Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Housewarming party?

Garth and I really want to have all of our friends and family to come see our house and we think the best way to do it would be to have a housewarming party. We want the house to be complete before we have the party so it wouldn't be until late spring/early summer so we can utilize our deck. Our plan was to have an open house format with a wine and cheese theme. We don't want gifts, we just want everyone to bring their favorite wine/beer and we'll supply the appetizers.
What do you think? Did you have a housewarming party? Any suggestions or ideas?

18 comments:

Michelle said...

We ran into this same problem, so we ended up just hosting an NYE party. I think if you can combine it with some other event, it feels more natural for people to just come over and they get to see your house but don't feel obligated to give you a gift.

carrie1 said...

Have a fill the Wine Rack party.=)

But I like the idea of having a party to show off the new pad.

Alison said...

I think that is a great idea! We never had a housewarming party, and I really wish we had.

Sarah said...

Oh you should do it! We did when we bought our house, and I am so glad we did. It was a lot of fun. All of our friends and family wanted to see our place, so it was nice for everyone. We did a silly Evite and told people not to bring gifts.

Brittney Galloway said...

I liked Michelle's idea of combining it with another event- Memorial Day or July 4th would be a great chance to use the deck and show off the house! Definitely more natural than "please come see our new house but don't bring a gift," because even then people feel obligated to bring something!

Lauren said...

Definitely a fun idea! We didn't have one because we'd just gotten married and didn't want anyone to feel like the needed to bring ANOTHER gift! But I love being able to show off my house & I think a combo-holiday party would be fabulous!

The Shabby Princess said...

I am all for housewarming parties! But, then again, I'm all for any type of party--ha. Buying a house is a big deal and I think having a party to celebrate that is fantastic!

Jules said...

We did not have one, but I think it's a great idea. We had so much work to do that I was way too exhausted to throw a party together or I would have done it.

I also like the idea of combining it with a holiday. St. Patrick's Day is coming up!

LWLH said...

I think that is an awesome idea! Good luck!

Jen Caputo said...

We had one pretty soon after we moved in. We called it a housewarming party but told people not to bring gifts. The one thing I can tell you though, is that if you wait for your house to be "done" you'll never have the party :) Plus, you don't want to rush through too many decorating decisions either. You want to live with the house and really figure out how you use it and what each space should become. It's more fun to accumulate decor items naturally and leisurely instead of all at once in one big excursion.
I say, don't wait for your house to be perfect because that could take years and it's more fun for people to see it progress. We loved having people over back when we had our nasty lime green kitchen and we loved it even more that everyone was dying to come over and see it when it was completely remodeled. We even had a "our-kitchen-is-getting-demoed-tomorrow-so-come-over-and-draw-on-the-walls" party :)

Heather said...

We had a housewarming when we moved into our new house. It was supposed to be more of a "come and see us and our new home" party since we had just moved back from an overseas assignment. We weren't really expecting gifts but the older generation (my great-aunts) all brought something. We just did a drop-in type thing and served some finger foods.

Mrs. S. said...

I love the wine idea! I think that is a good idea if you don't really want gifts, or go with the idea of combining it with another holiday. I think that would work, too. You could do a BBQ and just invite people over. I have had a few friends do that, and it worked really well.

Jen | Our Life Accounts said...

I love the wine and cheese idea! We did a "housewarming party" of sorts that was basically a giant cook-out, celebrate the fact that it's warm and summer is on the way. We didn't phrase it as a housewarming specifically, but it was the first time everyone got a chance to see the new place.

Unknown said...

Housewarming parties are so fun! I hope you guys get to have it and that it is a huge success. Wine and cheese party sounds awesome to me!

Newlyweds on a Budget said...

I love that idea! I like to host girls' night and usually supply the appetizers and everyone brings a bottle of wine...yes, we like to drink a lot of wine. makes for some grrrreat girls' night ; )

We had a cinco de mayo themed house warming for our last apartment...didn't really have anyhting once we moved into our shack, but I'm sure we'll do something when we move into our first real home.

Always Pretty in Pink said...

I didn't have a house warming party, but looking back I wich we did have a little something. I think it would be fun! :) Or you could just wait until a holiday that is coming up, and have something then.

Unknown said...

just came across your blog :) ohmygosh its so cute! ughh goodness! housewarming parties are always difficult but i like the idea of showing it off!

Tabbie:) said...

I don't think I have told you yet...but SO EXCITED YOU GUYS ARE HOME OWNERS AND ARE LOVING IT!!! AWESOME!!!