Safeload Coverage
Moving to a new home — whether a short distance or long distance — can be an exciting and nervous time not only for you, but for your friends and family as well. They’ll miss seeing you as frequently, but this is why you should consider throwing a going away party.
Moving Help® will provide you with 10 going away party ideas for 2024 to help celebrate your special occasion. We’ll also suggest ways to send out your moving away party invitations and themes to consider when throwing a party.
By having a party, you’ll have a proper way to say goodbye to friends and family while also having a memorable experience that no one will forget.
Going Away Party Ideas
1. Food Tours or Food Truck Tour
If you don’t want to host, and no one would blame you, you could invite your friends or family to go onto a food tour or visit a food truck park.
For a food tour, you’ll select multiple restaurants ahead of time. Then, you, your friends, and your family will visit each restaurant trying a little sample from each menu. This is a fun way to create laughter, eat delicious food, and not have to worry about hosting. You should keep in mind allergies or dietary restrictions with your guests, so everyone can enjoy the evening.
The food truck tour is the same concept as a food tour, but instead of visiting restaurants, you’ll visit food trucks. Depending on where you live, you might have to visit multiple locations or one location. If you’re lucky, you can visit a food truck park where multiple food trucks are lined up next to one another.
The best part, is you can personalize the experience of enjoying your favorite locations before, as you might not get to visit them as often — or not at all!
2. Home Pizza or Backyard Cookout
If you want to host at your home, you could consider cooking a homemade pizza or a backyard cookout. You also can choose to order pizza, to worry less about the necessary cookware.
If you order pizza, we recommend choosing a local pizza restaurant— even if that means picking it up. When you order your pizza, make sure you personalize it with your favorite pizza toppings.
For a backyard cookout, you can personalize it by serving up your favorite grub to cook and eat for your partygoers to enjoy. You also can share your backyard cookout recipes so others can enjoy a tasty meal after you move.
We also recommend using plastic utensils, cups, and paper plates for easy clean up.
By having pizza or backyard cookout at home, you get to control the theme, guest list, noise level, and fewer distractions. Plus, everyone can get one last opportunity to celebrate you and your home.
3. Group Activities
You could choose to go down the entertainment route for your going away party. Several options include participating in an escape room, art classes, and trivia night. You also can keep the party at home with board games or a roast event (where your guests nicely roast you).
You can personalize the experience by choosing board games you love to play, a themed escape room that reminds your guests of you. These examples can leave your guests with a one-of-a-kind experience.
Best of all, most children will be able to join in on the fun with board games or trivia.
4. Visit a Brewery or Winery
If your group of friends and family enjoy a nice, cool beer or wine glass together while sharing stories, consider visiting a brewery or winery. This will allow you to drink beer or wine while reminiscing on your memories together while creating a brand-new memory right now.
You can find a brewery or winery that serves your favorite beverages that your guests also can appreciate. A brewery or winery will most likely have some food as well, so you can munch on some snacks with your guests too.
5. A Restaurant Party
Like the first moving away party idea, this one is different because it focuses on one restaurant. If you have one favorite restaurant that you’d like to visit before you move, this is the perfect opportunity to do it.
Many restaurants have the space or opportunity to reserve space in their restaurants for special events. You can reserve the space for your special night. You’ll want to make sure to get an accurate RSVP count for you and the restaurant.
You can share your favorite menu items with your guests to experience themselves. The best part is you don’t have to worry about serving up the food or cleaning everything afterward.
6. A Packing Party
Are you not finished with your packing yet? You could host a packing party! You can order some pizza and drinks for your guests, and you can set up a packing station with a job for everyone.
This is a great way to help you finish packing while discussing your favorite memory of spending time together. Your friends or family might’ve been with you when you bought your belongings, which will give you a chance to share that memory together.
Of course, we believe the easier, faster, safer way to pack is to let the professionals handle it. Moving Help has Service Providers who offer packing services. Our moving labor experts know how to provide packing help.
Learn how to find packers and movers near you today.
7. Ice Cream/Dessert Night
Do you have a sweet tooth? Do you and your family, and your friends all have a sweet tooth? You have two options: You can host an ice cream or dessert night, or you can visit your favorite ice cream shop or dessert place.
You can share your favorite ice cream or dessert flavors with everyone. If you have a sweet tooth, this is an easy way to take pleasure in indulging yourself.
If you choose to host, make sure you use disposable items for easy clean up. If you choose to go somewhere, you won’t have to worry about cleaning at the end of the night.
8. Charcuterie Board Experience
If you want to try something different for your moving away party, you could go for a charcuterie board experience. You can make one or multiple charcuterie boards, and you get to decide what goes on the board.
If you, your family, and your friends don’t want a whole meal, and everyone would prefer to mingle while snacking on some appetizers, this would be an excellent way to accomplish this goal.
You can personalize your boards by sharing your favorite cured meats, cheeses, crackers, nuts, fruits, vegetables, hummus, dipping sauces, and whatever else you want on your board.
9. Photo Album Party
If you’re looking for good ideas for a moving away party, why not try a photo album party. First, you purchase a photo album. Then, you ask your guests to print and bring their favorite photos of everyone hanging out together.
This will create an opportunity to bond over those cherished memories together. Heck, you might’ve even forgotten about a few memories without those photos to remind you of all those wonderful memories.
If you don’t want a photo album or are worried about packing or preserving a photo album for your move, you could create a digital photo album. You just need your guests to send you the photo files to you prior to your going away party.
Then, you can create a digital photo album. At the party, you can play a video on repeat that shares everyone’s favorite memories.
10. Potluck
A potluck is a great option for everyone involved. Everyone will know what they are and aren’t required to bring. You, your family, and your friends can bring their favorite dishes and/or dishes that they cook that you enjoy.
This will require less prep work when hosting at your home. This also will mean you’ll have less cleaning to complete afterward.
With a potluck, people can come and go at the buffet line while mingling with others. This will give you the opportunity to share your favorite memories with the people who show up at your potluck.
Going Away Party Invitations
Now that you know what kind of going away party ideas to hold in 2024, let’s discuss the four ways to send party invitations to your guests.
1. Text
In the digital age, sometimes a good ole’ text message is the easiest — and fastest — way to confirm someone’s commitment to attending your moving away party. They can easily tell you yes or no, as to whether or not they’ll attend your party.
You can provide all the party’s details in the text message. You could create a quick, nice graphic/picture that has all the party’s information to keep your text message shorter on whether they’ll attend or not.
2. Print-Out Invitations
If you want to go a more formal route, you can print and hand deliver your invitations, or you can print and mail your invitations. Keep in mind, you’ll want plenty of time — whether hand delivering or mailing — to create your invitation, giving time for the receiver to receive the invitation, giving them time to think about it, and then giving them enough time to respond to it.
It’s a fun, cute way to send invitations. Just keep in mind, you’ll be busy preparing for your move, and you may not have time to complete all this groundwork. Speaking of preparing for your move, we have a handy house moving checklist and an apartment moving checklist in case you need help staying organized.
3. Online RSVPs
You could consider planning to do an online RSVP system. The venue might give you the option to have guests RSVP on whether they plan to attend your going away party.
You can also create e-cards that you can send to your guests as well. You can use a website such as evite.com to help get you started.
These options allow you to keep everything digital and let your guests respond online to the party.
4. Email
Like a text message, you can keep it virtual with a simple email. You can send one email to your entire guest list without everyone seeing one another’s email address for privacy.
You can enter all the party’s details into the email. You also can keep the email’s message shorter and use the attachment feature to attach a document or picture that includes all the moving away party’s details.
If your recipients plan on attending, they can quickly email you back. With the digital age, nearly everyone has easy access to their emails on their phones.
Going Away Party Themes
Now that you have an idea about what kind of party you want to have, and what kind of invitations to send, we can discuss your party’s theme. Your party may or may not have a theme, that is OK.
If you know your guests will enjoy a themed party, check out our five themed ideas. You can buy decorations for this theme or keep it simple. You also can let people bring their own decorations for that theme.
1. Movies
Are you and your guests movie fanatics? Then you might want to consider asking them to come dressed as their favorite character or movie. This will surely bring out laughter and memories, especially if you watched any of those movies with your guests.
2. Decades
People love a good decades-themed party. You can choose a specific decade or give your guests a time frame of decades that they can dress for the party. This will bring everyone together to see what each person decides to wear for their outfit for the party.
3. Bon Voyage or Destination Themed
Are you moving somewhere where the destination can be themed? You could go with a general bon voyage theme or your destination’s theme. This will give you and your guests an opportunity to find out what you might expect to find at your new home.
4. Video Games
Do you enjoy most of your nights being inside your home playing video games? Then you might want to consider a video game themed party. People can dress, bring toys, or the actual video game to the party. This can give you a wide array of classics, vintage, and new video games for everyone to enjoy and appreciate.
5. Costumes
Why create a theme when it can just be Halloween again? You can ask your guests to wear a costume to your party, which could be the theme. The creativity and possibilities are endless, and they’re only limited to your guests’ imagination.
Moving Help Checklist and Guides
While you’re busy planning your going away party, Moving Help has plenty of checklists and guides to assist your move. Here are four checklist and guides that could assist you with your move:
- “First Apartment Checklist: The Ultimate Guide”
- “Move out Cleaning Checklist: Get Your Deposit Back”
- “A Guide to Move Guns Safely”
- “Stress-Free Unpacking: A Guide After Moving”
Learn more about how you can make your next movie your easiest move yet.
Plan Your Going Away Party With Success
It’s not always easy or convenient to plan a going away party. With a little preparation in the planning phase, it’ll go a long way to enjoying a relaxing, unforgettable moving away party with your closest friends and family.
When you plan your party idea, send invitations, and figure out your theme, everything will come together quickly. It’ll give you an opportunity to say goodbye to those closest to you before you embark on your exciting new adventure.
If you ever need moving labor help with your move or in general, consider finding professional, experienced, and local moving labor in your area today when you use Moving Help.
Frequently Asked Questions
You may have some questions when it comes to a going away party. We answered six frequently asked questions below.
Q: What to bring to a going away party?
A: You should bring anything the hosts ask you to bring whether that’s food, beverages, a gift, or something else. You shouldn’t feel obligated to bring anything, but a nice card will go a long way. If you’re unsure at all, you can always ask the hosts whether you need to bring anything.
Q: Are you supposed to give a gift at a going away party?
A: You’re not necessarily supposed to give a gift at a going away party, but it’s a wonderful way to say thank you, and you’ll miss the person who’s moving away. Some people don’t like receiving gifts and may not want gifts, especially when they’re moving and are already or nearly done packing. It’s always best to ask ahead of time whether your hosts want a gift or not.
Q: Do you bring a gift to a going away party?
A: You shouldn’t feel obligated to bring a gift to a going away party. A nice card will go a long way though. If the hosts want something, or you know something that the host will want or enjoy, you should bring that gift.
Q: What should I bring to a goodbye party?
A: You should bring anything the hosts requested you to bring to the goodbye party. You may need to bring utensils, plates, cups, food, or beverages. You also might consider bringing a gift to the goodbye party. If you’re unsure about anything, ask your hosts.
Q: How do you make a going away party special?
A: You can make a going away party special by actually attending the party and participating during the party. You can also make it special by bringing anything that was required for the party. A gift always goes a long way as well. You should do your best to make this a special and memorable day for the person going away.
Q: How much do you give for a going away gift?
A: How much you give for a going away gift will depend on you, the person receiving the gift, and your budget. You shouldn’t wreck your budget when giving a gift. If you’re only comfortable giving a certain amount, stick with that number. If the person who’s moving away wants people to stick to a certain budget number, you should listen to them and respectfully follow their instructions.
