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Housewarming recap
I got some helpful tips on this board when I asked about hosting a housewarming party, so I thought I would share my experience and maybe it'll help someone else. This is our first home and, aside from our wedding, the first party we've hosted.
Our party was this past Sunday and the Giants were also playing, so we had a lot of people stay for the whole game. The men stayed in the living room to watch TV, and the women mostly stayed in the dining room and chatted. The living room couches could fit 5 and we had several folding chairs and camp chairs set up in the living room too. Some people had to stand but they didn't seem to mind, and there was a lot of rotating as people got up to get food or drinks. The dining room seats 8. In total there were probably 30-40 people there throughout the day, including 8 children. A lot of people spent time outside as well.
The only dessert I provided myself was chocolate cookies, figuring that people would bring more. A bunch of other people did indeed bring desserts, so definitely don't go overboard on the sweets.
Drinks offered: Pepsi, Diet Coke/Pepsi, Sierra Mist, bottled water, Yuengling, Miller Lite, Coors Lite, ginger ale, and some craft beers. Two people drank white wine but couldn't even finish off the bottle (we forgot a corkcscrew but luckily that one bottle was a screw-top). Nobody touched the red wine. Two pots of coffee (12 cups each) was enough for all, and I think a few people had hot tea. The paper coffee cups were from Dollar Tree and got VERY hot - the supermarket only had styrofoam and we didn't want to buy those. Next time I may look on Amazon for something of better quality that's still eco-friendly, or at least get the cardboard sleeves.
Food: The pigs in a blanket were the first things to go, like within the first 45 minutes, so I would make a double or triple batch next time. Potato skins and homemade Chili's Southwest Eggrolls were gone by the end of the night but they needed to be re-warmed throughout the day. My mom's deviled eggs went fast and so did my aunt's buffalo chicken dip. The vegetable platter and corn and black bean salsa bowl were barely touched, and ditto for the sausage dip.
Since we were hosting a lot of guys for the football game, I also made a double batch of chili (with shredded cheese and sour cream on the side) and a slow cooker of pulled pork (bone-in pork shoulder, splash of apple cider vinegar, can of root beer, and then cooked, shredded and covered in Kraft Honey Barbecue Sauce) with a platter of potato rolls nearby so people could make sandwiches. Both of these were very popular and were finished off by the time everyone left. I don't think it would've worked as well for a non-football crowd, though.
I sent several people home with leftovers, so stock up on good Ziplock bags and Tupperware that you can give away. I fully cooked the chili and the cookies on Saturday; and I prepped the potato skins, eggrolls and pigs in a blanket on their baking sheets on Saturday and just popped them in the oven on Sunday as people started to arrive. That saved a lot of time.
Make a lot of room in the fridge for the prepped food as well as the leftovers. We have a second fridge for the basement but didn't set it up yet and I wish we had, even just for the tons of beer and sodas that we were left with.
Our cat's litter box and food is in a room on the main floor, but he hid under our bed on the second floor all day because he was scared of the big crowd. He came down at the end of the party and plowed through his food because he was hungry, and I felt really bad (he was no worse for the wear, but I'm mad at myself for not thinking ahead and making him more comfortable). Some of the kids might've been a little too anxious to pet him and he might've bit them, so I'm glad he stayed hidden. I also wish I had put a few things away or further out of reach because we had some very small children who wanted to touch EVERYTHING, including platters of food (like, taking a bite of a chip and then putting it back on the platter, eww).
Hope this helps!
Re: Housewarming recap
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Me too! I make it pretty often and it's always eaten. One of our friends that we watch football with always requests it but he couldn't make it to the party, so maybe he's just been the one eating all of it on those other occasions
I brought it into work, though, and it was eaten up. I also brought in a few leftover desserts and those were demolished. I sent out the e-mail saying "free snacks!" and I saw several people immediately get up from their desks and make a beeline for the food area, lol.
Thanks so much for sharing this!!! I'll definately be re-reading it throughout the week as I prep for mine!
--Congratulations on the new house!