From a dinner engagement, a celebratory event to the purchase of a new home, housewarming gifts remain the one tradition, where the protocol demonstrates good etiquette.
- What is the etiquette for giving housewarming gifts?
- Are any traditional housewarming gifts outmoded?
Special Engagements (Dinner Party and Holiday Celebration)
Whether it’s an intimate dinner party of four to an outdoor bash, refinad etiquette always brings a housewarming gift for the host. From a bottle of wine, a soy-scented candle to a fruit bouquet, guests should never arrive empty handed to any gathering hosted as someone’s home.
The same tenet regarding dinner parties applies to holiday celebrations, such as Easter, Passover as well as Memorial Day.
What’s the purpose of giving a housewarming gift?
Housewarming gifts generally fall under two- purposes: 1) a gift purchased to congratulate someone on the purchase of a home or the move to a new residence. 2) Housewarming gifts also represent a token of appreciation to the host of a dinner engagement or special occasion.
Gifts are the requirement.
An invitation to a housewarming party is an implied gift requirement, unless the invitation notes otherwise.
Honor the terms.
If an invitation to a housewarming party accompanies a link or instructions regarding a gift registry, honor the housewarming gift requirements. Resist the urge to give a gift card. Remember the housewariming gift recipient will always have a special piece of you in his or her home.
Personalize it.
If the host of the housewarming party is a family member or close friend, a personalized housewarming gift is appropriate.
Disregard “outmoded” traditional housewarming gift.
Certain traditional housewarming gifts are becoming extinct. Take tincandescent light bulbs, at one time these lighting elements were a good last minute housewarming gift ideas. Icemakers used to be a traditional housewarming gift
Keep it simple. (KIS)
What to buy the person, who is a casual, casual acquaintance? Keep it simple, sticking to household basics such as a small to medium sized planter of herbs that grow in a potting plant (in example: rosemary, mint, time, et cetera) .
Candles, tea light, decorative vases, dried flowers or even a fruit bouquet exemplify other housewarming gift ideas made easy. Magazine subscriptions to home and gardening magazines represent a unique housewarming idea for the budding new home designer. “Better Homes and Gardens” and “Architectural Digest” are two print magazines, serving as great resources for inspiration in home design.