# Has Anyone Rented A Hall For Halloween Party?



## RAR RAR rachel (Aug 7, 2008)

just wondering if anyone has rented a hall for a halloween party, and if so, how did you go about decorating it? i really want to set a mood for the party. so any suggestions would be great. thanks!


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## Elza (Jun 21, 2004)

I thought about it a couple of times...but here is my problem. It takes me days to set up and I wouldn't want to have to rent for that long a period of time..gets pricey.


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## BooBerrie (Jan 1, 2008)

Yeah, I could set how set up time could become costly. I've considered it a few times but haven't actually done it yet. A rental hall with a nice kitchen would be awesome. Are you wanting to set it up as a haunt or just for the party? You would def. have to have the layout all planned out, know where the elect. sockets are, etc. 

I am pretty sure someone here on the forum has done this - I think I saw in a previous post that they had their hall rented now for this year's party, but I can't remember who it was.


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## mrock12079 (Aug 7, 2008)

Hey rachel,

i have been doing a hall the last few years for my parties when they grew too big for a house. Since there is a lot to do you need to find out if there is an event the afternoon of yours or the night before. That prob wouldn't work because of all the decorating. 
They usually let you poke around when you are thinking of booking so you need to get your ideas and prepare everything to be ready to roll out that night.
It is def stressful since you need to charge people money, and no matter how many times you set a date of payment, most procrastinate about it until like the night before.
Let me know if you have any specific questions or need any help. Good Luck!


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## Muffy (Sep 25, 2006)

I agree with mrock there. Talk to the folks about getting in there a couple of days ahead of time to decorate. Most halls I have found allow for that unless something else is booked for the nights prior to your party. I have done a lot of work in halls when I was catering & running weddings. We set up the halls & did all of the decorating also. My key to getting done in a short amount of time was to have diagrams in tablets & put a person in charge of that area & let them get it done.

I use to have 8-10 people setting up as we did pretty elaborate decorating including hanging bolts of fabric from the ceilings. Its a job to pull off trying to get done 24 hrs. before the function. Good luck to you.

the Muffster


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## Elza (Jun 21, 2004)

Time is the issue. My last party took me 3 days to get everything prepared (Took time off from work to finish the deco's.) I was so tired the night of the party that I just couldn't enjoy it. Of course if my help had showed up like they promised...sigh. (People aren't into it the way I am around here.)


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## MHooch (Jun 15, 2007)

I didn't rent a hall, exactly, but the biggest thing I ever decorated was the armory at my brother-in-law's National Guard group. It was awesome. I prepped decorations for sev weeks ahead and then had the help of all the guys to actually get it in and get it set up, so we did it in a day. (My BIL is the SGT...so free labor!! )

We used HUGE bats cut out of black paper flying across a HUGE yellow moon on one wall...we had a coffin with dracula in it with buckets full of sand painted black with bare tree branches stuck in them placed at either end of the coffin....we used real fencing that someone was throwing away and put my whole graveyard right in the middle of the room, complete with fog....lots of cheesecloth, orange blinky lights around the doorways....candles and pumpkins on the tables...luminaries along the walkway outside....lots of carved pumpkins all over the place...

I have pics, I'll see if I can get some scanned...it is by far the coolest thing I have ever done, and the best part was that it was for our troops and their families. Defnitely one of my best Halloweens ever.

So I read back over and maybe this didn't really answer the question  but it was fun to remember!!!


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## arjohnson (Nov 8, 2007)

We rented a hall last year, for our first party. When we rent that particular hall (a union hall) we are able to pretty much get it for the whole weekend, so we can start decorating after work on Friday, staying as late as we want. Then we can come in when we wanted on Saturday to prepare for the party that night. Plus, we didn't have to come clean up until the next day.

Having said that, I was also wondering whether or not to have the party at the hall again this year. We were stressed to get it all set up in time, running late as usual. Since the hall had light gray walls, we opted to hang black paper in order to darken it up a bit. Luckily we had enough power outlets to work with for our lighting, however it was very difficult to add black lights, as we couldn't necessarily hang our own fixtures (ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO HANDLE THIS? NOT SURE THE HALL WILL APPRECIATE ME BRINGING IN MY OWN FLUORESCENT LIGHT FIXTURES).

I think this year we are going to have it at the hall again, for a couple of reasons. My house is not nearly big enough. As much as I like the option of setting up over multiple days, I just dont think our poor little house can handle it.

Also, last year was our maiden voyage. Now that we have an idea of what we want / need to do, we should be able to cut down the set up time tremendously. Of course, we did not have elaborate props or displays either. 

Hopefully soon we will have our new house built, with a shop big enough to hold our party in!!


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## JohnnyL (Nov 6, 2005)

I'd love to. It would look just like the one from Hocus Pocus - decorations/entertainment and all.


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## RAR RAR rachel (Aug 7, 2008)

thanks for all the ideas guys keep em cominnnnnnn!


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## Magickbean (Dec 6, 2007)

I'm renting a function room this year because my flat is just too small to fit everyone in, as my party keeps growing each year and so does the guestlist! lol

I'm quite lucky in that I've used this particular function room before, so I'm fairly familiar with it. It's the room above my favourite gothic pub, so the walls are painted dark purple and the carpet is dark red, it has black chandeliers and black leather sofas and room to dance. It even has it's own staffed bar in the corner (I have to pay extra to get the private bar, but I don't mind) especially as it has a large tv screen for me to play horror movies (on silent) and DJ decks all included. It also has a dimmer on all the lights, so I can play with the lighting a lot.

As it's already quite gothic, I'm going to go with a Witch's lair theme (thinking like Sanderson Sister's place from Hocus Pocus, with lots of witch memoribilia, candles, cobwebs, spiders, bats, crowns, spellbooks, skulls, brooms, cauldron, jack o'lanterns etc. I want to really deck the place out to look like you're entering a witch's lair. I have a small team of helpers to help me put everything out, and I'm allowed in there earlier in the afternoon to set up. (should be there for 2pm, party starts at 8pm) and I'm predicting it will take roughly 2-3 hours to decorate.. we work fast! My main focus is getting/making awesome props that I can just pop out, getting my mum (who is the cobweb queen) to cover every mirror, table and corner in webs, and create great lighting. 

Oooooooh I get all excited and tingly just thinking about it!


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## mufasasmommy (Sep 17, 2007)

I rent a hall. I just organize for a few weeks ahead then begin in the morning. It helps that all my food is crock pot or already make though.


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

If you do decide to get a hall or space one of the main things I suggest is making sure that you have enough decorations to fill it and it not look too empty, but also make sure it's not too crowded. Halls are often bigger than we realize and take more to decorate and have specific rules, so you have to tailor your items to what they allow. You should also make sure to check if they provide seating and tables or if you will have to make arrangements to have someone bring in some. It does provide a great amount of space though.  Good luck and remember to try to have fun yourself as well.


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