We moved back into our house on Sept. 15 and had a family dinner of 28 for Canadian Thanksgiving which is the second Monday of October. We were barely unpacked but the kitchen and house passed with flying colours.

Considering we started demo yesterday, we too are not nearly ready yet...not by a long shot!! But yes, I do plan on having some type of kitchen christening (or christeningS!!) Can't wait!

Not exactly a christening, but we set dates on calendar that gave impetus to getting the work done--didn't want to be embarrassed when the club came for a party or when the family came for a holiday meal. Having a coat closet was a major goal for one party so I supposed we christened it with coats, didn't we?

I do want to have a blow-out party for the many people who lent a hand during the construction but I want to wait until the room is really ready. Gotta work up to that. Each big event we do is practice for it: learning where in the room prep activities are best done, learning where the crowd ebbs and flows, learning how to deal with dirty dishes, etc.

Yes! I love to do parties of heavy appetizers where I do it all and invite a bunch a folks (50-75) in kind of an open house format. I prep and cook for weeks ahead, then freeze and refrigerate till the party. One of the biggest challenges I've always had is having only 1 oven as, invariably, everything needs to be reheated baked at different temperatures. Well, that won't be as much of a problem with my two wall ovens!!! I am SO looking forward to having a real reason to use them both at the same time. :)

But I don't even have my permit yet, so it will be a while.

I am hoping we will have a whole house housewarming *and* kitchen christening, but at this point I am just hoping the snow will please stop so we think about starting to build one of these months...

Becky

Yep--my kitchen was operational in August, and in November I had Thanksgiving at my house. I didn't have my floor in yet, as we had to take a pause for some medical stuff, but I didn't care. It was fun. Since then I've had a number of family gatherings at my house where I do the majority of the cooking. I love it, and I hope they do, too. Eventually I'd like to have an open house for everyone that worked on my whole house renovation--but that's a little ways off yet.

Cj

Been thinking about the design of the new kitchen party invitations for almost as long as I have been designing the kitchen. Can't wait.

My kitchen was mostly complete the Friday before Thanksgiving 2010. I only managed that by threatening the contractor. Then BF and I worked feverishly after work and on the weekend to clean out the construction debris. Two weeks later I had my annual extended family/friends Christmas party. It felt like trial by fire. The kitchen handled it with ease.

Vegetables. Lots. Roasted: Grilled: Steamed with a drizzle of olive oil. After an entire winter of building appointments and eating whatever we drive past / what's near that Vendor, I am starved for veggies. Am dreaming about grilled slabs of fresh squash, lightly brushed w/xvoo, sprinkle of Penzey's celery salt, and grilled....

But yes, am quite sure there will be a celebration with bubbly & snacks - to some degree. Then hopefully lots of REST!!!

My kitchen had its christening the day it was completed - literally. My kitchen reno was on its last day - the plumber was under the sink, hooking up the disposer and dishwasher when my phone rang. Our nephew was asking if we were going to be home in about an hour and a half - he was on his way back from Cherry Hill, NJ to his home in Connecticut - and he was coming to my house with his whole family - wife and 4 young kids. So....good aunt that I am, put up pizza dough - still without running water in the kitchen, confident that by the time the family arrived we would have running water. We did, and I did, and everyone did enjoy the first food prepped in the new kitchen.

After having a kitchen with a peninsula which created a tight eating area, I was so glad to see how well the new kitchen functioned with a large crowd. I now have an island which allows for more circulation around the table and food prep areas.

Oh, did I forget to mention that my 2 kids, with their spouses and a total of 4 grandchildren joined us in my new kitchen for dinner that day, too?

Helene

We're going to have a "grand opening" as soon as the remodel is complete. I'm hoping that will be late summer or early fall, but as you all know any reno takes twice as long and costs twice as much as original estimates. We don't have drywall up yet, but the kitchen is finally taking shape. We've added a few square feet which will turn my former galley kitchen into a more useable space. I've been waiting 12 years for a new kitchen, so it won't be finished soon enough for me.

I was hoping to do ds' 8th bday party at my house at the end of May, but dh is opposed. I am not even sure if everything will be up and running 100% by then (mostly paint issues by then, I suspect).
I'd like to show it off with a bang and have incentive to push ahead, but dh hates hosting ds' parties any more. I used to do his kiddie party in the early afternoon and have the older family members come later. By the time it was over, people with kids had been at our house for 6-7 hours and the adults would have been by us for 3-4 hours. It was always great fun, but a lot of prep. Since our house will be in decent shape by then (fingers crossed), our kitchen will be more functional and we'd have more space in case of bad weather, I think it would be great. Ever since we started doing "party place" parties in Jan for our other son, dh thinks that is the way to go. My feeling is if I am going to host a bbq for family and friends, we may as well have the kiddie party on the same day prior, so as to kill 2 birds with one stone. Besides, I do 80% of the work preparing and cleaning up.
Guess it may just be a plain bbq after all and we will waste another $200-$300 on a separate party for ds a few days later. Wasteful.....