Housewarming before the Wedding.. Please help

lashanda1 · August 2010

I have a deliemma...

My fiancee and I are closing on our new house in Septtember and our wedding is April 30,2011. I want to throw a housewarming, but i wont be living there until after we are married and the house will basically be bare bones decorated util then except for a dining room table , pictures etc...

I want to give/or have someone host it the saturday after thanksgiving becuase people eat on Thursday.. shop on Friday and i figure they can use a break/simple get together on Saturday.... So i guess my question is

Is it expected that a house will be decorated? Is it ok the house is sprasely decorated?
Is it too much to ask for the houswarming with all the wedding stuff that comes after?
Should i wait until after the wedding/honeymoon which will be like next summer?

Any suggestions you can offer on things i havent mentioned would be appreciated as well.

brobin01 · August 2010

Edited - I read your thread wrong the first time..

In my humble opinion -

If you aren't living there,does it make sense to host a dinner or housewarming before you move in?

Is it too much to ask for the houswarming with all the wedding stuff that comes after? As long as you aren't expecting gifts.

Should i wait until after the wedding/honeymoon which will be like next summer?
If this were me, I would.

Is it really neccessary to have a housewarming? You can, but NO it's not neccessary. Are you expecting gifts? I hope not.

Gwenwhyfare · August 2010

If you aren't expecting gifts, I don't see the problem in hosting a party to celebrate your new house. Don't expect someone else to throw the party together for you though, or ask to have one thrown for you.

boogerbearoriginal · August 2010

First of all - don't expect gifts at a housewarming. People may bring you a bottle of wine or something small, but the point of that event is to show off your new home not to get presents.

Which brings me to my second point - since you're supposed to be showing off your new home I think it would be very odd to have a housewarming party when you aren't living in that house regardless of hether its completely finished in terms of decoration.

Thirdly - no one else will throw you a housewarming party. I'm not sure why you would think they would.

Also, IMO the Sat. after thanksgiving will probably be a really hectic day for most people. I know the sales/shopping goes all weekend and with all the other things going on it just seems like a poor choice to me.

Finally - I think you should wait until you are actually living in the home before hosting a housewarming party.

brobin01 · August 2010

I read this wrong at first, I thought she was trying to host Thanksgiving Dinner at her home as well as host a housewarming. LOL
My bad, I edited.
But eiether way, I still wouldn't want to host anything if I'm not 1. living there yet and 2. Don't have any furniture, etc.

lashanda1 · August 2010

I should have clarified ...

My Fiancee will be living in the house .. but we will not live there together until after the wedding....and not expecting gifts .. wine would be freaking fantastic....

Most of my friends are non religious and dont celebrate any holidays secular or religious so after thanksgiving wont be that hectic ( i chose the saturday after out of respect for those family members that do celebrate..... I wanted it on Thursday)

As far as having some one host it...I asked becuase thats what i saw on etiquette boards etc. Its not a must i can do that myself ..parties are my specialty

sinnedambition · August 2010

I would skip the housewarming.

My Fiance and I bought a home in April, we both live in it, it's complete "done" (as much as a house ever is), but we won't be throwing a housewarming party. Many people have stopped by to see it, and those that haven't will have the opportunity next summer when we throw a Mid-Summer Cocktail Party. Which we're hoping will become annual.

Also, it's your house...why would someone else throw the party?

Thanksgiving weekend in general is a no-go for a lot of people. Thursday is dinner, Friday is shopping, Saturday/Sunday is napping/resting/cleaning

Knottie1435582995 · August 2010

I don't understand why you would want to throw a housewarming party ON Thanksgiving Day. Further, you said in your second post that you moved it to Saturday out of "respect" for those who do celebrate. If you have friends and family that DO celebrate Thanksgiving and you want those people at your housewarming I'd HIGHLY suggest moving it to another weekend. Thanksgiving weekend is hectic and busy for everyone who celebrates. If I had a friend ask me to a housewarming on Saturday, I'd definitely have to say no.

Next, I wouldn't throw a housewarming party if I didn't live in the house. That seems rather odd to me. And finally, no one throws a housewarming party FOR you, you throw it for yourself.

boogerbearoriginal · August 2010

Is it me or does it seem really odd that OP has a significant number of friends/family that DON'T celebrate Thanksgiving? I mean its a completely secular holiday so its not like their religious affiliation has anything to do with it.

I cannot think of one person I know that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, much less most of my friends/family.

Anyhow - I misread your OP and thought you were talking about having someone throw you a housewarming because you were expecting to recieve gifts (based on the whole comment about the upcoming wedding stuff). Perhaps what you're thinking of is an engagement party? That is an event someone throws for you.

IMO that weekend isn't the best choice but you know your family/friends better than us. Regardless, I still think its weird to have a housewarming for a place you don't live in yet.

If you wait until next spring when you live there you'll eliminate all those issues and be able to show off the outside of your new home too.

corinne2010 · August 2010

Here's my two cents:

1. Housewarming parties are not necessary

2. Usually when people throw parties, it's very casual, like a BBQ and come as you please kind of thing

3. You shouldn't ask someone to host the party. I'm not sure where you came up with that, but the homeowners usually do the party hosting.

4. I would wait until all is in order with your house (you've moved in, decorated, gotten rid of boxes, etc.)

5. You shouldn't go out of your way to have this party. Why does it have to be around Thanksgiving? There's a million other weekends in the year, why that one?

FWIW, FI and I closed on our house in June. While we would love to have people over to show it off it's 1. not ready for guests yet and 2. a crazy time right now to even throw a housewarming party in the mix. I love to have parties so we will most likely have a party and invite our families and friends over, but by no means are we asking for gifts. That's not really what a housewarming party is about.

Finally, a story about a housewarming party: FI's friends bought a house last year and had a housewarming party. They requested, yes requested, that each guest bring a box of their wood floor. Umm, seriously? I was really angry about this because the frickin box of wood flooring was about $78! It was not right of the couple to expect gifts, let alone some wood flooring. They ended up getting about 6 boxes, which wasn't even enough to do one room. Moral of the story: please don't do this!

klreese0213 · August 2010

here's my opinion.
don't have the party. if i were a family member would think it'd rude for you to invite people over for a housewarming party, knowing you were getting married a few weeks later. and regardless if you expect or don't expect gifts for your housewarming party, people bring gifts! it's a gift-grabby event- be honest.

a family member of mine had a house warming party and about 6 months later sent out invites to their wedding- needless to say my entire family was PISSED!!!! in my family a housewarming is to help you get your house in order and to show off your new space. people bring gifts- in my circle. so for you to have this party then a few months later have a wedding where people are expected to bring a shower gift and a wedding gift- to me is asking a lot from your family and friends.

If you have a simple BBQ or something and TELL PEOPLE DONT bring gifts because your wedding is soon, then i think that'd be fine. but to wait for a holiday, after the biggest shopping day of the year- i'm sure in hopes to snagging some good bargins for your housewarming... i personally think thats rude

(i dont mean for this post to be rude, please dont take it that way.)

Congrats on your new home.

Housewarming before the Wedding.. Please help

Re: Housewarming before the Wedding.. Please help

Choose Another Board

Search Boards