to bring everyone together might be trickier than expected.

Timing it around a birthday, seasonal holiday, or a housewarming could be a great excuse – but make sure these are for you and that you’re not overshadowing someone else’s big day with the news!

If you worry over the planning then let someone else do it or if you want a personalised experience, and a bit of practice for the big one, spend some time getting to know what you and your partner want out of the party.

Whether you like being the centre of attention or enjoy seeing your loved ones having a good time, a party can be a great way to enjoy the moment and rehearse some of your planning skills in time for the big day.