Allie's Ultimate Guide to Engagement Party Planning

Allie Blain
May 24, 2024
2 min read

This summer, I got to do something super epic: plan my best friend’s surprise engagement party. It was a moment that made me pause and think, "Am I really old enough for this?" Even though I had a slight “adulting” crisis, I felt so honored to play a role in such a significant event in Courtney’s life! If you’ve listened to the podcast, you know how much we love our Courtney… and getting to celebrate her in this way was SO joyful!!!!

My goal was to plan a party that was a complete surprise and also was super baller on a budget, I didn’t want it to look “thrown together” or “cheap.” As I dove into the world of party planning, I found myself scouring the internet for help. While I found things that were helpful, I didn’t find any blog that had all of this information in one place… SO I decided to put together all the valuable advice I found (and learned along the way) into one blog.

So, whether you’re preparing to plan an engagement party for a loved one or envisioning your own in the future, you should be able to find everything you need right here!!

I was PARANOID the whole time that Courtney would see something on my phone about this… she’s constantly in my room and hanging out so the first thing I did after Peyton texted me asking to help plan was to mute his contact and re-save it as “Unknown Number.” I knew that if she saw his name on my phone, it would ruin the surprise!

Once he had a date planned, I started my top-secret party planning! I sent a group text to a few girls to invite them to come celebrate with us and we were all dedicated to keep it a secret!

Let me tell you, I scoured every corner of the internet to compile a list of what I would need for the party. After hours of scanning Pinterest, I took to Canva and made a vision board.

Here is everything I bought for to decorate the party (and where I got it from)

Banner Paper (Lowes)
“Congrats” gold balloons (Walmart)
Clothespins (Walmart)
Twine (Walmart)
A wooden “H” (Walmart)
A notebook (Walmart)
Vases (Dollar Tree)
White Ribbon for Bows (Dollar Tree)
Pictures! (CVS)

My absolute favorite thing that I got for this party ended up actually being the cheapest- the notebook! I got a blank notebook from Walmart, painted the front, and set it up for people to write a note to Courtney and Peyton throughout the night. I was nervous people wouldn’t see it or recognize it, but by the end of the night that notebook was FILLED with encouragement, prayers, and congratulations. I loved seeing friends take the time to write in this!