If you didn’t catch it in some of my Instagram stories, my good friends Megan and Ben got engaged! Seeing as I’ll take any opportunity to throw a party, I offered to get an engagement party together for them right away.

Megan and Ben are very casual people and wanted to be able to invite all of their Houston friends to celebrate with them, so we decided to go with an outdoor soiree with a very natural theme. If you or your friends are the same way, take a look at some of the ideas we used to throw a casual engagement party on a budget!

How to Throw a Casual Engagement Party

1. Pick a casual venue. Since Megan and I live together and we don’t have a yard, it made sense to host the party somewhere else. The best spot for a young and sociable couple? An outdoor bar! It makes for a laid back setting so there isn’t too much pressure. If you are also working on a tight budget, it also helps to host it at a restaurant or bar so that people can buy their own drinks.

2. Create a color scheme. Since the party was going to be outside, I went with a natural, yet glamorous feel, including lots of white, green, and yellow into the color scheme. Get your table runner, plates, utensils, etc. in these colors to keep things uniform.

3. Add in natural decorations to make things festive. Putting a variety of white and green flowers into mason jars made for adorable centerpieces that were incredibly cheap to put together. I chose one larger headed flower along with some lengthier ones and large leaves to help fill out the arrangements and create some interest. I also created a garland to run down the length of the table using green crepe paper cut into leaf shapes and sewn together (tutorial coming soon!).

4. Get your guest’s attention. In order to make it easier for the guests to find you at the party, add some balloons to your table! I added some of the crepe paper leaves to the string of my balloons to make them a little more special (tutorial coming soon!).

5. Set up a game or activity. Though the bar might already have something like corn hole or big jenga set up, it is nice to also have some games or an activity for your guests. On the request of the engaged couple, I set out a suggestion box for wedding hashtags. It was a fun activity for guests that didn’t require any organization or schedule on our part.

6. Figure out a simple menu. To make things easier on yourself, host the party in the afternoon so you don’t have to feed people a full meal. Instead, stick to snacks that won’t melt and make a huge mess or have to be kept warm or cold. I grabbed some pretzels and some of the couples’ favorite candies from the store and made some cute engagement ring cookies for dessert (recipe and tutorial coming soon!). I also added in some oreo pops with little pearls on them, because I couldn’t help myself – they were just too cute (tutorial coming soon!)!

The party seemed to be over in a flash. We all had such a fun time celebrating the newlyweds – I wish we could repeat it all over again! Looking back, I would have taken so many more photos to document the amazing guests who came out to enjoy the day, but sometimes it’s hard to stop having fun and think about taking pictures.