ATLANTA – Written by Mel

Well done! You have finally purchased your home and now you are ready to show it off to those who you care most about.  You have spent months telling them about the purchase and now you can stop talking about it and instead be about it.  So just how do you go about putting together a housewarming party?

Just like any party, a housewarming will take planning.  But just how much planning will be necessary?  Well, it depends on your level of involvement and how much you want to impress your audience.  If you have a mansion to show off, then you might want to hire the help of a professional team to help you prepare for your housewarming.  However, if you’re like most of us who have a quaint home that you just want to show of to a few friends and family, then you won’t need to hire help.

I want to begin by first saying that I am not an expert at planning housewarmings by any stretch of the imagination.  I decided to explore this topic just like you because I don’t know what to do to pull off a successful housewarming party.  However, I gathered all the information that I could about the topic in order to help me prepare for this very special event in your home’s history.

Before the day of the party…

 

Start planning your housewarming in the decorating phase.

Believe it or not, I think the housewarming party planning begins in the stages of decorating your home.  Why?  Because if you are going to be showing off your gorgeous home, don’t you have to first make it — gorgeous?  But don’t get too outrageous with the decorating.  You want to leave key spaces empty just in case generous friends and family want to buy specific gifts for you.  In this case, you should purposefully not decorate particular areas of the room to subtly throw out a hint that you need a toaster, or a coffeepot, or a nice painting. Likewise, you want to also include showoff pieces in every room.  This gives you the opportunity have something to talk about, allowing people to linger and really enjoy the experience during the tour.

Clean and clear out all boxes from the move.

I did say that you want to give subtle hints to friends and family about your needs for the house.  You don’t want to invite them over only for them to see that you have nothing to show.  The last thing you want them to see is rooms full of half-opened items at every turn.

“And as we proceed down the hallway, if you look to the left, you will see yet another room of furniture still wrapped in plastic surrounded by boxes of my work clothing tossed all over the floor near them.”

Trust me, this is not the type of tour you want to give.

Pick a theme.

This should also be done during the decorating stage because the theme could set the stage for what type of furniture you would like to display.  However, if you are not this organized or you don’t want the theme to define your living quarters, then at least choose a theme that is suitable for the party.  For instance, if you live on the east coast but love the southwest then you may be privy to decorate in such a manner and have southwestern food at your party.  But if you love cosplay, it might make sense to just limit this theme to a party.  There’s no need to fill your home with comic book memorabilia and wallpaper but, it’s your home, so feel free to do what you want.

Create a list of invitees.

EVERYBODY shouldn’t be on your list.  Your home is your abode and you want to invite people who won’t be so annoying that they make you want to leave.  Also, a housewarming should ideally be a small, intimate affair so you want to invite those who can make the experience “warm.”

Pick a date for the party and spread the word about the party.

Everyone is busy, so the worst thing to do is plan a party that no one will come to simply because you chose a bad date.  Luckily, social media, phone apps, and email make it quicker and easier to pick a target date for a party.  One that I found that is convenient is called Doodle.com. 

Plan for what food you want at the party.  

This may be related to your theme but doesn’t have to be.  It may be wise to include a list of options in your invite because some people may have allergies or dietary restrictions.  This would be good to know ahead of time.  I found a cool site called Pollmaker.com that can help with deciding on what type of food to include at the party.  If your invitees determine that they want to help out with the party by bringing food, PerfectPotluck.com can help everyone determine who is bringing what.

Hire a DJ or at least get together an awesome playlist of music.

If you happen to know someone with great turntable skills or you are able to hire a DJ to keep the party going, by all means invite them.  However, you may not need one.  A great smartphone with a music app and a high quality speaker may be all you need.

While you’re at it, hire a bartender or plan to make cocktails yourself.

If you don’t intend to have anyone drinking alcoholic beverages, then don’t worry about hiring a bartender.  But, if you do and you have a large group of people attending, then this may be essential, even if its just for a few hours.  You can also make some simple cocktails yourself.

Plan for the activities to be executed that day.

Some people may just be coming by to visit while others may want to stay a while and enjoy the ambiance.  In that case, you should have some fun things planned for them to do.  Card and board games are always essential.  I like to play HeadsUp Charades using my phone app because it is a very fun, interactive game to play.  Watching sports in the man cave or the latest TV drama in the she shed portion of the house while eating finger foods could be another option.  Performing karaoke is also another option.  There are countless other fun things that you can dream up if you put your mind to it.

Send reminders.

Some people are great at remembering things.  Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people.  So you may want to keep reminding people about the event leading up to it.    Also, don’t just rely on snail mail either.  You can email, post on social media, text and a host of other things to ensure that your invitees remember to attend.  Try to get an RSVP in place too in order to make sure you know who is definitely coming.

Tackle parking issues head on.

I know this seems like a futile mission prior to the day of the party.  But it could quickly become a nightmare on the day of the party.  Instead, figure out ahead of time just where everyone will need to park and if you will need to designate an area near your home for everyone to park (without getting tickets in the process) or if certain people will have to car pool.  This will keep your guests and your neighbors happy.

Go shopping.

With all this planning to do, don’t forget to do the most important thing:  shop!  Get your plastic cutlery and paper plates if you need to.  Get the food for the party if you aren’t doing the potluck thingy.  Get your guest book if you need one for guests to sign.  Pick up all that you can in one trip but be prepared to go back because we always forget something.

Get everything ready including the designated gift space.

Clean up the house.  Prep the food.  Get the seating ready.  Do everything that you need to do to make your home presentable for the big event, preferably a day in advance.

On the day of the party…

 

Prepare for Murphy’s law to be in effect all day long.

You know the saying:  “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”  This will be the case with your party; so, don’t get bent out of shape about it.  The most stressful things have already been done:  you’ve closed on the house and moved in.  Therefore, a party shouldn’t stress you out at all.  Just grab some wine and keep the music playing.

Dress to impress.

I know that this is a housewarming party but that doesn’t mean that you should neglect the way that you look.  You want to be one of the best dressed at the party so that everyone visibly can see that you are the host.  Keep it comfortable, though.  There is nothing more annoying than greeting guest while you are wearing uncomfortable shoes or tight clothing.

Make someone the designated greeter and phone answerer.

You may assume that your home is easy to find but keep in mind some people are direction-ally challenged.  I’m sure you probably know a few folks that simply can’t find things no matter how many times you tell them where it is.  Try to get someone other than yourself to be designated to do this so that you can focus on other aspects of the party.  This person can also be responsible for ensuring everyone signs the guest book (so you can send guests thank you cards later) and showing people where things are such as the bathroom.

Sit the food out.

Preparation of the food should actually take place the night before but depending on what the food is you may want to sit it out for guests to help themselves.

Give the grand tour once everyone arrives or…

You could resort to giving small guided tours as people come in especially if you expect a big crowd.  This will allow others to play games or do other planned activities while you show the new group around.

Take memorable photos to share.

I can’t emphasize this one enough.  Sometimes you’re so caught up in all that’s going on that you don’t remember to do this.  Taking photos is not only something fun to record for your own memories but it is also something you can include with your thank you notes or to send in an email.

Thank your guests for coming.

Once again your home is your abode so you need to make sure that you wrap up the party at a descent time.  Of course you will have attendees who are so bored with their own personal lives that they will try to turn up the party when you are trying to tone it down.  Politely thank them for coming and show them the exit along with the other guests.  Keep in mind that “Ain’t nobody got time for that” as you show them the door.

Send thank you notes.  

Finally and most importantly, a few days after the event.  Show your gratitude by sending “Thank you” notes.  You can personalize them or digitize them but the key is to try to include images from the party as a memento.

What are some of your party planning tips?  Keep the conversation going on the Move Me To ATL group page here.