Terms of engagement

What Jewish couples do for engagements vary widely. Outside certain Hasidic circles it is rare to  do bedecken.) 
for the engagement. Instead, those take place right before the wedding ceremony, which is why you have a broken plate event (see http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2009/11/breaking-plates-revisied.html prior to the
ta'naim

But many do want to have some celebration of the engagement, whether they go for something small or a mini-wedding with a caterer, hall, photographer, and the whole nine yards. The former is usually called a L'chaim to refer to the toasts one would make in celebration -- even though some of these type parties may not put out any of the hard stuff. The latter is usually called a vort, which means word, to refer to words of Torah that should be shared on such an occasion. In less right wing circles, people are more likely to avoid the strictly Jewish terms refer to the occasion as an engagement party.

Some people will even do two rounds of parties, one small L'chaim in the house for just the immediate family (however one defines that) usually on the evening immediately following the engagements (whenever that takes place). Then they will schedule a bigger party for a Sunday evening to allow people the opportunity to get over to share with all their friends, coworkers, and relatives at a further remove.  Unless they are going full out with a range of catered foods, typically, they will serve cake, cookies, candies, fruit, and, possibly, salads and sushi.

Accordingly, these events are usually scheduled not to run over actual meal times when people are content with a nosh and a drink. If you do end up scheduling a party over a meal time, you should bear in mind that your guests will likely want something more substantial to eat. While it's not a big deal for people who are just dropping in from the neighborhood who can go home for their meal, it can make your party less than perfectly pleasant for people who traveled in over longer distances, particularly if the are relatives who feel an obligation to stay longer than the 15-20 minutes most people spend at the drop-in kind of parties.

You want the celebration to be a time of happiness, and people who feel hungry are usually not in the best of moods. Of course, you can try to rectify that by offering them booze, but if you don't have that mood-enhancer on hand, then you better dig up some more substantial fare for the people stuck there for hours or whose trip to get there entails hours of travel.

Another thing you don't want to do to diminish anyone's happiness is bring up wedding business and financial matters at the event -- even if you wait until the other guests have left. It's inappropriate and inconsiderate to mix that in at the celebration. There will be plenty of opportunities to get together with and connect via phone, email, chat, Skype, whatever you want, after the engagement celebration to talk tachlis. 

Related: http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2015/05/wedding-planning-streamlined.html

http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2009/05/you-dont-have-to-be-jewish-to-spend-lot.html

Like and follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KallahMagazine/