How to Throw an Engagement Party
An engagement party may be the happy couple's last chance to indulge in the joy of being engaged before the chaos of wedding planning begins.
Steps:
1. Create unique engagement party invitations with a fun or silly picture of the couple on the front.
2. Go overboard on decorations. Things that might be tacky or over-the-top at a wedding might be perfect for the engagement party. Think heart-shaped Mylar balloons and plastic silver champagne glasses.
3. Find a good picture of the couple. Either frame it or have it blown up to poster size at Kinko's and hang it in a prominent place.
4. Serve food that is fun, romantic and easy to eat and serve. Ask your caterer for tasty finger foods and appetizers and several decadent deserts. Also make sure you have plenty of champagne as well as some fun "themed" drinks, like a Love Cocktail for instance.
5. Set up a microphone in a prominent location so that, as the evening progresses, people can make toasts to the happy couple.
6. Buy two large white sheets of poster board. Write "Wedding Advice From the Women" across the top of one and "Wedding Advice From the Men" on the other in heavy, dark marker. Attach a pen to each and encourage guests to leave notes about things they learned while planning their own weddings.
7. Give these two sheets to the couple when the party ends.
Engagement Party Tips:
Throw the party in the evening when people are much more inclined to dance and be romantic.
Warnings:
An engagement party is probably not a good candidate for a surprise party. You don't want to risk having the couple stumble into the party in the middle of a "where to have the wedding" fight, or a hot passionate kiss, whichever is more embarrassing.
Queens is a crescent-shaped borough traversing the width of Long Island and including two of the major New York City area airports, LaGuardia (LGA) and John F. Kennedy International (JFK). It also carries the largest ethnic diversity in its area of any region in the world, divided into small enclaves. Jackson Heights, for example, includes a huge Indian area, followed by a Colombian area, and then a Mexican area. Each offers a wide array of authentic shops, native-style cuisine, and festivals modified only slightly by the generally colder New York City experience.
The geographical center of New York City is actually in Queens. Near this location, investors held the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs. The area still includes an interesting museum and some architectural and artistic relics of the events (including the Unisphere, a 300 ton spherical grid of steel sculpted to look like the globe - as seen in Men In Black). The area is now called Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The northern end includes Shea Stadium and the U.S. Tennis Open stadium; further north still one can walk along the edge of a marina in Long Island Sound. The park also includes a science museum, a zoo, pedal-boats, and frequent special events.
For information on how to walk or bicycle to and from Queens, check http://www.transalt.org/. Except for the Whitestone and Throgs Neck bridges, all the bridges can be crossed by pedestrians and bicycles. Be prepared, however, for long walks - and don't forget that Queens is very, very big and not well-designed for a walking tour. Do not attempt this without a map!
Sadly, most Queens visitors spend their visit on a bus to or from LaGuardia Airport or JFK. A proper tour of Queens is worthwhile. It can be conducted by a chauffeur-driven limousine service, as the roads can be tough to navigate. Much of Queens (but unlike Manhattan, not all of it), including many of the most interesting parts, can be seen by subway. A trip on the 7 train, made nationally famous by the contempt of former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker, is a cultural experience in and of itself. The 7 runs elevated through most of Queens, so you'll be able to get a good sense of much of the borough through its windows. A good tour of Queens should include at least three meals in three different ethnic enclaves.
Other subways for getting around (and in and out of) Queens include the A, E, F, G, M, N, R, V & W. The Long Island Rail Road makes several stops in Queens: the main line runs through central Queens and the Port Washington line runs along the north shore (including a stop in Flushing).
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Why use a limousine service in New York?
A limousine service can easily be substituted for a car service. The comfort and safety of having a chauffeur-driven limousine service is more valuable when traveling in and around New York. There are practically hundreds of limousine services in New York.
Look up other areas covered by New York NY Limo limousine services:
Limousine Service (Bronx) – Limousine Service (Brooklyn) – Limousine Service (Long Island) - Limousine Service (Manhattan) – Limousine Service (Queens) – Limousine Service (Staten Island) – Limousine Service (New York)
