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The nights are drawing in and autumn and fall season is right around the corner, which means pumpkin everything will soon be here. It’s already popping up in all the stores!
This means one of our favorite holidays isn’t too far off. Halloween! It’s not too early to start thinking about planning your perfect Halloween party, and here are some tips to help you out along the way.
1. Pick a date
Make a list of family and friends you’d like to invite, and check with them at least a month ahead so you can choose a date that is free for most of them. Once you have your date chosen, you can send out invitations, and start tallying up all those RSVPs marked yes.
2. Decorations
Decide on a theme you’d like for your party. Will it be fun and family-friendly? Spooky with a haunted house feel? Carve a few pumpkins to sit on your front porch. Frame your doorway with fake cobwebs and pipe cleaner spiders. Have a motion-activated witch or zombie greet your guests as they enter the house.
Inside you can have more of the same, plus maybe a fog machine to give your house an extra eerie feel, and orange and black streamers hanging in doorways between rooms. Dim the lights and light up your carved pumpkins grouped in various spots around the room, and add a few candles for additional lighting. If it’s a kid-friendly party, add a couple of fun kid activities in with your décor. A pumpkin-carving (or painting) station, a table set up to make their own Halloween masks, or cookie-decorating are great ways to keep the little people entertained. Party favors are a nice touch as well. Leave them on a little table by the door for your guests to take home with them when they leave. You’ll want to get most of your decorating done the day or two before your party, so you have time to prep food and drinks the day of.
3. Food
When it comes to party food, there really are no limits. The staple of Halloween food is candy, of course. So have bowls of various kinds of candy out during the party. Decide if you want to do appetizers and drinks, or maybe a desserts-only party. Cute Halloween-themed cupcakes and cookies displayed on cake stands and platters look festive and are sure to be a hit. Make green “monster slime” with jello, or “vampire blood” with red punch. If it’s a party for adults only, alcohol can be added to both of these ideas. Have fun and get creative with your food offerings. There are a lot of ideas online if you need a little more help (what did people do before Pinterest?!)
4. Costumes
Dressing up for a Halloween party is always a highlight, both for kids and adults. If young kids will be attending, maybe suggest that costumes are not quite as scary for their sake. But, if it’s a party for older kids and/or adults, the sky’s the limit on what you can be for the night. Hit up the Halloween stores or peruse online for ideas. You’ll find oodles of kids’, women’s, and men’s Halloween costumes for every member of the family—and you are sure to discover something that’ll dazzle your guests.
5. Entertainment
What’s a party without music?! Especially a Halloween bash, when you have a plethora of classics to play. “Monster Mash”, “Thriller”, and “Ghostbusters”, just to name a few. Make a playlist of your favorites and have them playing in the background. Or if you’re planning a major party with a lot of people, maybe hire a DJ and have him take care of the Spotify playlist. He/she can get people up and dancing in no time, and keep your party going. Have a costume contest. Be sure to tell your guests about it on the invitation, so they can go all out on their costumes. Just remember to buy and wrap a prize (everyone loves gift cards) ahead of time for the winner(s). Have one contest for the kids, and one for the adults.
With a little planning and some creativity, you’ll rock this Halloween party! Just beware! Friends might start asking when your next party is going to be.