How to Throw a Housewarming Party on a Budget

After moving into your new home, a housewarming party is the best way to show it off to your friends. But you are afraid of spending too much…

The truth is, you don’t have to break the bank to hold a housewarming party. You can manage to hold an amazing housewarming party on a budget. All you need is to organize something that makes sense for the time your guests will be around. Activities that will fit in with the budget that you’ve set aside for the party and keep your guests entertained.

A Guide On How To Plan A Housewarming Party On A Budget

Determine the Amount You Want To Spend

This is the most important consideration when planning a house warming party. How much money do you intend to use? Whether it is $100 or $500, this is what you will budget for in your upcoming party.

Good to Know: There is no rule that says you have to spend this much to hold a successful party. And, you don’t have to imitate what your friends have done in the past. Once you know how much you’ll work with, you can take care of the other details.

Limit the Number of Guests

You know what? It is not the number of people you invite that will make the house warming party memorable. You can choose to invite your closest friends to make it easier to manage the limited resources at hand.

With limited invitations, you’ll not find it hard to give your guests special treats. Wondering who you should invite and who to leave out? Here is a guide to help you:

Selecting Guests for a Housewarming Party on a Budget

• Consider the combination: Invite guests who’ll get along and those that have common interests.
• Ensure that the guests will be able to hold a meaningful conversation together. If you are able to achieve this, the party will be livelier.
• Reconsider reciprocating: You may feel obligated to invite a person because he invited you to his party.
• The truth is, you don’t have to reciprocate if you have some reservations. You may not be in good terms with the person and inviting him will make the party awkward.
• Follow your heart: do not yield to pressure from friends to invite people you don’t want to. It is your party and you have the right to choose who you want to attend.
• Have an allowance for guests to tag their significant other along: to make the party livelier, you should allow every guest to come with their partner.
• Expect some uninvited guests: in every party, there will always be an uninvited guest and yours is no exception.

If anyone shows up uninvited, do not turn him away. Doing this will cause you problems in the future especially if he is an acquaintance and you don’t want this.

Send the Invitations

Timing is important when sending invitations for your housewarming party. You cannot send an invitation today for a party you will hold tomorrow. Send the invites 1 to 3 weeks before the date you’ve set aside for the party. This will give the guests time to prepare and find time for the party.

Pro Tip: Instead of sending formal mails that will take long, send emails, text messages or a Facebook invite.

Good to Know: When sending the invites, ask your guests to confirm if they’ll attend the party so that you can prepare adequately.

Set a Realistic Date

You don’t have to throw a housewarming party immediately after moving into your new home. give yourself some time to recover financially after spending too much on moving.

Pro Tip: If you intend to get some additional funds in one month or two, plan your party within this duration.

You’ll also have had enough time to rest, regain your energy, and organize your house in preparation for the party. Just because everyone else throws a house warming party immediately does not mean you have to copy them!

Skip the Decorations

Since you are working on a budget, it’ll not be possible to get fancy decorations for your home. All you need is to keep your house in order and make use of what you have.

Good to Know: Ensure that the arrangement of the furniture is at its best and if there are additions, make them stand out. If you must buy a decoration for the party, buy something you’ll be using long after the party is over. For instance, you can buy some artwork or a dessert stand.

Important Tips to Remember About Decorations

• Your guests are coming to view your new home, not the decorations. You don’t want to shift their focus on the wrong things.
• A simple move such as buying uniform napkins for the party will add color to the party. The best part? It does not cost much.
• You can choose a dress code for the party to add more glamour. This will make the party look organized and without spending too much.
• If you’ll hold your housewarming party during the festive season such as Christmas, you can use your old Christmas decorations. This will make your part look more colorful without incurring any additional cost.
• To make your housewarming party more colorful, you can group items such as candles. You can also put some citrus fruits in vases and group them together.

Find a Cheap Source for the Necessities

When buying the items you’ll need to make your party a success, look for an affordable source. There is that shop in your neighborhood that is known to sell their wares at affordable prices. You can ask your neighbors for recommendations if you don’t know cheap sources.

Pro Tip: Do not buy items that you’ll use, and then throw away after the party. After the party, store the items safely so that you use them for your next party.

Select the Appropriate Drinks

Your guests will not expect a full bar in your house warming party. The truth is, every guest has a different taste when it comes to drinks and you cannot satisfy everyone.

Pro Tips:

• Get a few soft drink brands, juice, a moderately priced wine, and a few beer brands.
• To make the party spicier, get a few signature cocktails.
• Some guests will bring wine as a gift for your housewarming party and you can consider using that as well.
• If you are daring enough, you can ask the guests to consider bringing wine as a gift when coming.

Additional Tips: If you want to make your budget drink very low, you can choose to go the exclusive cocktail way. If a guest wishes to take any other drink, he will have to bring it with him. To reduce the cost of drinks, you can also organize a mini bar in one corner of your home. Here, you’ll stock different beer brands and a guest that wishes to take any extras will pay for them. In addition to having a variety for your guests, it will also be a chance for you to make profits from the sales.

The most important aspect is letting your guests know what will be available and the other options. This will not be difficult as most of the party invites are close friends.

House Warming Party Hacks

Avoid Getting Too Crazy as You Party

As much as you want your guests to have fun in your house warming party, encourage them to act responsibly. You do not want to ruin your reputation in your new neighborhood even before you settle.  If the noise from your house gets too loud, a neighbor could raise a complaint with the police. Since you don’t want your party to take a bad turn, act everyone to drink responsibly.

Select The Least Expensive Food Solution

None of the guests will be expecting a full buffet at your housewarming party, so, do not stress yourself.

All you need are some wonderful treats to make your guests feel appreciated for finding time to come.

Here are some wonderful food ideas that you can serve in your housewarming party:

Fruit salads

You can never go wrong with fruit salads as you have multiple options to choose from. However, the cost of your fruit salad may be higher if you use pricey fruits. Here are some options that will not cost much:

• Grapes
• Blueberries
• Sliced bananas
• Watermelons
• Raspberries
• Mandarin oranges

Pro Tip: You don’t have to include all the above oranges as you can buy what is in season. To make the fruit salad colorful, choose fruits that have a different color. Look for a store that will sell the fruits in bulk so that you spend as little as possible.

Here are 109 to make extra money for your party

Baked Foods

This is another great option to customize your housewarming party. You’ll need ample time to prepare as some of the ingredients will take time to get them ready.

You can bake:

• Banana cake
• French toast
• Cookies
• Muffins

Good to Know: If you are not good at baking, you can purchase a pre-made dough from a local store. With this, you’ll only need to put in the oven 30 minutes before your guests arrive.

Pro Tip: Instead of buying cooked food from a local easterly, you can choose to provide handmade food. With careful planning, you’ll not have to spend a lot in preparing the food.

Do Not Forget A Vegetarian Budget

There are people who are exclusively vegetarian and they should not feel left out at your party.

To be on the safe side, prepare a vegetarian meal and set it aside in case someone will need it. With this, every guest will feel welcome and at ease in your party.

Make Your Housewarming Party a Dessert Party

When planning your housewarming party, you have the option to make it a dessert party. With this, you’ll only serve affordable sweets, ice cream, fun toppings, and other goodies. Ensure that you notify your guests that they will be attending a dessert party so that they’ll not get disappointed.  You should also avoid holding a dessert party at a time when people expect to take a meal.

Concentrate On The Party’s Ambiance

Since the main focus will not be on what the guests will take, put additional effort on the party’s ambiance.

Set the right mood for your housewarming party and making it appear classy is the way to go. To achieve this, you can light some candles and prepare a great playlist.

Pro Tip: To make it even better, you can bake some cookies so that the sweet aroma will fill your house. The smell will make the guests look forward to tasting your delicacies.

Mind the Timing

If you want a formal housewarming party, you’ll hold it during the day. For a casual housewarming party, holding it in the evening is the best.

Good to Know: When you decide on the right time for the party, stick to it. There will always be a guest that will ask you to change the time or even the date. If you give in to every idea, you will end up not holding a party as everyone will suggest a different time. You cannot please everyone and shouldn’t kill yourself trying to do it.

Still on the timing, you need to ensure that you are in the right state of mind before holding the party. Give yourself time to recover so that you will endure the stress of holding a party. Your health is more important than the party and you ought to be in the right state to host a party.

Use Washable Utensils

Though it’s easier to buy paper plates and disposable utensils for your party, they’ll be a waste in the end. Using your own plates and utensils may take you time to clean after the party but you’ll not incur unnecessary expenditure.

If your washable plates are less, you can choose to buy plastic plates that you’ll use in another party. You can ask a few of your friends to help in washing up the dishes after the party or use a dishwasher.

How to Throw a Housewarming Party on a Budget and Still Have Fun

To make your housewarming party more fun, prepare some games that those who’ll attend the party can participate in.

Home Unscramble

With this game, you’ll come up with a list of scrambled home-related words like:

• Doors
• Showers
• Pantries
• Decks
• Windows
• Lawns

You will distribute the word to the guests and the one that gets the word first wins a prize. The price can be a little token such as a packet of cookies.

Scavenger Hunt

To ensure that your guests understand the geography of your home, the scavenger hunt game is a great option.

You’ll hide some clues and items in different parts of your home and then subdivide the guests into different groups. Each group will go out in search of the items and the first group to find it will be the winners. You should have a prize set aside for the winners.

New Town Trivia

With the new town trivia, you’ll test how well the guests know your new town. You’ll ask questions that will require factual answers and the person who gets it right wins the prize.

If most of the guests are familiar with the town, make the questions more challenging.

Here are great tips on how you can make extra money for your housewarming party.

Room Memory          

With the room memory game, you’ll take the guests into a room and allow them to look around for a minute. Once they leave the room, you’ll ask every guest to note down as many details as possible about the room. The one who writes the most details wins the prize.

Keep Your Key

With this game, you’ll give every guest a key sticker that has a specific word. The rule of this game is that one should not use the word throughout the party.

If a guest mistakenly uses the word, the one who hears it will take his key. At the end of the party, the person with the most keys wins a prize.

Famous House Match

As we said earlier the invites for this party have almost the same interests which may include movies. With this game, you’ll print houses that are featured in famous TV shows. The person who is able to identify the most houses wins the prize.

Do you know other ways you can throw a housewarming party on a budget? Please let us know in the comments section below.