Now there will no doubt be certain people out there who disagree with me (but it’s a tradition! you’re supposed to bring a gift to a housewarming! and anyway, I really, really need some kitchen knives!), but trust me: unless you have unusually propriety-conscious friends, nine out of ten guests will not arrive bearing any material goods for you. Not because they’re rude, or stingy, but because they honestly didn’t have a clue that it might be expected. If you do get gifts, be grateful and express your sincere thanks appropriately, but it is a bad, bad idea to ever throw yourself a party for the sole purpose of attaining new stuff. You’ll almost certainly set yourself up for disappointment, but more importantly, you’ll just plain be missing the whole point. Parties are not about gifts; they’re about spending time with people.

Apparently, there are folks out there who actually do register for housewarmings, and while I’m loathe to say it’s inappropriate – I don’t like to judge – I do know that I, personally, would never ever choose to do so. (See argument above). If you do decide to register, however, it’s pretty much universally agreed that it’s tacky to include the registry information in your invitation. Same goes for a list of desired goods. Essentially, the only proper way to let people know about your registry would be if they inquired about it directly. It is, however, somewhat less gauche if your housewarming is actually being thrown by your friends, and your friends decide to spread the word about what items would be useful to you.