For the next 2 years we are lucky enough to have Halloween fall on a Friday and Saturday night...
And as great as that is, I wondering, have any of you had any trouble getting guests to come your parties... with all the event's and other parties happening, I would manage it makes it an even bigger pain in the butt to get people to commit to your party.
This is will be my first year of living on my own and I'm dying to throw a party on Halloween night, but scared of the turn out. The first party I ever threw was on Halloween but it on a Wednesday night..
Do any of you have any experience in this? Is your turn out bigger or smaller then usual? How far in advance do you send out of your invites? How long do your parties usually last?
We don't have our parties on Halloween because most of our friends have small kids and since it's an adult only party it just wouldn't work for us. You'll have to take in account your guests lifestyles and interests and ask them. See what they say!
The first year was small and each year grew. (Last year was year 12) I send out the invites about 3 weeks in advance. The parties never have ended before 3 and I remember cooking pizzas as the sun came up another. Last year it was 7 am when I went to bed. Whew!
I would recommend serving at least some food. Doesn't have to be much, but if there are big drinkers, the food might help them out later in the evening. :P I like to serve something that has bread, or crackers. Soaks up the alcohol good if somebody over does it! lol
We've always had a great turn out having our party on the Saturday before Halloween. Most of our friends/guests have children too, and it separates the two dates enough so that adults can have their fun and celebrate with their kiddies too.
These two ladies have nailed it. Kids, kids, kids... Halloween is all about the kids, but the Saturday night before is when the adults have their fun.
My opinion is don't make your friends choose between your party and spending Halloween with their kids because you'll find yourself alone. I know others in more rural areas disagree because they get no TOTs on Halloween, so I guess it's a matter of the area you live it, but many people you know may live in urban or suburban areas and would prefer to spend Halloween with the kiddies.
We've had great success and turnouts with our party always being the Saturday before Halloween. Now, I've only done this for three years, so perhaps if Halloween is on Sunday, I likely would do my party two Saturdays before Halloween, but in any case, I think that's the best way to go... at least for me.
I send Save-The-Dates out in August, and e-vites go out 4 weeks prior. At least finger foods should be served. After our first party, we realized that we couldn't keep up with the demand, so we catered both years since.
We have a huge open house party every year so we won't have a problem this year with it being ON Halloween. There is just too much going on in October to have an adult party and a separate kiddie one so we do it all in one shot. It's over fairly early (11ish) but I have to get up in the morning with my girls anyway so that's ok. I hire my babysitter and some of her friends to run the candy hunt in the cemetery and other kid-friendly games so the adults can relax! I've already booked a GREAT DJ for this year and sent out a save-the-date telling people to make us the very last stop on their trick-or-treat route.
Besides, I have plenty of Girls Nights Out with my girlfriends during the year so I don't mind sharing the party!
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We always have our party the weekend (Saturday) before the "weekend of Halloween". People like to be able to wear their costumes more than once. And if they have kids or grandkids, they want to be with them on Halloween night. Also the local establishments have their costume contests on the "weekend of Halloween".
I work in The Costume Shop full time in October so I just take a couple hours off on that Saturday because the Halloween Saturday is totally crazy in the store. I have a pit crew who does most of the food preparations for me. We usually have about 90-100 guests and have a full buffet so it's quite an undertaking (excuse the pun!).
We pass out invitations in mid-September at the last race of our season at Meridian Speedway to our racing friends. I make sure everyone else gets them about the same time so they can plan their costumes.
Finally, we always have Open House on Halloween night for neighbors and those who couldn't make the party or those who wanted to show their friends our haunted house. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!
Looks like everyone has it covered here. Host said it best about the kids and Jackielantern has some great advice as well. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
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Always the Saturday before Halloween.
The timing is great for the party, & because we're usually putting on the finishing touches of our haunted maze. Everyone of all ages have a great time either in the house with the party or outside in the haunt. Normally we run the party till Midnight.
Yep! Saturday before Halloween is the way to go...think of it this way, after the party, you can start taking advantage of the discount sales just before and after Halloween to buy and start planning for next year. I work like crazy getting ready for the party and If I held it on Halloween...I'd miss all the great sales!
Halloween Night Party advice
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