Entertaining Ideas
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Housewarming Party
My husband and I recently got married and just moved into our first home. We want to throw a little housewarming party! Fun fun! Anyways, I have never entertained before and have no idea where to start.
So, really any ideas/advice would be appreciated. Food? Drinks? Should I bother with a theme and decorating or just have the house look nice? We love board games, I don't know if that would be entirely too nerdy though haha. We don't have kids, but some of the people we would invite do. Is it okay to make it adults only? Or is that rude? We are thinking cocktail party, but should a housewarming be more low key?
I feel like these are all silly questions, but I am feeling a little overwhelmed. 
Re: Housewarming Party
I am so glad you don't think the board game thing is too nerdy! Haha because that is really what I want to do. It's so much fun.
I am not an entertaining expert, but when planning events I just go with what DH and I like doing. I figure if we plan an event a certain way because it's the proper way to hold that event and are miserable, what's the point of holding the event? I'm also all about doing things in the way that causes the least amount of stress to as many people involved as possible.
I think that is a really good point. I think what I have in my head is lovely and all, but is obviously stressing me out. It's probably better to go more low key, especially because this is my first time entertaining, and actually enjoy it!
I am thinking board games, get a fun local beer to try and everyone making their own personal pizzas would be a cool thing to do for dinner.
We had one and we kept it low key. No activities and a wide range of hours for people to come by. My suggestion would be to have food that doesn't require you to be cooking while people are there- you're going to be busy giving tours of your home!
We just did sheet pizzas and a bunch of heavy apps. And, if people offer to bring a dish, let them!
Congratulations on your marriage and new house. Your first housewarming is different from your first cocktail party and your first game party and your first dinner party. The goal of a housewarming party is to show off the house.
You do not need any sort of theme.
The first key decision is sit-down food or finger foods. Ours was finger food due to limits on seating. 40 guests and 18 seats is a problem. Our families wanted to check out the decor and where we had put their wedding gifts. Our friends wanted libations and talk. We did an open house and the families arrived early and the friends stayed late. We served mini quiches, barbeque biscuit cups, goat cheese and tomato purses, etc. I made some appys and reheated other appys. Basically, everything was wrapped up for maximum flavor and minimum splatter.
The next key decision is the tour. The families wanted the tour of the house to see all the features...I had to figure out what those were and how to highlight them. DH and I took turns playing tour guide.
After the families left, we were able to pour out some nice drinks and party with our friends.
It's up to you to decide what form you want your housewarming to take. It's common, if you want to do a show & tell thing, for housewarmings to be an open house/drop-in event on a Sunday afternoon. You don't have to do that if you don't want! You could totally make it a Friday or Saturday night cocktail party. I make it a point to have my house clean and every room staged and lit up whenever I have a dinner party with guests who haven't been over before.
I think a cocktail party could work especially well for a housewarming if there are rooms that aren't finished yet and you don't want to show off. Nothing says, "don't look in here," like a dark room.
I'm not a theme person. The only theme you'll ever see me do is where the flowers and tablecloth coordinate. (My last party is posted below for pics of what I mean.) I've actually never been to a theme party other than a Halloween one (outside of college, childhood, I mean). Getting together with good food and good friends seems to suit my crowd.
I often set out boardgames on the floor or coffee table at my parties. I make it a point to never mention them, lest I seem like a pushy cruise activities director lol. People see them and will get them out if they want to play.
I think if you do an evening cocktail party with a later start time and send out a nice invitations, you'll get fewer children, if any. If you do some wording about it being drinks and desserts, you'll convey the message.
My Pinterest
The Googlesites Paint Bio
Thinking of doing cosmetic updates to a dated home? These were our costs.
I don't think a theme is necessary at all.
We moved into our house in late September, so we had a big party in December and called it a holiday/housewarming party. So I guess ours was kind of theme-y, but only because of the time of year we scheduled it and our house was already decorated for Christmas.
Board games are not nerdy. People end up playing games at almost all of our parties, no matter what kind of party it is (birthday party, summer BBQ, holiday cocktail party, etc.)
It's totally fine to make the party for adults only if that's what you prefer, just make sure it's clear on the invite. You would think that sending out an invite for a cocktail party that starts later in the evening would get the message across that it's not kid-friendly, but in our experience, that doesn't work. If you're not clear and direct, you'll end up with a few parents bringing their kids, and the kids are cute but they do change the dynamic of the party. You'll also have a few annoyed parents who understood that the party was supposed to be adult-only and got babysitters for their kids, and are now irritated that they're paying for a babysitter while other parents brought their kids to the party.
Mr. Sammy Dog
Hope your party planning is coming along! Just saw this post for the 1st time or I'd of commented sooner. I always love party planning and look for any reason to throw a fun party! Do whatever YOU want. If you want an adults only cocktail evening then do it. DH and I dont have kids and most of our parties are no kiddies. We party kinda hard and kids dont really belong at drinking parties. Its not rude to not invite kids, I sure wouldn't want them messing up my new, clean home!
Definitely have pre-done food. Catered, pizza, sub platters, veggie trays, dips... Something easy. Italian beefs are always a hit and no work. Save real home cooking for a small intimate dinner party (those are a lot of fun too!) Your pizza idea sounds fun but would work better for a group of 4-6. Unless you have like 10 ovens.
Board games?! Absolutley! If people dont want to play, they dont have to. I like interacting games like Apples to Apples or Catch Phrase. People can join for as many rounds as they like and cut out whenever.
Dont be overwhelmed, once you throw one party you'll love it! Have FUN!!!!