House Warming

Throwing a house warming party to show off your new place is a great idea! Here are a couple of tips and tricks to make sure that your party is a success.

Let people know ahead of time

Give your friends and family enough time to book your event in their calendars, this way you can ensure that you will have a full house and less people are likely to already have a prior engagement. Booking a week or two ahead of time will also give you enough time to plan things out.

Good directions

Provide good directions and the correct address, unless you really don’t want them to show up. Link a map to your email invitation. Give them the apartment number, the access code or method to get into the building. Let them know where they can park or indicate the nearest bus or subway station.

Clean up … everywhere

This is your new place, so chances are your guests are going to want a tour. This means you probably shouldn’t leave your dirty clothes strewn about your room or forget to take out the trash. Give yourself sometime to make sure there is nothing lying around you wouldn’t want one of your guests to see.

Party Proof your place

Depending on the crowd, your house warming might get busy or a little rowdy. Make sure that while you are cleaning up you also put away any breakables that are likely to get knocked off a shelves or tipped over. If you have a table you know people will be putting food and drinks on, it is always a good idea to throw on a tablecloth to prevent stains and make clean up easier later on. Also, put away any rugs or blankets you would be disappointed to dirty and don’t be afraid to move furniture around to make more room for your guest, even if its not as you would normally place it.

Be a good neighbour

Having a house warming party probably means that there will be a little more noise at your place than a normal night. The polite thing to do is advise your neighbours a day or two before that you are having a house warming so that they won’t get annoyed by a little extra noise past regulated hours. This can also be a great icebreaker if you haven’t met them yet and you might even invite them to stop by for a drink. The last thing you want is an uptight neighbour shutting down your party early because they feel disrespected. If they are not home or don’t bump into them before hand, don’t be shy to leave a note on their door with your number, and a “thank you” for their understanding.

Be prepared

Before you have your guests over, make sure you stock up on extra toilet paper, paper towels and plastic cups and ice! This way you won’t have to worry about replenishing stock the night of the party. Plastic cups, plates and cutlery mean an easy clean up in the morning. They can be thrown into the recycle bin. Also, make sure you have extra garbage bags on hand for clean up so you are not leaving things lying around until you have time to go pick some up.

Shoes and coats

As simple as it might sound, you should decide ahead of time whether or not you want people to keep their shoes on or take them off at the door. If you want people to leave things at the door then make sure you have room and same goes for coats. Have a designated closet to put things in or a bed you can throw coats on while your guests are inside.

Make a playlist

Plan your music ahead of time. A good playlist can make the difference between a good party and a bore, so make sure you download some old school hits, some top 20’s and whatever else you know your guests will appreciate. Having a playlist already on your laptop or iPod also means that you won’t spend your night playing DJ instead of socializing with your guests.

Be a good host

Spend some time with each of your guests and introduce those who may not know everyone, especially if you invited people from different parts of your life to get together! Make an effort to ensure that everyone is greeted when they come in and you have a chance to thank them for coming on their way out. The hello and goodbye makes the difference between your guest feeling like one of the crowd and someone you really appreciated being there.

Stay Calm

Keep cool! Nothing ever goes exactly as planned so cut yourself some slack if you forget a thing or two or there’s a bad spill during the night. No one is going to remember the little things; just how much fun they had with the people who were there.

Don’t Drink and Drive!

Collect keys at the door and only give them back if the driver has not been drinking. Ask who the designated driver is and offer them non-alcoholic drinks. Have telephone numbers of taxis handy. Please don’t let anyone drive if they are over tired or have been drinking!

Enjoy!

It is a party to celebrate your new place after all, so make sure you have fun!