When a couple decides to marry, they naturally inform both sets of parents and stepparents before having a party planned or telling all their friends. The days are long gone of the man going trembling to the girl's father and saying, "Sir, may I have the honor of having the hand of your daughter in marriage?" However, a wise couple always discusses their plans for marriage with their respective families, and a young man often suggests a "financial talk" with his future father-in-law before the latter is faced with the embarrassment of asking for  _ . Even if a young woman has supported herself and lives away from home, her parents have the right to know how her fiance proposes to handle the long-range financing of their family and home. The fiance should state his income, his savings, and his future expectations, without overstating any of them. Engagement parties are given by the parents of the bride-to-be or by a   of the bride acting for her parents, usually just before the newspaper announcement of the engagement. If the bride-to-be and her fiance live in a city other than her parents, it is better for her parents to go to the city than her to go home to them for the engagement party. She and her fiance will, after all, be partied in her parents' hometown during the wedding festivities. However, if the family home is not far away, it is proper for the engaged couple to travel there for the announcement party. The young man's family should be invited, too. If the bride's parents are no longer living, then a   or a close friend can give the party. It is usually a simple cocktail's party, champagne served for toasts to the engaged couple. If the party is very large, the engaged couple and the girl's parents might form a receiving line -- but they do not have to. The bride-to-be usually wears her engagement ring officially for the first time on this occasion. If she has a gift for the groom-to-be, she gives it to him right before or after the engagement party. For Americans, the traditional engagement ring is a diamond solitaire  . However, today anything goes -- a ring with many color1ed stones, a ring with a large semi-precious stone, an heirloom   ring reset in a modern design, or even a stone in the bride's family, simply reset in a Tiffany setting. The wedding ring will be of the same metal as the engagement ring. Some girls prefer no engagement ring but choose a wedding band that is decorated with stones instead. No one has to have an engagement ring. A girl may want her fiance to give her a pearl necklace instead, or a jeweled watch. Jeweled rings can be given as gifts on many occasions during the married lives -- such as wedding anniversaries, the birth of a child, or an important job promotion. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
The bride-to-be and her fiance will have to wait in line with both of their parents. If the boy's parents are dead, a   or a close friend gives a party on their behalf. The engagement party is usually given before the newspaper announcement. It's no longer necessary to give a diamond solitaire as the engagement ring.