Welcome to Your New Home
One of the most exciting times for a family is the day they move into their new home. Help your friends and family celebrate this big event by throwing a housewarming party. New home owners may be exhausted after they have gone through the extensive process of searching for a house to their liking and then making the purchase. In addition to those stressors, the responsibility of packing, moving and settling in can be a huge drain. Take all of these issues into consideration when you plan the housewarming event. Make sure the new home owners don't actually have to do any of the work and that all they really need to do is relax. Years later, part of their cherished memories will be how you and the other guests honored their time while you helped them celebrate the huge milestone of owning their own home.
Step 1
Coordinate the date and time of the housewarming party with the new home owners. Don't try to make it a surprise party because that can only add stress to the the owners' hectic schedule. Instead, plan ahead so that both your guests and the owners can have a relaxed, fun time together. When you suggest dates to the home owners, make the times about one week to one month after their move-in date. This allows the new home residents to get unpacked, get furniture in place and get some rest before you involve them in housewarming festivities. When you invite the guests, make sure you let them know that it's important to be on time and not overstay the length of the party.
Step 2
Keep the food, snacks and beverages for the housewarming simple. The last thing you want to do is arrive with food that has to be cooked in their kitchen or leave a big mess of dirty dishes for the owners to clean up after the party. A better approach is to arrive with food in disposable trays or in large serving containers that you take home yourself to clean up. Also make sure you bring plenty of disposable plates, cups, napkins and cutlery. A trick to keeping cleaning at a minimum is to set up several empty cardboard boxes lined with trash bags around the house. When the housewarming party guests finish, they can simply dispose of their paper plates and waste in one of the receptacles. Be a kind host -- gather the trash bags and take them home with you to dispose in your own trash cans. New home owners may not yet have their trash collection account set up and they will appreciate your thoughtfulness.
Step 3
Establish a theme for the housewarming gifts that all the guests bring. If the home owners are brand new to having their own real estate, they may not have all the supplies and tools that are necessary for proper maintenance. In that case, you can ask all the guests to bring items to pack a tool box. As an alternative, suggest that guest give gift certificates to a home and garden supply store. For home owners that have already lived in their own houses for a number of years, a different type of theme is more appropriate. Consider a towel theme, where each guest's housewarming gift is a set or two of bathroom towels, kitchen towels or inexpensive towels that can be used for window cleaning and household chores. Another housewarming theme for established home owners is gift certificates to nearby restaurants so that they can become more familiar with their neighborhood. They will also appreciate that your housewarming gifts gave them the chance to eat out, giving them a break from cooking while they are working hard to get their new home set up.
