Congratulations on your new home! A housewarming party is on the way. What better reason to gather friends and loved ones together.
Everyone celebrates in their own style, whether by serving champagne to toast a wonderful new home meant for a lifetime. On the other hand, moving often drains your energy and usually your wallet too, so a housewarming can just as easily be done on a low budget or even as a potluck. Once everyday life settles in and everything has found its place in the new home, there's more time to plan housewarming festivities.
Feel free to use this checklist for housewarming hosts and pick up a few ideas for drink service.
Housewarming Check-List for Hosts
Invitations
Knowing your group of friends, you know whether you need to send the invitation a week or a month in advance. Whether you invite your guests easily via WhatsApp message, Facebook event, or even a traditional postcard, remember the important details: date, time, and especially the location (your new address with arrival instructions). If you're planning to provide food yourself, it's good to ask invitees to confirm whether they can make it and mention any special dietary needs. If it's a potluck housewarming, mention that now and explain how you'll coordinate what people bring. If you want to avoid unnecessary items or hope for something specific as a gift, you can mention it in the invitation and free your guests from wondering what you might need. For example: "If you absolutely want to remember me/us with some kind of housewarming gift, I can hint that the hosts are crazy about sparkling wines." This still leaves gift-givers plenty of choice regardless of budget.
Food
Food service should be made as easy as possible so you have time to socialize with guests. If you want to serve hot food, large quantities can be prepared or warmed in the oven, like pizza or pies. Tapas-style cold snacks can be prepared in the fridge ready to serve ahead of time. If the home has a balcony or backyard, during cold seasons it provides handy extra storage space for food and drinks. All food should be prepared/chosen to be automatically lactose-free and gluten-free when possible, so it suits most people already. Through the invitation you'll likely know about other special diets too, so you can make sure there's something suitable for everyone to eat.
If you go with potluck service, that was mentioned to guests in the invitation. A convenient way to coordinate what people bring is to set up a WhatsApp group for participants, or use a free Google Sheets-type shared document where everyone can see what others are bringing and add their own.
Drinks
Potluck policy works well for housewarmings, since then at least everyone will probably bring something they like and there'll be a party drink to suit every taste. Maybe even in a potluck situation you still want to offer a welcome toast yourself? If guests' drink preferences aren't precisely known, choose an easy and fruity sparkling wine with a bit more residual sugar, like for example a Prosecco from Italy with an extra-dry label. When you serve it ice-cold, even dry wine lovers will surely enjoy it. Always remember to offer a non-alcoholic option with the opening toast too, whether it's alcohol-free bubbly or soda.
If you're providing drinks yourself, a fun housewarming activity is to set up a Drink Station for guests. For inspiration, gather a few easy basic drink recipes and put them in a menu-style list. All the necessary drinks, garnishes, ice, and glasses beautifully displayed. Beer and cider cans stay cold and fresh in a zinc bucket filled with ice. Serving drinks to a large group of guests can get expensive, so for the relaxed atmosphere of a housewarming, wine service from 2 or 3 liter bag-in-box works great too—just set them out as-is at the Drink Station. If the housewarming style is fancier though, remember you can always serve boxed wine from a beautiful carafe. Chill white and sparkling wines well, red wine slightly or leave at room temperature. Read more about proper wine serving temperatures here if you like. Also check out here how many drinkers a bottle actually serves.
A traditional drink service option for parties is often punch, which can be made in large quantities at once. Don't put small ice cubes in punch—they melt quickly and can make it taste watery. Instead, freeze punch recipe-appropriate juice and/or wine along with decorative fruit slices in an empty milk carton. A large ice block in the bowl melts more slowly and won't dilute the drink. You'll find suggestions for fresh and youthful party punches here.
If you don't have enough glasses or other dishes for the number of guests, borrow from friends or resort to easy disposables. Disposable culture is okay when you recycle used items properly or choose plastic-free eco-friendly alternatives, which are available made from sugar cane, wood, or palm leaves.
Neighbors
Usually a new home comes with new neighbors, and it's worth staying on good terms with them. If you have neighbors sharing a wall, it's polite to inform them separately—perhaps with a note in their mailbox—about the housewarming about a week in advance, and apologize for any potential noise. If you live in an apartment building, it might be good to post the information and apology on the stairwell bulletin board too. It's also important to follow the quiet hours mentioned in the housing association rules and plan to continue the party at a nearby restaurant perhaps. A housewarming is of course also a great opportunity to get to know interesting neighbors better and invite them separately to join the celebration.
