S/O: NWR: Housewarming parties?

I would never register for any party I was throwing for myself. That is just so awkward and yes, tacky . I would throw a house warming BBQ, for example, so people could get together and see the new place, but would never expect gifts or set up a registry...that's just wrong.

And just because someone has done it before (Melissa) and believes it is fine, doesn't make it so. Lots of people do tacky things in this world everyday!

My friends are having a housewarming party Friday. Granted we have all been to the house before (I'm there almost every day). However, they were waiting to do it because today is his birthday. SO really my friend is throwing him a birthday party and she was the one wanting to do the housewarming so it became both.

If we do decide to buy now (as opposed to after the wedding), it'll be weird. On one hand, I'll want to have people over to see it - it'll be my first house - but on the other, we're not gonna have money to furnish the whole place until.....uhmm.....not now. So it'd be like, "This is the room we'd eat in if I hadn't thrown out my shitty apartment-sized dinette, this is the room we'd sit in if we owned more than one sofa, this is supposed to be a bedroom but we're gonna put a desk in it someday, etc"

Threw my own. We waited to have one until we bought a house.

No registry (friends kept asking...) some brought small gifts like utensils and candles, which is fine.

I provided all the food/alcohol. We did boston butt with mashed potatos, homemade hot chocolate and cupcakes, as well as smores for the outdoor pit. We also got beer. (and allowed guests to make their own drinks with our bar and bought sodas to make different ones)

Why not wait, then? Just throw a party when you're ready to have people over, i.e, have furniture.

@Emily "I would never register for any party I was throwing for myself" Did you register for your wedding? I'm assuming yes, so this seems kind of hypocritical.

Yes I know weddings are an entire different ballgame. It just seems weird to me that people can register for some things and not for others.

Oh, you conformists are all the same. DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY @purplekitten

PK, buy the house, throw the party, and do ridiculous things in all of your (currently) empty rooms, like play Twister.

People might buy things off your wedding registry only because of the timing with your wedding. I've been to tons of housewarmings, though, and I've never seen a registry for one. I don't really buy a gift, but I'll show up with a bottle of wine, nice bakery item, or a plant. Something little.

That's the catch, Lively.... I'll be stupid-excited about the purchase (I've only been waiting to buy a house for.... oh..... the 16-ish years I've been working full time) and I'll burst if I have to wait! :-P

@pk - I must have missed the part where you posted that your finace is on board, now, with buying your dream house you found online?? All of the house warming parties Ive been to were more like graduation parties. Light food, cake and people coming and going..open house sort of thing. I think you would only invite really close family and friends, anyway, so who cares if its fully furnished? Although you did mention that both you and fh hhave double your salaries lately so maybe a quick run to Ikea or a thrift shop could temporarily help you out! :-)

LOL at "conformists". I would rather be called conformist than greedy and entitled!

If you are an otherwise thoughtful, engaging, non-gift-grabby and respectable person, and I suspect you are @purplekitten, why not just throw it after you're a bit settled? Your excitement will be apparent and the people who love you aren't going to care if every room isn't furnished yet.

You don't have to call it a housewarming. Just have a party because you're excited.

@MrsCheapskate - Someone else bought that house. They put in the offer the evening after we had gone to look at it in person. We've decided to seriously start looking, though. We got pre-approved for a mortgage, we have a realtor, and we're looking at somewhere tonight.

And no, we didn't DOUBLE our salaries. Our joint income went up by about 50%.

Yes, you bring gifts where i'm from, maybe a frame, wine/beer, a DIY thing with kitchen towels, a cook book, etc.. and you're celebrating the actual house that you are showing off, so it's at the house. This is like the wedding, you host your own wedding for people to celebrate your love.

I posted on the other thread, but in case you don't see it:

I think I was the person who said I don't think people should throw a party in their own honor. But for whatever reason, I don't see a housewarming party as being thrown in your "honor." If that makes sense. It's more like "hey come check out my new house and drink some beer." And, really, if you don't throw it then who would? I would find it weird to go to a housewarming party hosted by someone other than the house's owners.

As for when, I would say within the first six months or so? Whenever you're settled in and everything is unpacked, any renos that you're doing are done, that sort of thing. But anything getting past 6 months I'd be confused about.

But this is coming from a girl who has maybe attended one housewarming party in her entire life. They're just not common in my circle of friends (mostly grad students, so only a few own houses... myself included, but I don't think I ever had a housewarming).

@LivelyBride - That makes a lot of sense, thanks. And I can get back at my parents for when they invited me over to dinner at their new house and they literally didn't own a single chair! (They left all their furniture at the old house because they were bored with it or some silly thing.)

I think the difference is the purpose-- a shower is just about celebrating an event and gifts related to that event. A housewarming party is celebrating your new home and letting people see it-- the gifts are really secondary, IMO. I would never go to a shower empty handed, but would not feel bad checking out a friend's new house without handing over a plant.

Conforming......that's what makes 'them' all the same...

Just 'cause Amazon has wish lists doesn't mean it's acceptable to use them.....

I know people often bring gifts to a housewarming party but it's not required/expected (unless you're an asshole). Showers, you are expected to bring a gift. I guess there's the difference.