As you may know if you have been following this blog for a while, I am no stranger for holidays and going over the top with decor and tips and tricks. Halloween is kind of a secret love. While I do love Christmas the most and Halloween is a close second. I normally really only decorate now for my kids however at one time and I’m sure that time will also pose later in life, I was about decorating for a party! Now a days we don’t do the Halloween party thing but we did do something though when we had enough friends to actually throw one! Mind you also, this was pre-kid era also so it made things a bit easier in terms of wrangling them up and hoping they don’t destroy anything before guests could arrive!

Planning a Halloween party TAKES TIME! Especially when it comes to foods. There is many dishes that need to take time to even set up. Though yes, you can probably wing it and get things done on the fly if you wanted to but there are specific things you need to just do the day before (At least!). Think about those punches people make, you know the ones with the floating hand ice. You obviously need to figure out how to put the water in the glove, tie it off, or many you want to use a different color and or juice to make the ice. Then you also have to freeze it. And no, I don’t mean just the outside like it needs to be totally solid. If you don’t give your hand enough time to freeze, not only will it probably melt way faster than you expected but the whole gruesome hand in the punch may just look like melted ice chunks and nothing really spooky about that unless maybe it was referring to the Titanic and that iceberg.

Or maybe you are doing something with jello and you need to make some guts or brains or even worms out of it, you would also need to have time for it to set up properly. If you don’t then you could have a super gross nearly inedible mess which is not a good look at any party! Even if you look at the worms in dirt with chocolate pudding, if you don’t do it early enough may end up more like a soup.

Another thing is decorations. ESPECIALLY if you are planning on making some of the decorations yourself. One year on Pinterest I had seen a design on the ceiling with bats and they looked like they were soaring across. It was such a cool idea however I did not have a way to make them solid black and so towards the end I actually ended up using a black marker and let me tell you, it took such a long time to do that I nearly gave up on it. if you are preparing to make your own decorations, which is totally worth it, then you would probably do well if you were to plan and be realistic about how much you will need, Time wise. Or if you want to save time, even photo copying or using a printer without ink that has dried up or ran out may even be a better solution too!

Another thing and this may seem like a total no brainer is give your guests plenty of time. For multiple reasons this is important. One because people need to make or buy or even source their costumes. Maybe they need to find specific pieces to make an outfit. Or maybe they are totally making it from scratch. Or they are trying to buy an outfit whether it be online or in stores so they need to go and find this. Planning and giving guests a bit of time to plan out their outfits is always a good idea. Another reason why this is important is because some people probably are also trying to have a party for Halloween. If they are it is important to give them time and maybe you will decide not to throw one and just visit some instead. Halloween is like Christmas where if people do have a few parties to go to they will need to plan out a designated driver, maybe child care, maybe car pooling if multiple friends are invited together. Giving time to guests is something that they will thank you for in the long run.

And lastly, what type of a party is always a great bit of information. I would like to assume that if it was at night it would more than likely be child free. Or maybe you are having a parents and child type evening. Though if it is in the day time it can be a bit more challenging. You also don’t want to assume there is children or vice versa when the other may be actual party. Especially if you assume there is no children, and perhaps you pay for a babysitter for your own kids when you really didn’t need to. And the flip side is maybe you thought there was kids so you never brought any drinks, or special treats or something when there actually was no kids there and you are feeling a bit left out from festivities.

Regardless of the holidays, Halloween is no exception. Planning a party does not need to be a headache waiting to happen, or a growing to do list to even get it done. There are many ways to plan a party so that everyone (including yourself) enjoys it! Whether you want to have a full family fun day or you want a little adult time, there is no right or wrong way to throw a party to celebrate whatever you want to!

And if after trying to assess what is happening at a Halloween party leaves you still wondering what the details are, Just ask the host! I am sure they would love to clarify things for you too!