refreshments ?
The food and drink for a housewarming party of your own are just what you would serve at any cocktail or evening party. If you plan a surprise housewarming for friends, it's best to begin by getting someone of your group to invite them for dinner on the appointed night. The rest of the group can then repair to the new home and set up the party however they've planned. Tell the dinner hosts to make theirs a simple meal since you of course will want to provide some sort of refreshment at the party. This may well be just sandwiches and a punch or highballs. The expense and work are shared by the group. Many of the ideas suggested for showers (page 194) can be used for housewarming gifts. A pantry shower is fine, but there are dozens of possibilities, depending upon the needs and likes of the couple to be honored. Again, the single big gift is sometimes best. If you decide to make it a many-gift party, you might put each of the presents in the place where it belongs in the house. Then, when the dinner hosts have brought back the householders and all of you have shouted your greet­ings, you can send them on a hunt for the gifts, with no clues offered. It will be great fun for the givers of the party to watch their enforced hosts go unseeingly past something which wasn't on the mantel, or the bookshelf, or a towel rack or dressing table when they left for dinner!

engagement parties
The first party in connection with an engagement is, of course, when it is an­nounced. Then there's the party the bride gives for her attendants, and there may be many others. Almost invariably the brides­maids and maid of honor entertain singly, or occasionally in pairs, for the bride. These parties may be luncheons, showers, or din­ner parties which include the whole wed­ding party.

The party to announce an engagement is a great occasion. To be sure, many peo­ple simply announce their engagement by writing notes to close friends and relatives and by sending the informa­tion to the society editor of the local newspaper. But it's fun to give a party, and why not, if you like?

are men present?
Should the husband-to-be appear at an announcement party? That depends on what kind of party it is. Men are not, in general, too fond of them. A girl can perfectly well give a luncheon or tea for her friends at which her engagement is announced. But if the party is a dinner, it of course includes both sexes. It's nice then to make the actual an­nouncement by having the bride's father propose a toast to the pair. At luncheon either the engaged girl or her mother tells the news.