I grew up in Northern California and my entire extended family (pretty much) lives there too. My husband grew up here in Los Angeles and his entire family (just about) lives down here. So when it came time for all of the pre-wedding festivities, we had a choice. Either his entire family had to travel up north, or my entire family had to travel down south. So what would we choose?
Engagement parties, bridal showers, and bachelorette parties have been in the front of my brain recently, as we have close friends getting married this March and another best friend who just got engaged in December!
And in the midst of this engagement season, I know that some of you may run into the same "problem" as I did. Where do we have our pre-wedding parties?
So I decided to tell you about my personal experiences, being in the middle of this "situation."
Two is better than one.
No, I am not talking about the Boys Like Girls song...I am talking about your pre-wedding parties. And that's just it! Two IS better than one!
We had two engagement parties and I had two bridal showers! That way, all of our family and friends were able to be involved, and we didn't have to make one side or the other travel all the way to the other end of California.
And why is this better than one party?
1) We got to travel which we LOVE.
2) We got to see ALL of our families.
3) We got extra parties which made our engagement that much more exciting!
The Problem
It's not really a problem at all, but many brides are worried that they may seem greedy or selfish if they do this. But really, it's better for everyone!
And second, you can have more people involved in planning. Because we all know that there are more than enough people who want a role in the wedding! So now you get to assign not one, but TWO people to head these parties.
Sounds like a good deal to me!
Quick Tip
While this post hopefully got your mind swirling with thoughts and ideas, I have one very important piece of information to tell you about your pre-wedding parties. ONLY INVITE the people to those parties who are going to be invited to the wedding. If not, it's like saying, "I want an extra gift but I don't like you enough to invite you to the wedding." I know there may be other reasons, but you've got to look at it from the guests' perspective.
If you are having a very small wedding, on the other hand, then it it typically okay to invite others to your engagement party, but only if they are 100% aware of the wedding plans. But if all else fails, only invite those who are invited to the wedding!
Who's in a similar situation and what did you decide to do about it?
