Immediately after becoming engaged you should personally tell the people in your life who are the most important to you. That list may include, but is not limited to, your parents, your grandparents, your siblings, your children and any close friends.
Remember once you tell one person of engagement news tends to travel siblings. It might seem easier to tell a couple of people and let them tell other family members or friends, but this really is not for your benefit as people may feel hurt or angry. A good way to ensure that you are the one telling those closest to you is by have a family dinner. You may need to hold 2 or 3 small get together to tell who’s most important in your lives before sending out a general announcement.
The dinners or get together should be within one week of the engagement. Try to schedule these parties as close together as possible so no one tells anyone before you can. For this reason you will want to schedule these dinners as close to the engagement date as possible.
If the two families have not met yet or are not on good terms the dinners should be separate. You may also have a get together with your closest friends to announce the happy news. You may also have separate meals planned with close friends. This way you can let the people closest to you know before the announcement goes out.
Also, if there are any children from previous marriages they should be told first. You should let them talk about how they feel about the situation, and let them openly express themselves. You should encourage them to talk about how this makes them feel and help them deal with any transition problems that there may be. They should be told immediately after the acceptance and given a little time to adjust before the dinner party. If the children are on good terms with their soon to be step parent you may even consider letting them announce the engagement at the party, to get them involved.
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Alyssa Kelly freelance writes for Our Perfect Wedding Guide, an online guide to everything you need to know about weddings from the engagement through the honeymoon. The website also offers a monthly newsletter which offers free up to date content delivered to your inbox. Ms. Kelly writes for this site as she believes in love and marriage and she believes in this website. Click here to read more on engagement.
