The housing market is booming! With so many houses flying off the market, this means more families all over the country are moving and trying to figure out how to host a pandemic housewarming party. And we all know that one of the best parts of a move is throwing your first housewarming party to gather friends and family and show off your new home. 

But let’s be honest. It may be hard to imagine how to safely throw a pandemic housewarming party during a pandemic. So here are four suggestions on how to throw a housewarming party in 2021.

Hosting a Pandemic Housewarming with Four Different Choices

Virtual Party

Like so many events over the last year, you can take your Pandemic Housewarming party and turn it virtual. 

Whether your guests aren’t comfortable convening or you are not comfortable having anyone in your home, it’s more possible than ever to throw a virtual party! Now that more people are used to live streaming, you can expect greater attendance at a digital celebration. 

Send out a virtual invitation on Facebook or an e-vite asking your family and friends to join on a Zoom call or Google Meet at a specific day and time. Once everyone is online together, you can take them all on a tour of your new home and highlight your favorite things about each room. 

To make your virtual event more personal, you might consider sending out a favorite beverage or local bakery product to all of your guests in time for them to enjoy it together during the video call. You might even get creative and name a signature cocktail you send after your new address! 

Make sure to show your appreciation for any virtual attendees that may send you gifts ahead of time by opening them during the call and personally thanking them.

Outdoor Party

If, like so many, you have Zoom fatigue, you might just want to take the party outside! This obviously works best if you have a yard or communal outdoor space at your new home. 

Having an outdoor party will likely necessitate having a smaller guest list, or inviting small groups of your closest friends and family on separate days to join you for a backyard party. 

Show off your neighborhood as well by having a local restaurant cater the party. Individually sized bites and portions can keep you from having to sanitize utensils.

You can even plan socially distanced activities to kick off your backyarding such as corn hole or bocce ball. 

Make sure to have masks, sanitizing wipes, and hand sanitizer readily available for guests to use. And if your guests would like a tour of your new home, offer a scheduling sign-up sheet, so you can take your guests on individual tours at designated times.

Drive-By Party

If having a group of people at your home seems a bit much right now, you might want to organize smaller drop-in visits instead. 

Invite friends and family to drive by your new home on a specific day during a designated window of time. You can even add to the party atmosphere by offering a table set up with favors to thank them for driving over.

If you are comfortable with having limited numbers of people in your home, offer to take your drop-in guests on a walk through – perhaps even one at a time. If you are not comfortable with this, perhaps you could record a virtual walk through and show it to your visitors on a tablet or projection screen outside, played on a loop for guests to view as they come by. This way, you’ll even have the tour ready to send to those who can’t make it! 

Pandemic Housewarming Week

Or stretch out your celebration to extend from a single pandemic housewarming party to a pandemic housewarming week… or month! 

This is similar to a drive-in celebration. Schedule smaller groups of family or friends to come by on different days for a tour of your new home. Have disposable face masks and individual hand sanitizers ready for them to use as they come in the door. So that no one has to touch doorknobs or light switches, leave all of your doors open and lights on. 

After the walk through, offer your group a celebratory beverage and an individually wrapped treat or party favor to thank them for stopping by to see you settled into your new home.

There is so much joy in sharing your new space with family and friends, and everyone should get a chance to safely show off their new home, so try one of these four options to safely show off your new home in 2021 with a pandemic housewarming party.