Our Housewarming Party {Pizzas, prosecco, fire pits and a rolltop bath!}

September 19, 2016


After getting the keys to our house back in March, spending a few months renovating and then setting a date to finally move in, we couldn't wait to throw a housewarming party. We love to entertain and would regularly have summer BBQs or wintery dinner parties at our old house so when we were living at my parents for the best part of 6 months, it felt weird not being able to host! We decided that a house doesn't need to be completely finished to have a housewarming party and also if we didn't have one in the summer {when we could keep it outside}, we'd probably never get round to having one. Rather than our usual small gatherings, it would be a chance to have everyone all at once, an excuse for a bigg party! So we went all out. Settling into your dream forever home deserves to be celebrated, and celebrate we did. 

We set a date for this Saturday just gone, hoping that summer would hold on long enough for us all to be outside. Luckily, even though we just missed the heatwave and it was a little chilly, the rain stayed away. We invited 60 people and I don't think I'd have coped if it had been pouring with rain! We hired a gorgeous vintage wood-fired pizza van that saved us from having to worry about catering {and doing a huge food shop and storing all the food, cooking it etc} and based the party around that. All we had to worry about was some booze {although we told everyone to bring a bottle too to keep the cost down a bit}, decorations and puds. I made a huge batch of brownies and then just bought meringues, strawberries, cream, watermelon and a couple of big puddings from Costco. Originally I'd wanted it all to be in the back garden but then I realised that the van wouldn't get past the garage so in the end it was mostly a party on our driveway! But it actually worked really well and we opened up the front door and a back door in the hallway that goes out into the garden and put the pizzas and drinks out the front and puddings out the back. 

The pizza van was the star of the show and a great focal point. We also filled up a rolltop bath with ice for drinks which everybody loved. I'd planned to fill some wheelbarrows up for drinks but last weekend Ben had bought the bath for just £20 from eBay to use in our garden so it seemed like a waste to leave it sitting in the garage when it could be filled with ice! I made a playlist on Spotify and connected it to two Sonos speakers, one out the front and one in the back and we used disposable everything which made the cleaning up super easy {even glasses! Thank god for Costco}. Other than that, I just added a few decorative bits like a chalkboard, a pair of step ladders to tie balloons onto, a couple of big storm lanterns, deck chairs and put a few paper pom-poms in the back garden. It's amazing how easily a few jars of flowers and some candles can pretty up a party. We borrowed and lit the fire pit from my Parents at the last minute as we realised just how chilly it felt that night. It made us all stink like bonfires for the next day but kept us warm and looked really nice as it got dark. Such a fun evening and so great to get everybody together, our gorgeous friends, families and neighbours. All the photos below! 

Pizza by the incredible Ruffwood Pizza
Balloons from Northstar Balloons
Pom Pom decorations from Homesense. 
P.S. we got ice delivered from All About Ice and it lasted until the next morning! They make it more solid compared to buying it from a supermarket or making yourself, a tip I got from my Mumma. And we left bottle openers and cups by the bath and got everyone to help themselves to drinks all night which meant we didn't have to worry about topping people up. 















































































My gorgeous grandparents and my two favourite aunties.





My oldest friend Lucy, we've known each other since we were tiny babes.



My best girls.






Our gorgeous friends Tim and Fabs who are moving to Australia sob!

























My baby bro. So much love for this dude.





















{I was sent the Northstar balloons but would have 100% bought them myself if I hadn't been. I will only ever feature products that I truly love}.

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1 comments

  1. This looks amazing! Such great ideas for a party some of which I might just have to pinch. Also, homesense for party decor, what a good shout. I'm having a bonfire party for my 30th and hoping for a dry day/night. It's so nice that you have all these great photos to look back on.
    Tracey x
    girlabouthome.com

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