Wedding Parties; how many is too many?

Question

Okay. Engagement parties, bridal shower, wedding shower, bachelor parties, Bachelorette parties. what is the deal with them? when is the appropriate time to have them ? what other parties are there? and is there any way to combine them? Isnt that too many?

Answer 1

Engagement party: Shortly after the engagement is made, normally a year out the actual wedding date. Not necesary to have, but it has become very popular lately.

Bridal shower, wedding shower, normally 2 months out the wedding day. Hosted by the bridal party.

Bachelorette, Bachelor parties. Normally one week prior the wedding date. You can make one sole party for both bride and groom and is called a Jack and Jill party.

Other parties:

Rehearsal dinner: For the wedding party and inmedite family and sometimes, out of town guests the day before the wedding.

After party : Informal gathering after the reception at a residence or hotel suite.

Sunday Brunch. Next day after the reception with out of town guests family and the wedding party. Not necessary to have either.

Yes, there are too many parties, but you don't have to have all of them.

Good luck

Answer 2

Engagement party, I didn't have one because it would have cost too much money in addition to wedding.

Bridal shower (only difference between bridal and wedding is the bridal is just for women, wedding is for bride, groom and any males and females), I had a bridal shower about 2 months before the wedding.

Bachelor and bachelorette party usually happens the weekend before the wedding. You can combine these depending on the couple. Some couples aren't into the whole strip club thing so they combine it. My cousin-in-law and his fiancee are combining theres and we're all going to dinner and to a comedy club.

Hope that helps. You can do whatever you want. That's why I didn't do an engagement party. I didn't think it was necessary for us, but each couple is different.

Answer 3

The more the better, I love to go to and have parties. We planned and did our own Engagement Party. For our Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party I told my best friend to have them a month before the wedding and the same day. Have the bridal shower early in the day and the bachelorette party later that night. I want that stuff out of the way before the wedding, wayyyy before. I love parties but haven't been to too many.

Answer 4

The purpose of the engagement party is to formally announce your plans, and this should be held pretty shortly after you get engaged. Showers: people typically have wedding or bridal, not both. Some people have more than one--like maybe your coworkers will host one, then your bridal party would host one. They're typically held a month or 2 before the wedding. Bachelorette parties are for having a night out with friends and having fun.

Answer 5

I think it depends on the couple's circumstances. I love parties, but I don't want people to keep giving us gifts. We both own our own homes, so we don't need any more stuff. However, I really appreciated that my fiance's aunt threw a small engagement party for us so that I could meet some of his cousins. I told my matron of honor that I don't want any showers or bachelorette party (I'm in my 40s--a bachelorette party just feels silly). She decided instead to host a week-long party. She's rented a beach house, and mine and my fiance's siblings and their spouses will come for the first half of the week. They all go away (except for my matron and honor and me) and my girlfriends will come down for the second half of the week. She's paying for the house, so they only have to get themselves there and share in the food costs. They'd have to feed themselves at home anyway, so they all get a nice vacation for the price of transportation, which isn't a whole lot more than they would have paid for presents and to throw showers and a bachelorette party anyway. And, we all get a great party without all the trappings of showers and such. That works for us. However, for a young couple just starting out, I think showers are wonderful. Bachelor and bachelorette parties can be a lot of fun if that's the kind of entertainmnet you and your friends enjoy.

More to the point of your original question: all of these parties are optional, and none of them are given by the bride and groom. Often, there is no engagmenet party, but if there is, it is given around the time of engagmeent, well before the wedding. How many showers, and what type, are really determined by who is throwing them (the bride does not throw her own shower). Sometimes there is no shower, sometimes one large general one, sometimes several smaller even themed ones (kitchen shower, around-the-clock, lingerie, etc.). Showers are usually given in the two to three months before the wedding. Bachelor parties are an old tradition where the guys take the groom out for his last weekend of fun before the responsibilities of marriage. Bachelorette parties are becoming more popular for the bride's friends to take her out before she settles into being an "old, married lady". But, none of them are required.

Answer 6

Not everyone has engagement parties at all - they're basically a casual event where the close family of both sides gets to meet the couple and the bridal party. Informal, drinks and snacks, no gifts.
Bridal shower and wedding shower are the same thing. Nice, informal, fun time for the ladies of the families to get together and giggle, chat, etc.
Bachelor and -ette parties really seem to be disappearing! We didn't have them, just saw no need to.
Some people have rehearsal parties, too. We just had people over to someone's home after the rehearsal for drinks and eats, really informal.

Answer 7

Here is my take:

Engagement Party: not necessary to have. A family member or friend may want to throw you one, but you do not have to throw yourself one.

Wedding Shower and Bridal Shower: same thing, usually held about a 1.5-2 month ahead of the wedding

Bachelor/ette parties: A good way to blow off steam. Usually held a couple weeks before wedding (not the night before).

Answer 8

I don't think there is a number that is "Too many", but make sure that you are inviting different groups to each one. Like if your mom throws one and invites your family and you MIL-to-be throws one with her relatives and you have one for work, that may feel like a lot to you but all of the guests only attended one. It gets to be too much when everyone is attending the same thing over and over. If people want to throw you parties though, let them!

Answer 9

I love going to parties...I love throwing parties...there can never be too many parties!