A housewarming is the one party where the venue is the point. The invitation has an easy job on content and a surprisingly fiddly one on logistics — because for the first time, none of your guests know where they are going.
Put the full address on it. Twice, if the house is hard to find.
What to include
- The full new address — this is the whole occasion; do not make guests hunt for it in a group chat
- Date and a time window — most housewarmings are drop-in
- Whether it is a meal — “drinks and nibbles” sets very different expectations from “dinner”
- Parking or access notes — buzzer codes, which door, where to park
- Gift guidance — housewarmings attract gifts by default
- Kids and pets, if relevant — new homes often mean new rules
Formal wording
[NAME] and [NAME]
request the pleasure of your company
at a housewarming
[DAY], [DATE] at [TIME]
[NEW ADDRESS]
Kindly reply by [RSVP DATE]
Warm wording
We’ve finally unpacked the last box — come see the new place!
[DAY], [DATE] at [TIME]
[NEW ADDRESS]
Drinks and nibbles provided. Please reply by [RSVP DATE].
Casual wording
New house, first party! 🏡
Come by and see the place.
[DAY], [DATE] · [TIME]
[NEW ADDRESS]
Bring nothing but yourself. RSVP by [RSVP DATE].
Open house wording
Most housewarmings work better as a window than a start time — it spreads the crowd across a house that probably cannot hold everyone at once.
Housewarming open house
[DAY], [DATE] · drop in any time between 2pm and 7pm
[NEW ADDRESS]
Come when it suits. There will be food all afternoon.
Variations worth having
First home
We bought a house. We are as surprised as you are.
Come and see it — [DAY], [DATE] from [TIME].
[NEW ADDRESS]
There is a garden. There is not yet furniture in the spare room.
Apartment or rental
New flat, same us.
Come round for drinks on [DAY], [DATE] from [TIME].
[ADDRESS] — buzzer [NUMBER], [FLOOR] floor.
Street parking is easiest on [STREET].
After a renovation
Eight months, three arguments with a builder, one finished kitchen.
Come see what we did to the place.
[DAY], [DATE] · [TIME] · [ADDRESS]
How to say “no gifts” and be believed
Housewarmings attract gifts almost automatically, and a bare “no gifts” rarely stops anyone — guests feel awkward arriving empty-handed. The wording that actually works gives them something else to bring:
- “No gifts, please — bring a bottle if you insist.”
- “Your presence is plenty. If you want to bring something, we are always short of plants.”
- “We have everything we need. If you’d like to mark the occasion, we are collecting for [CHARITY].”
If you do want specific things — and after a move, most people genuinely do — a short list reads better than a registry:
No obligation at all, but if you were planning to bring something: we are short of glasses, and the garden is bare.
The practical lines people forget
These belong on a housewarming invitation more than any other kind, because nobody has been to your house before:
- Parking — “street parking on [STREET],” “permit zone until 6pm”
- Access — buzzer number, which entrance, gate codes
- Shoes — if it is a shoes-off house, say so on the invitation rather than at the door
- Pets — “we have a very enthusiastic dog” is a kindness to allergic guests
- Kids — whether the party is child-friendly, and whether the house is
When to send
Two to three weeks ahead is plenty. Housewarmings are low-formality and people decide late. Do not send them during the move itself — wait until you have a date you can actually keep.
Ready-made designs
Our housewarming invitation templates lean warm rather than formal, and each carries a colour palette you can match to the room you are most proud of.
Related: dinner party wording and how to send digital invitations.