Please help me plan this celebration---

[JustMe]

I want to have sort of a combination housewarming/celebration for ds because its an important adoption anniversary soon. want to do it in the form of an open house NOT like when you sell a house, but meaning can stop by, stay for a while, leave, etc...I'm thinking a 3 hour span like 2-5pm, and am also thinking I will call it an ice cream social and just have different kinds of ice cream, toppings, maybe some cheese and crackers, just to keep things easy and simple.

So, my questions are--have you ever hosted this kind of open house? I want to keep things casual, but at the same time need to have an idea of how much ice cream to buy so not sure what to do about rsvps...evite has not worked well for us in the pasts, as some people just never received the evite, etc...so should I just e-mail everyone and ask them to e-mail back? I really hate the idea of potlucks, so prefer not to go that route, although I can see how it would make things easy.

Not sure about seating. I have a total of 10 chairs, including both indoor and outdoor, plus a pretty big window seat. There is plenty of space, both indoor and outdoor, but not sure if I should just put a big tablecloth down on the floor of a big room we have?

Anything else? Or is this not a good idea?

[Momit]

Our neighbors did an open house earlier this summer. I don't have the invite anymore, but it said something like "summer time is busy. Please feel free to come for all or part of the evening." Then something like "BBQ dinner at 5, drinks and dancing at 7." They did ask for RSVPs. Maybe you could tweak that wording to make it work for you. People definitely came and went, but it was a great party.

[KpbS]

I think it sounds like a wonderful idea! I'm impressed that you are ready to have people over so soon after moving--way to go!

I would ask for RSVP's and then buy extra ice cream just to be on the safe side. I think the picnic blanket on the floor is a good one for the kids. Let the adults stand and talk or sit as they please. I would work the invitation as a "drop in", eg "please feel free to drop in anytime from 2-5 on Saturday the 9th." If you are on FB, you could create a FB event and send "invitations" that way, as well as reminders, etc. That is what I would do.

Congratulations!

[JustMe]

Thanks for the great ideas and input!

[QUOTE=KpbS;4015263]I think it sounds like a wonderful idea! I'm impressed that you are ready to have people over so soon after moving--way to go!

/QUOTE]

Well, not exactly as ready as I would like...but I never had a garage before so lots is in there. I figure doing it when I have more open space is better!

[jayali]

An open house is always fun. I would say something like drop by if you can from x to x, in a fun way! My creativity escapes me now but Momit's suggestion looks good.

The caveat I would add is that ice cream is hard to administer over a prolonged period of time unless you do bars or sandwiches, but scoops from pints can get messy very quickly. You may want to consider a dessert party - which will have ice cream. I do love the 'idea' of an ice cream social, but administering it can be difficult (especially if outside, during the summer!).

I would do an rsvp. Summers are busy, especially with people traveling so you would want some idea of how many people will be 'dropping' by.

Have fun and congratulations!

[petesgirl]

You could always scoop the ice cream out into muffin papers or styrofoam cups beforehand and then put back in the freezer so that they are all scooped out and you can pull out a certain amount at a time vs a whole carton.

[JustMe]

Thanks so much for the encouragement and ideas everyone!

Well, I decided to just go for it and do it this weekend---people go away so much here in the summer that I will catch who I can and the others will come some other time. E-mails and phone messages went out this morning. I asked for RSVPs.

Here is my plan--tell me if this sounds crazy. Things are pretty casual here. I plan to take everything out of the freezer and put in the fridge, except for the ice cream. People will get the ice cream and dish their own..toppings will be on a table near by. Since I made it clear it was drop in/come and go when you want, hopefully there won't be any mad rushes!

[squimp]

We did an ice cream social when we moved in here, and are doing it again toward the end of the summer. I had bowls and toppings out, and then kept the ice cream in the fridge until people wanted it. We also had wine and beer, which work in our neighborhood. It was very fun and people loved it.

[JustMe]

We did an ice cream social when we moved in here, and are doing it again toward the end of the summer. I had bowls and toppings out, and then kept the ice cream in the fridge until people wanted it. We also had wine and beer, which work in our neighborhood. It was very fun and people loved it.

Yay, sounds very similar to what I want to do minus the wine and beer. Did you actually keep the ice cream in the fridge part or freezer?