Your guests aren't coming to be catered for. They're coming to see the house, so the house is the entertainment and everything else can be simple.
Townhouse Evening From £15.99 Townhouse Evening suits a party night: a stone townhouse at dusk, its windows lit.
Start with the tour
Give it early, before people settle, and give it properly. It's the reason half the room accepted, it breaks up the awkward first twenty minutes, and it hands you a natural way to talk about the move without cornering anyone. Decide beforehand which doors you're opening. A room that's still a stack of boxes is fine if you say so and keep walking.
Food that doesn't need a table
Most of these evenings end up with everyone standing in a kitchen anyway, so plan for that instead of fighting it. Things people can eat with one hand, somewhere obvious to put a glass down, and a bin that isn't hidden. A potluck spreads both the effort and the cost, and it gives guests who wanted to bring something a job that isn't another candle.
Say something about gifts
If you'd rather not end the night with six bottles of wine and four scented candles, put a line on the invitation. Something like no gifts, or bring a plant, reads as generous, not demanding, and guests are usually relieved to be told. If people press you anyway, sending them somewhere specific is kinder than making them guess.
A simple shape for the evening
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| First half hour | Drinks at the door and the tour, in small groups as people arrive |
| The middle | Food out on the kitchen side, people find their own corners |
| Before people start leaving | A short thank you, and a toast to the house if you like |
No more planning than that is needed. The toast is optional, but it gives the evening a middle, and one sentence is enough: who helped with the move, and that you are glad everyone came. Keep coats on a bed upstairs, not on the stairs, and leave the front door off the latch for the first hour so you are not answering it all night.
Size the guest list to the rooms
A house you've lived in for three weeks holds fewer people than you think, especially if the weather closes the garden. Fewer guests in a room that fits them beats a crowd shuffling sideways down a hallway, and you'll actually get to speak to everyone.
This is part of the housewarming, alongside when to hold it and what everyone owes everyone else on the night. If a guest asks what to bring, housewarming gifts is the page to send them, with housewarming gifts for couples and housewarming gifts for men if they want to narrow it down, and the traditions page covers the bread, the salt and the broom for anyone who wants a bit of ceremony.