Having a housewarming party is a great way to show off your new living space and get all your friends and family together for a fun evening. If you plan your housewarming party right, you’ll be the best host on the block. By following a few simple rules, you’re housewarming party is guaranteed to be a success.
Take Care of Invitations Early Mail out your invitations at least two weeks ahead of the event, and make sure you have your housewarming party within a month of your move-in date. Mailing invitations early will help people plan for your event, and since many of your friends and family members will likely want to attend your housewarming party and feel obligated to do so, it’s only polite to give them plenty of notice. Don’t worry if you’re still unpacking or finishing up the installation of new hardwood flooring or appliances when you mail out the invitations as long as you know they’ll be finished at least a week before your housewarming party.
Don’t Go Crazy with Food Try not to get too stressed out when it comes to food that you’ll be serving. If you love to cook and feel like you’re good at it, go ahead and do it yourself, but choose foods that are easy to make in large quantities and can be made the day before the event. While there’s nothing wrong with warming up prepared food to serve for your housewarming party, you don’t want to be pulling things out of the oven and watching a timer all night. If you don’t enjoy cooking or simply don’t have time to deal with it, consider hiring a caterer to prepare some food that they can drop off a few hours before your event. Most catering companies can even provide you with chafing dishes and serving utensils for a small fee. Whatever you choose, make sure you set the food up away from high traffic areas. Spills and accidents can happen, and may damage your carpet or hardwood flooring.
Set Up a Self-Service Bar Whether you’re going to be serving cocktails and mixed drinks or non-alcoholic beverages, setting up a self-service bar will save you a lot of effort and allow you to enjoy your housewarming party. It might be tempting to play bartender to impress your friends, but that routine is going to get old after an hour, and instead of talking to your friends and family, you’ll be mixing martinis. A good setup for a self-service bar is simple. Arrange bottles in one area and non-alcoholic mixers one side of a bar or table and put ice and an assortment of different glasses on the other side of the table. Make sure you leave the middle of the table open, except for a cocktail shaker or any drink-making accessories you feel inclined to use. This will allow guests to put their glass down and actually mix their drinks. Just like with food, you’ll want to keep your bar area away from high-traffic areas so spilled liquids and melted ice don’t stain your hardwood flooring, carpeting or rugs. Hardwood flooring is particularly susceptible to stains if water is allowed to pool, so you might want to consider putting down a few small, inexpensive area rugs or clean towels down behind the bar area. You’ll still need to check on the bar once in a while to make sure the ice hasn’t melted and there are plenty of clean glasses, but that’s a whole lot easier than trying to work the bar at your own housewarming party.
Don’t Forget the Music You can’t have a party without music. It may seem like a small touch, but music will make people comfortable in your new space and get them in the party mood. You don’t have to turn your home into a night club – quiet jazz, classical or Bossa nova make a great soundtrack to a low-key housewarming party.
Erin Devine is a guest contributor on behalf of Floor & Decor Outlets, a superstore of all things flooring and tile. She also maintains her own blog about interior design and home renovation, DIY Home & Floor.