Contents
How to Throw a Housewarming Party
Hosting a housewarming party is a great way to welcome family and friends into your new home. It’s also an opportunity to meet your new neighbors. However, a housewarming party can also be a bit overwhelming if you try to hold one too soon or go overboard on food and decorations. We’ve compiled these seven tips to ensure your housewarming party is a stress-free hit.
Get settled in your new home
Your new house doesn’t have to perfect before you host a housewarming party, but you’ll want to have most of your boxes unpacked and furniture in place. You may even want to complete a few projects, like repainting, before hosting family and friends. Just realize there is no need to rush a housewarming party. It’s okay to wait two or three months if that’s what it takes.
Waiting also allows you extra time to plan. Consider your new home’s size and how many people it can comfortably accommodate. When drawing up your invite list, limit your guests to that number. It’s also a good time to decide what type of house-warming party, one with a set start and end time or an open house-style party where guests can drop by at their convenience. Thinking about these things now will minimize stress later.
Send your invites early
Once you’ve picked a date, compile your guest list. In addition to family and friends, consider inviting your new neighbors so you can get to know them. You may also want to invite coworkers, especially if you’ve taken a new job recently.
When it comes to the invitations, you have a choice between mailed or digital. Today, it’s perfectly acceptable to email or text evites. Either way, send them early. You’ll want your guests to receive their invitations at least three weeks, if not a month, before your housewarming party. Also, since most will be visiting your new home for the first time, include clear directions to your home in the invitation along with any special parking instructions.
Keep decorations simple
You don’t really need to decorate for a housewarming party, but you may want to add a few special touches. Balloons tied to your front porch or a festive “Welcome” sign on your front door will help guests easily spot your new home from the street. Inside, strategically place floral arrangements or plants will lend a fresh and finished look to your new home.
If you’re creative, though, there’s no need to stop there. Amazon and Etsy sell housewarming party decorations, including banners and cupcake toppers. (They also sell housewarming-themed party games and housewarming party favors.) Just don’t go overboard on the decorations. Your guests are there to see your new home.
During the party, you’ll want to focus on your guests, not the food, so keep your menu simple. Rely on finger foods that can be easily replenished like chips, veggies and dip, or a charcuterie board. If you want something more substantial, a tray of sub sandwiches is good option, too. Eager to show off how great your neighborhood is? You could even pick up some appetizers from a local restaurant.
Don’t forget the drinks. Focus on self-serve options. Large capacity drink dispensers can be filled with iced tea, fruit-infused water, lemonade or sangria. Or, you can stock an ice-filled tub with bottled waters, sodas and juice boxes. Adult beverages, including beer and wine, are always appreciated, but keep these separate from non-alcoholic drinks, especially if kids will be present.
Tip: Designate someone to monitor the food and drink stations and replenish them as necessary. This frees you to welcome guests as they arrive, give tours of your new home, meet your neighbors and catch up with old friends without having to worry about food and drink.
Give tours of your home
Your family and friends want to see your new home, so be prepared to give several tours throughout the party. Try to limit the number of people you take on each tour so everyone can fit into comfortably fit into each room. If you have “before” and “during” photographs of any renovations you’ve made, consider uploading them to your tablet for anyone interested in seeing the transformation.
It helps if a housemate can answer the door and entertain other guests while you give the tour. If you don’t, designate someone to cover for you when you give tours.
Or, allow guests to take a self-guided tour of your new home. Create a floorplan that you can handout to interested guests. Then, label the door of each room so they know where they are at in your home. Under the label, you can add a little information about the room such as what renovations you’ve made or hope to make in the future.
Consider a few games
Games can be a fun way to break the ice, especially if you’re inviting people who won’t know each other. You can buy housewarming party games on Amazon and Etsy or even find free downloads on the Internet. And, of course, you can make your own. Check out these popular housewarming party games.
New house scavenger hunt: Ask guests to find the answers to questions about your new home like how many windows are in your home or what color the front door is. If you create your own scavenger hunt list, you can get even more specific. What book is on your nightstand? Or, how many ballpoint pens are on your desk? You probably don’t want your guests rummage through the silverware drawer to count your spoons, but how far you take it is up to you.
Neighborhood scavenger hunt: Instead of focusing on your home, this scavenger sends guests out into the neighborhood. Again, you can print a scavenger hunt list off the Internet or make your own. A fun variation is to turn it into a photo scavenger hunt. Guests search for items on your list—a for rent sign in the yard, for example—and take a photo. When the set time runs out, everyone meets back at your house to share photos.
Room memory: Pick a room in your home, and invite small groups to note of the items inside. After two minutes, escort them out, and give them five minutes (or whatever you think fair) to write down every item they remember. After everyone has had a turn, gather everyone together and compare answers. The person who correctly remembers the most wins.
Outdoor games: Not everyone gets enthused about scavenger hunts, memory tests, word scrambles or similar party games. If you have enough space in your backyard, set up a cornhole game or giant Jenga. You could even organize an informal tournament to encourage more people to play.
Tip: Offer prizes to the winners. Gifts cards to Home Depot, Lowe’s or a restaurant chain will all inspire friendly competition, but you could even award movie-sized candy bars or a six pack of local craft beer.
Don’t expect gifts
Traditionally, guests bring gifts, like a bottle of wine or a plant, to a housewarming party. But, it’s not a requirement and should never be expected. In fact, you may want to be the one doing the gifting. Treat your guests with a party favor as a way of saying thanks for coming. A prettily-packaged cookie from a nearby bakery or a small plant make excellent thank yous. You can also find housewarming party favor ideas online or pre-made on Etsy.