Decide
how much you can afford to spend for your
Halloween party early and write out a budget. Generally speaking, the more elaborate
the party, the more is will cost and take more time to
plan and setup. Decorations
can be costly, so check discount stores for inexpensive decorations
and paper
tableware. You'll find some
tips in our
Halloween Party Decorations section to help you out.
Make
a party check list well in advance and then use it. Preparing
a party check list allows you to plan every aspect of the party and gives you a visual reference
guide. Draw out a floor plan of the areas in or outside
your house where the party will be held. Write
an agenda for the party. Basically this is a timeline of
events starting with when the guests will begin arriving,
when the dance music will start, when games will be
played, and any other special activities that you have
planned.
Decide
on a date and time for your Halloween party. Try to hold it on
the weekend or night before Halloween. If possible,
don't have it on Halloween night, as most people will
probably want to be home to give out treats. We usually
hold our Halloween party from dusk to midnight. Send out or
hand deliver your Halloween party
invitations at least
two weeks before the party to
give people plenty of time to R.S.V.P. you back. You
should call people who didn't R.S.V.P. to find out if they're coming
to the party or not.
Knowing
how many people will actually be at your party is
essential to its planning and success! When
making out your guest list, calculate the maximum number
of people the area in your house where the party will be
held can accommodate comfortably. Let those invited know
in the invitation whether they can bring a friend and
that they should let you know whether they will when
they
R.S.V.P., and take this into account. Don't over crowd
your guests by inviting more people than your house can
hold.
Make
sure that you have enough seating for all of your
guests. If you don't have enough chairs, you can rent
additional ones at a local party store. Move any
unnecessary furniture out of the designated party room
to make more space for your guests. If you are
thinking about inviting a really large amount of guests,
consider renting a banquet room at a local hotel.
Will
costumes be required - We always required costumes,
after all, it is a Halloween costume party. If you throw a couples
party, there are lots of couples costumes to choose from
every year. If you are going to have a best costume
contest, you will need
prizes of some kind. Decide
if you want a particular
theme for your
Halloween party. Theme based Halloween parties are a great way to
create a special ambiance, but require extra
planning for you and your guests.
Prepare
a menu plan for what type of food and beverage you want
to
serve and how much you will need based on the amount of people you
invite. You can find all kinds of treat and food ideas at
Wanda's Halloween Cookbook.
Do you want people to bring some food or treats with
them to the party, sort of a Halloween Pot-Luck.
If you
are planning on serving alcohol, or letting guests bring
their own, let everyone know, so they can plan on a
designated driver or other way home. Stop serving
alcoholic drinks at least an hour before the party ends
to let people sober up. Deal with problem drinkers
quickly, either by cutting them off or sending them
home, so they don't ruin the party for everyone else.
Have some extra cash on hand and the telephone number to
a local taxi company in case anyone is too intoxicated
to drive themselves home. Don't over drink yourself,
remember you must be in control at all times.
Halloween has always been very
popular with adults, but the number of adults going to or
holding Halloween parties seems to grow every year as a
regular social event. This is not all that surprising, since
Halloween is the one night of the year that grown-ups can
dress up as anything they want and have their hidden persona
excepted. Costumes portraying enchanting Witches and
seductive Vampires are always a great choice, and let us not
forget the Mistress of the Dark herself, Elvira.