Engagement Party Questions

We are having an engagement party on July 5, 2008. I need to know how do you seat the families for the engagement party. Do you seat the bride`s family separate from the groom`s family? This event is banquet style seating. We also have children from the age 4-17, how do we entertain the young ages? We have small gifts for our bridal party as a thank you for accepting a title in our wedding next year. We have a speech that we`d like to annouce & pass out these gifts. How do we do that & do we do it before, in the middle or at the end of our event? Keep in mind no one knows yet that they have a tilte though!!