Housewarming Parties

Mrs42509 · October 2009

Who usually throws these? The new home owner or a friend? How do gifts work? I heard your not suppose to expect gifts but don't people generally buy you gifts? How do people know what to get you? Any tips advice or any additional info would be great! TIA

CincyBride08 · October 2009

We threw a Housewarming/ Graduation party (for DH) after we moved in. I assume that you typically throw a housewarming party for yourself, I don't think friends throw you a housewarming party in your own house. I was completely not expecting any gifts (the thought actually never crossed my mind), but we ended up getting a lot of gift cards to Lowes, Home Depot and Bed Bath and Beyond. We also got a couple cute picture frames too. It was a nice gesture but not expected.

stillwaiting12 · October 2009

We threw our own housewarming party. We received a few gifts, a couple flowers and a few gift cards etc... I also did not expect it but I thought it was really nice!

WA1215 · October 2009

We threw our own- like an open house. Some people brought gifts, but we didnt expect them. We served dinner (buffet style) and gave tours of the house.

Christine.Louie · October 2009

We threw our own housewarming party about a month ago. We sent out postcard invitations (Vistaprint) stating that it was an open house which is generally the cue for "less formal". We did it for 3 hours during the afternoon so that we didn't have to do a full meal. I made fruit tray, cheese/cracker/sausage tray, veggie tray, mini pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, pasta salad, cocktail meatballs, cookies, brownies, cake calls, and a chocolate foutain with various dipping items. Phew...yes, that was considered a SNACK for my (large) family...they can really eat and pretty much everything was gone!

We didn't expect gifts but did receive quite a few - giftcards, house decor, plants, wine, money, etc. I have heard of people signing up for housewarming registries but I don't think you should ever ask for or expect gifts so I wouldn't advertise it. For those that want to know what to get you, they'll generally ask your parents and like for weddings I guess you could then direct them to the registry.

Tips:

If you have a no-shoes in the house policy like I do I found that putting a sign on our banister in the foyer and just having some shoes out by the door were enough for majority to figure it out. The sign said "Welcome! This is an American home lived Asian style. Please remove your shoes and stay awhile!"
If you want to meet neighbors, this is a great time to do so. Knock on their door and invite them over .
Expect to give tours. Either designate a family member to help out or we provided maps (ie: floor plan) of our home with * designating items of interest (poster boards with pictures of our kitchen remodel, timeline of our home buying experience; special pieces of art with a paragraph describing why it's special etc.) so people can self-tour.
Do as much prep work as you can before hand. Chop your fruits, veggies, etc. and put extras in the fridge. Refill as needed.
Make foods that are simple and preferably that can sit out for long periods of time. This isn't the time to show off your culinary skills. The crockpot is your friend...borrow more if you can! .
If you're a recycling family, put out your recycling bin or designate a receptacle as recycling by printing out a Recycling Symbol.
If you don't want to buy ice, make it beforehand and stock pile.
Don't forget to send thank you cards!

Housewarming Parties

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