Owning a house might be one of the greatest milestone every Filipino may achieve in one’s life especially for those who grew up living in a rental house. In fact, the 2020 report of Colliers International Philippines revealed that when it comes to buying properties, houses top among the related searches with 51% of the people trying to look for information about this property in particular. Therefore, it can be assumed that a lot of Filipinos are planning to own a house or doing their own research before purchasing one. In reality, even if you have enough funding source, it is best to consult real estate experts and research more due to the numerous considerations in buying a house. Likewise, there are different types of houses to choose from depending on your needs and budget. Nonetheless, obtaining your own home is something to be celebrated with your family and close friends. A way to share and celebrate this milestone is through hosting a housewarming party. So, if your home is a construction in progress, it is best to plan it as early as possible to enjoy and share this success with your guests. Although, preparation for a party might be a challenging tasks. So, if you are having a hard time on what to prepare, we are here to give you tips on how to host a Filipino-style housewarming party. Nonetheless, understanding the roots and true essence of a housewarming party is the first step in becoming creative in preparing an intimate and memorable celebration of your life milestone.
The Essence of Throwing a Housewarming Party
It is believed that housewarming celebration originated during medieval times in Europe. This practice is a way to welcome a new resident in the neighborhood. Normally, the neighbors are invited as guests of the residents who recently moved in the community. As a gift, the guests usually bring firewood to help the owners warm their house as European countries have cool weather even if it is not winter season. Thus, a housewarming event is literally the “act of warming” the house. Still, this does not prohibit the guests from bringing other types of gifts. In fact, different places in Europe have their own list of gifts to prepare for the host and each of the listed gifts implies a message or a wish for the homeowner.
Aside from warming the house, it is also an avenue for new residents to introduce themselves to the neighborhood. This is the perfect moment to make friends and establish a good rapport in the community as interacting with them would be a part of your daily living. Furthermore, it is believed that the warmth and new friendships created during this celebration wards off the evil spirits that may intrude on the house.
Read Also: New neighbor’s traditions, welcoming and introducing yourself
Tips on How to Throw a Filipino Housewarming Party
Throwing a Filipino housewarming party is like any other parties. You have to plan and make decisions to host an enjoyable celebration for your guests. Still, this can be a challenging event to plan for a homeowner because it does not happen all the time.
To keep things simple, you can integrate the typical ways of how Filipinos hold a party. Anyhow, to ease your worries, here are some tips to apply when planning for a Filipino housewarming party.
1. A Neat and Presentable Home
Obviously, your home is the highlight of a housewarming party. If you want to hold this celebration, you must prepare your living space to be shown proudly to the guests! This means that all the furniture and decorations should be in place. Also, all moving-out boxes are expected to be completely offloaded.
Preparing your home for a housewarming party does not mean overdoing its decorations like setting up balloons, confetti, and party banners. Instead, keeping it neat and clean is the best approach in styling your home for a housewarming party.
2. Designating Areas for the Party
Not all houses have a big space to hold parties. Still, this should not prohibit you from hosting a celebration in your residence. One way to do this is by rearranging your furniture to create space for your guests. Usually, it is the living room that is converted as the main party area. The main party area will serve as the space for interaction with other guests and for your planned activities for your party. Additionally, the dining room can be converted into a food and drinks area. If possible, you can use your outdoor space as an extension for your party area so overcrowding the indoor space will be prevented.
3. Prepare a Guest List
A housewarming party is an intimate celebration wherein it is enjoyed by family members and people close to you. Listing the guests to be invited would help you keep track on inviting unwanted people. Additionally, this is helpful in maintaining the comfort of your guests. An overcrowded place is not an ideal venue to party and socialize with other guests. Aside from inviting your friends and family members, you may also try to invite your neighbors as it is a good way to introduce yourself and give a friendly impression in the neighborhood. After all, you will be living in the same community for a long time so it is best to be on good terms with your neighbors.
4. Simple Yet Delicious Foods and Drinks
The timing of your party is an important consideration in deciding what food and drinks to serve. Whatever food you will be serving, make sure that it is delicious and enough for all your guests. Aside from the celebration, in most of the Filipino parties in general, food is another highlight of the event. In fact, Filipinos are considered one of the biggest foodies in the world in a recent survey. Additionally, eating together is what binds most Filipinos. Eating together is a way to share your stories and start intimate conversation with whom you eat with. Nonetheless, the house is still the main highlight of the event so serving finger foods would do as long as you will not leave your guests hungry and thirsty so they enjoy and socialize at the party. Likewise, serving light alcoholic beverages like wine is a good choice especially if the party happens during nighttime.
5. Conduct an Official House Tour
Never forget to conduct a house tour for your guests. It does not need to be done simultaneously with other guests so each will fit comfortably in the spaces while conducting the tour. Other housemates may also help in doing the house tour by starting on the other side of the house to avoid overcrowding the rooms of the house. During the house tour, you may also show the before and after pictures of the area where you are to those who are interested in the transformation process of that particular space of the house.
6. Fun Games with Prizes
Hosting games in a party serves as an additional socialization activity for the guests. Having prizes help the games to be engaging for the invited people as it stimulates their competitive nature to win the prizes at stake. Besides, it also helps in breaking the ice, especially if your guests come from different sets of friends or your family members are not familiar with the other invitees.
Here are the two common games you can play during a housewarming party:
- Scavenger Hunt – In this game, you will provide a list of items that should be located inside the house. The guests will be divided into groups and the group which ticks off and brings all or most of the listed items wins the game.
- Room Memory – For this activity, you will be picking a room or space in your house. Each player of the game will try to remember everything inside the room for a certain number of minutes. After the time lapsed, he or she will be escorted out of the room and will be asked to dictate or list every item he or she remembers from the room. The player who can dictate or list the most items wins the game.
For the prizes, it can be in the form of useful items or money. Although, having prize money even at small amounts would be preferrable so the guests will enjoy more and be eager to join in the fun games.
7. Have a Themed Housewarming Party
If you have the opportunity to have a theme in your housewarming party, it will make the party enjoyable. For instance, if your house is situated near the sea, you may have a summer or water-themed party. For short, the location of your home may serve as an opportunity to think of an appropriate theme for your party.
8. Holding a house blessing
It is never new for a Filipino housewarming party to start with a blessing. After all, Philippines is a Roman Catholic nation so Filipinos highly value the intervention of God on everything they achieve or obtain in life. In fact, the usual Filipino housewarming party only involves a house blessing and a meal with the invited guests. Most of the time the invited people are the close family relatives only. So, if you do not feel like holding a party and you wish to make it intimate and conservative, you can stick with this usual Filipino way of celebrating a house ownership.
Housewarming Celebration Marks a New and Prosperous Beginning
Despite the numerous and varying housewarming practices in every culture, this event marks an achievement and a new beginning for the host of the party. For every fresh start, we always hope for the best and a prosperous life ahead of us. Purchasing your own home is truly a milestone. This is a manifestation of your hard work knowing that its price is worth millions of pesos. Furthermore, owning a house gives you assurance that you do not have to worry about your sheltering needs or monthly rental payments. With this, acquiring a house is something worthwhile to celebrate with your family and close friends.
If you are planning to turn your dream house into a reality yet you have budget constraints, Bria Homes is the perfect real estate developer to check on. Our real estate company is one of the newest and most reliable property developers in the Philippines. We focus on bringing affordable house and lots to the public in different areas nationwide. Moreover, we are also open to flexible financing methods through bank loan or Pag-IBIG housing loan. To know more about our offers, you may contact us in our social media pages or set an appointment for a virtual tour to give you a glimpse of the properties we are selling.
Written By Steven Hernandez
