It’s finally happened: you’ve moved into your brand new HDB/condo/terrace/warehouse. The renovations are done (no more dust everywhere!) and the boxes are unpacked. First thing on the agenda: throw an amazing housewarming party! Here’s everything you need to know about hosting an open house, from the planning to the event itself.
Make a plan
Choose your party type and date way ahead of time. This is the most important part! While most people will go for a casual finger food and canapes catering menu, maybe you want a full banquet sit-down dinner instead. Will it be an anything-goes event, where people drop in across several hours during the day? Or must they come at a certain specified time?
Depending on the size and scope of the party, you’ll want to start sending out invitations anywhere from two days to six weeks in advance. You don’t want to be that person expecting guests to drop everything for you, so give them ample notice. The general rule of thumb is that the more casual your party, the later you can get away with sending invites.
Plan to ignore the plan
As the quote goes: expect the best, plan for the worst. What happens if some guests don’t show up? Alternatively, what happens if too many guests show up? If your party will take place outdoors, do you have a backup plan for when it rains? Murphy’s Law basically promises that something will go wrong during your party, so you might as well plan for it.
P.S: Want to guess what won’t go wrong when ordering from CaterSpot? Your food! We work around the clock to ensure your order gets to you perfectly and on-time.
Send out the invites
You don’t have to send a physical invitation in the mail, but your guests have to know they’ll be guests at some point. It’s perfectly acceptable to send out a mass text or email blast, but if you prefer snail mail, try Paperless Post for some beautifully designed invitations.
Alternatively, you can also create a Facebook group to keep everybody up-to-date at the same time!
Prep the bathrooms
Often overlooked, the bathrooms are easily the most important room in your shiny new house – especially if you plan on serving alcohol! Stock up on toilet paper, air fresheners, and extra towels – and make them super accessible so nobody starts going through your cupboards. Your house is going to see a lot of foot traffic today, and you want to be prepared for it. If you’re the easily embarrassed type, make sure to “depersonalise” them as well by removing anything you don’t want strangers to see.
Hide the breakables
Even if you’re not inviting children to your housewarming, make sure delicate items are stored somewhere safe! Accidents happen, and the longer and livelier a party gets, the higher the chances of something going wrong. You want the party to be memorable, but in the right ways.
Set times for house tours
This may sound obvious, but you don’t want to spend all of your time showing one or two people the house. Giving each person an individual tour will take up your entire night, so instead batch the tours: in your invitation, state the times for each tour and stick to it. Don’t be distracted by each new arrival!
Enjoy yourself!
This may seem obvious, but it’s easy to get caught up hosting and forget to actually have fun. Remember, the party is for you! Recruit some family and friends to help manage guests and run last-minute errands.
Want to throw a truly successful housewarming party and have fun yourself at the same time? Ease the workload by ordering catering from CaterSpot. From managing your order to ensuring your delivery arrives on time, we’ll take care of it so you don’t have to.
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