It is customary, when visiting friends who have recently moved to a new house, to take a housewarming gift as a symbol of your well wishes. Deciding what to take can be tricky however, so here is a list of tried and tested gifts that you can take with you.
A Gift of Spirit
Nothing says celebration more than a bottle of well-aged alcohol. Buy wine online or at a store and make sure you get a good vintage to mark the occasion. You could also customize the gift by designing and printing a label that has information about the occasion and then pasting over or next to the original label. It is also a great way to make an unassuming bottle special, by giving your friends a reason to save it and cherish it.
A Feast of Grand Proportion
This requires a certain level of coordination with a few other friends, but planning a meal and bringing food over to your friends’ new house can be a wonderful surprise. If not with others, it is something you can do by yourself too. Make something fancy like a chicken roast and taken an unusual drink to buy wine online in Australia to celebrate. Mark the occasion by giving them something you wouldn’t normally give.
Something for the House
This is one of the more traditional ideas and is the reason why housewarmings became a thing in the past. Visitors would bring something useful to a new house, like crockery or small furniture. Today, useful gifts like microwaves, ovens, wine glasses and knife sets are given when people move into new houses depending on whether it’s their first house and whether they are likely to already possess it.
Green Rain
This is not a common practice but in some cultures, visitors will surreptitiously slip money into the host’s hand before they leave instead of bringing a gift. The idea behind the cold, hard cash is that it will allow the new residents to buy whatever is most necessary to their house. Sometimes guests may bring unnecessary or unwanted gifts and by receiving money, the hosts avoid the awkwardness of having to be thankful for gifts they may never use. Thus, in many cultures it is a common practice to take a gift with them when they visit someone at a new house for the first time, particularly if the hosts are having a housewarming party. It is common to give gifts of alcohol, take a cooked dish of some sort or arrange a meal, or give them something functional and useful to the house. In some areas, money is seen as the easiest and most convenient gift. Either way, remember to be a thoughtful guest and be polite to your hosts.