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A housewarming party is a momentous occasion celebrating one of the biggest purchases in your life and a fresh start in your new home. Toast this new chapter in style by hosting a housewarming party with a memorable theme.
Historically, the community would come together to “warm” the new residents, bringing gifts of firewood, food, and other items to help them in their new home. The point of a housewarming is to fill your house with good feelings, intentions, and joy from your family and friends, but you can also use this time to make home improvements before you settle in.
Punctuate your move with a themed party that’s unforgettable and suited to your tastes. Here are 11 housewarming party themes to inspire you for your next get-together.
1. Experience the flavors of the world.
Food always brings people together. Invite your friends to share their favorite international dishes at a potluck party for your housewarming. Before the party, have everyone provide a recipe for the dish they’re bringing—you can use these to make a little recipe book for your new home and give out copies as a party favor (add a photo of your new home as the book cover as a reminder of the feast).
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2. Set a table for afternoon tea (or after dark tea).
Pull out the good china and crisp linens for a beautiful afternoon tea service. Warm your new home with an elegant party complete with fresh flowers. Have your guests dress up (remember the fascinators) and prepare a lavish spread of finger sandwiches, scones, biscuits, macarons, and more.
If this is too dainty, give your tea party an edge. Swap light colors for dark tablecloths and tulips for red roses or black dahlias. Spike the teapot with some whiskey, and give the baked goods on your tea trolly a subversive twist for a nighttime treat.
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3. Meet outside for a garden party.
Plan a housewarming party that’s all about your new garden! Load up on soil and spare gardening gloves, and invite guests to bring their favorite outdoor plants to add to your garden. Make this a productive party, and get your friends to help plant, weed, and clear out your garden to make it a perfect green space for you!
As a fun activity, set up a little station with soil, garden tools, plants, and containers where guests can pot their own party favors. Consider a personalized planter as a party favor for each guest to remind them of the day.
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4. Give your home Western flair for an evening.
Have your guests dress up as cowboys and cowgirls so they can saunter on over for a hearty, country-themed housewarming. Saddle up for an evening of delicious BBQ among gingham and cow-patterned decor. Of course, clear some room for a dance floor so there’s space for line dancing and two-stepping. If your backyard has a fire pit, light it up and have all the cowpokes gather around for a late-night s’more fest.
5. Whip up a dip night.
Go beyond the kitchen and invite your friends for a variety of dips at your new home. This housewarming theme is an excellent combination of work and play. Start the day off by dipping some paintbrushes and adding new colors to your walls. As a thank you for all their hard work, invite them to take a dip in the pool (if applicable) and enjoy a spread of dips. Create a buffet of chip dips, artichoke dip, hummus, guacamole, and any other dips you like, complete with breads, crackers, veggies, and other snacks.
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6. Have a sleepover.
Get your friends to dress up in their comfiest pajamas and spend the night at your new house (or make it a sleepover theme only, where everyone goes home to their own beds afterward). Prepare the comfort foods you used to eat at sleepovers, like chocolate cookies, popcorn, chips, and soda (or elevate the experience with a charcuterie board and wine). As a housewarming favor, consider getting everyone a sleepover staple—a skincare mask or personalized eye masks.
7. Host a not-so-lazy Sunday brunch.
Invite your friends over for an opulent Sunday brunch, complete with cloth napkins, warm syrup, jaunty background music, and an over-the-top menu with the works (fresh fruit and yogurt parfait, anyone?). Following brunch, you can put your guests to work, helping unpack, put up curtains, or break down moving boxes. You can gift your guests DIY waffle mix jars to show your appreciation.
8. Be creative with a painting/crafting night.
Create fond memories in your new home, starting with your first crafting night. Set up canvas and paint stations for each guest, and invite a painting instructor to walk you through creating a masterpiece that you can hang on your wall once it dries. Everyone else leaves with a picture as a souvenir, too. Want to create something for your home that’s also practical? Consider making custom doormats with your friends and family. You’ll all be reminded of your housewarming party every time you enter the threshold.
9. Celebrate the year your home was built.
Stumped for a fun housewarming theme? Look to your home for inspiration—especially if you bought a house that’s a little older. Make the party’s theme correspond with the year your home was built, and have guests dress up like it’s the 1920s, 1970s, 2000s, or whatever decade your home came into existence. The more you lean into the weird trends of a particular decade, the more memorable your party will be.
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10. Celebrate with a home-sweet-home party.
Not feeling up to cooking a meal for your housewarming party? Build your party around sweet desserts. Set up a table full of pastries, cupcakes, candies, and other sugary confections. Take it one step further and plan to decorate gingerbread or sugar cookie houses, which your guests can take home after celebrating your new abode.
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11. Stock the bar for cocktails.
Often, guests want to show up for a housewarming party with a gift. Making your theme about stocking the bar encourages guests to show up with their favorite spirit, microbrew, or bottle of wine. Hire a mixologist for the evening to create a signature drink and teach your group how to make it—it’s a gift that keeps giving!