S/O: NWR: Housewarming parties?

We hosted our own housewarming party. We didn't expect gifts but most guests did bring gifts anyways. We mostly had a bunch of food and alcohol and everyone came over to ohhh and ahhhh over the house then everyone just socialized. It was a lot of fun.

I threw my own housewarming party. We got cool invites from the store, had lots of wine/beer, and invited our family and neighbors. It was tons of fun. We got a few gifts but I really didn't expect them. It was more of a "come see our new house"!!!

My FH and I had a housewarming party when we moved this past fall and we had it to just have fun and hangout with our friends and show them our new place. People brought gifts but that was never expected and we didn't ask for them.

Oooh, i thought of another question:

WHEN do you throw a housewarming party?

I mean, like, we're in an apartment now. And we're looking at decent sized houses. Would we have one right away and be like, "HAY, come hang out in the empty, unfurnished cavern we now call home!" or would we wait until we could fully furnish?

I posted this on the other one:

I think that the difference is that:

1. People don't register for a house warming

2. Most people throw them because they are excited to show the house off and want their friends and family to see it and know how to get there

3. Most people don't really think to give gifts any more.

4. Its and excuse to get together and get drunk. :-)

ETA: I would throw one once the house is furnished and mostly put together so you can show it off. Some people may not be back, for whatever reasons, for months or years.

Here's what Miss Manners had to say about it:

http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060123/news_1c23manners.html

Short version:

--NOT rude to have a housewarming if you plan to stay there;

--RUDE to expect gifts and/or register for gifts

I feel like housewarming parties could be different, i feel like i would just bring a hostess gift to a housewarming party, like wine or a food basket. Maybe family members would give bigger gifts though?

We want to have one, but we moved in at the end of March. Clearly, we're not having one until June/July. I know that's a little weird...but weddings make things hard. So I don't think it would be wrong if you waited a little while.

I was raised that you always brought a gift to a housewarming gathering. I would think it's weird for someone else to host a housewarming party in your home, it's kind of like "thanks for inviting me to my home to celebrate me buying this house". What?

We threw our own and registered! We threw it about 3 months after taking possession of the house......we had a renter for a little and also wanted to make it our own first. When my MOH bought hers she had it right away and it was a painting party.....we all came with a paint brush and an appointed color paint and went to town!

I feel like housewarming parties are less "come celebrate me!" and more "we welcome you into our new home". I would put no gifts on an invitation for a housewarming party - friends my age wouldn't bother bringing anything except maybe wine, but older family members I think would still bring something small for decoration.

I hosted my own years ago, but did not register. People just brought us good stuff like a blender!

I had one. A few people did bring some small gifts, but it wasn't something that I or anyone else mentioned. One brought a photo frame, another brought a few kitchen towels. I really just wanted an excuse to have people over. Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure that I said "housewarming." I just texted people to come over and made some snacks.

I'd like to add that I think people should only have a gift-giving housewarming party for either of these occasions: bought a house or just moved out of parents' house on your own. Unless you specifically tell people no gifts, then you can really do it any time you move. That's just my opinion.

It's completely normal to host your own house warming. We had a housewarming party 2 years ago and we ended up making a small registry because everytime someone called and asked "what do you need?" I would tell them the same 5 things and didn't want to end up with 5 crockpots. As a matter of fact, a lot of people even asked "are you registers somewhere?" And they found it to be really helpful. My invites were informal and we just barbequed and served appetizer foods and served beer, wine, sangria and desserts and coffee .. It was a nice time had by all and NO ONE had anything to say about me and my fiancé hosting our party and registering. It's actually very helpful to your friends and family when you register so that they know exactly what you want.

We had one. It was a combination housewarming/christmas party. We didn't expect to get any gifts nor did we register for any. We did end up being given a ton of alcohol that we were still drinking almost a year later!

We threw our own housewarming party. We planned it for 4 months later (after summer and we were settled). We didn't register and didn't ask for gifts. Most people brought us wine, a candle, or a gift card.

We basically wanted to show off the house, feed people and drink. So we did

We had a housewarming party but it was a super casual get together for everyone to see our house. We never expected gifts but ended up getting a lot of wine and liquor. We had ours about 3 months after we moved in so we had plenty of time to paint and get settled.

I never had one because I moved in then got engaged (within a couple weeks) and then was wedding planning. I'm surprised people don't bring gifts anymore, even something small. I always bring something for a house warming...

We are throwing our own this Saturday! We just moved into the new house we purchased in March and are finally unpacked, etc. We invited about 10 people over for a BBQ (potluck style), drinking (not me though b/c I'm preggers), a round of cards against humanity, followed by starting a fire in our new outdoor fire pit and roasting marshmallows.

We didn't ask for gifts, we just wanted the company and allow people to see our new home all decorated

Its not rude to throw one. Typically you'll get small things like wine for gifts.

Wait for your house to be set up before throwing one.