We are finally moved in, the paint has dried, most of our boxes are unpacked, so of course the next step is to have a party! I love planning events and hosting get togethers so I was so excited to finally be able to host a party in our NEW HOUSE!
Planning a party can be pretty stressful, especially when you are trying to make your house look presentable all at the same time. It's important to remember that your house doesn't have to be 100% the way you want it. Each room doesn't have to be completely renovated and picture perfect. This was something I had to remind myself of often.
Other than stressing over the appearance of your house, the first thing to consider when planning a housewarming party is the guest list. You need to decide who you want to invite. Do you want to keep it to family only, or do you want to have both friends and family? We decided to have two separate parties, one for family and one for friends. The party we had this weekend was family only. This was the invitation we chose from zazzle. I prefer sending out invitations over sending a text message. I love picking out cute designs and personalizing them. Plus, who doesn't love getting mail?
Once you have decided on the guest list, the next step is to start thinking about the food. What kind of food do you want to serve? Do you want a theme? Do you want it to be a meal or just light snacks? We invited around 65 people so we decided to make the party an open house, and with an open house it is easier to not have a full meal because people will be arriving at different times.
For the food we had shredded chicken and BBQ beef sliders, a cheese tray, crackers and dips, different chips and dips, a fruit tray and a veggie tray, and a variety of different desserts. I wanted to make sure all the food we had was easy to eat without the need to sit down at a table, so I wanted the menu to consist of finger foods. I had these really cute chalkboard signs that I got from Kohl's and Hobby Lobby that I used to label all the food. I also used cake stands to help with the presentation of the food. Having food displayed at different heights adds interest to your table.
For drinks I made lemonade and iced tea and displayed them on the back porch in glass dispensers. We also had pop and water in our metal bin John and I redid.
We had tables and tents set up outside, which was great because it ended up raining. The rain didn't stop us all from enjoying the day! We had the best time with our families and are so happy they could celebrate our new home with us!
I can't wait to start planning our next party!
Thanks for reading!