# How do you conduct your costume contest?



## CycloneJack (Jun 30, 2011)

Last year we had all the guest determine the winners of various categories with applause and cheers! Basically my wife and I determined who had what type of costume (in other words WE determined what category their costume fell into-funniest, scariest, sexiest, and most original) the guest were wearing and lined them up in the living room. We then simply went down the line with our hands over their heads and asked the others to applaud and cheer for whom they thought was the best costume for that category. The loudest cheer was the winner (determined without bias by my wife and myself). In the event of a tie we sent off the losers and repeated the process with the two individuals that were deadlocked. We had over 50 guest so there wasnt to much in the way of bias included in the voting process! This worked out great as we really didnt develop a system of voting in the first place and had to come up with one on the fly! It was also really cool to see the guest come together and participate in an event that required the entire group (Yes-it got very loud in there!). As far as people coming and going, I suppose this would work once your party is at maximum capacity. The prizes were a trophy and goody bag with Halloween stuff that wasnt revealed until AFTER the winner was determined.


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## kmb123 (Oct 6, 2009)

That sounds like the funnest and easiest way to do it. I like the idea of having all the guests participating together. This year our party is also in conjunction with my hubby's 40th b-day so we will have a few different groups of folks that don't really know each other very well, and some not at all. (i.e. few co-workers, some family, and of course the usual hard core partiers) and I've been a bit concerned as to how they're all going to mingle together. I think this would help get some people chatting and find some common ground with one another without it feeling forced. 

This really sounds like the best way to do it. 

Problem solved! Thanks CycloneJack !


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## princess denman (Sep 3, 2011)

we got some cute prizes at Target. A skull head bottle opener and bottle stopper, bloody shot glasses, and bloody can koozies.


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## davidsdesire (Sep 4, 2011)

we are doing prizes for both costumes and game participation. If we have prizes leftover, we'll just do them as door prizes We have nice gifts but have them 'camouflaged' so we can play 'Chinese Xmas' with them.


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## JScott (Oct 28, 2011)

We hand out ballots a few hours into the party. The guests can write down who they think has the best costume. If they don't know the person, they usually just describe the costume. We collect the votes and announce the top three. The winner gets a trophy. I usually spend too much money on the party and can't afford good prizes, so I made a trophy about five Halloweens ago and it comes back to the party every year. We always get some funny votes too, when guests are a little buzzed and have trouble describing costumes.


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## Nobtis (May 13, 2003)

Each judge counts as three votes (2 if a smaller party)... Then everyone else is entitled to one vote so it can be anyone's win...


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## johnshenry (Sep 24, 2006)

We print ballots and have a box for them. Line on ballot for best male and female costume. We have guests vote and ask that they vote once, not for themselves, and not for us (the hosts). My wife and I go into another room and count them up around 10:30 or so. We used to get all wound up if there was a tie or something, but a few years back we dicided, hey it's our party, if there is a tie we decide.

We give a $50 gift cert each for Home Depot and Bath and Body Works. We also give a "Hosts Award for Best Particiapation" to someone of our choice, might be another favorite costume, or best dancer, whatever.


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## AlexW52 (Oct 28, 2011)

I pick categories and pass out ballots and have people fill in the ballots and leave in a decorated box. This way, more people can win and no one will only vote for themselves.


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## bettyboop (Jul 24, 2010)

We have Cards typed with the Catagories that we are giving prizes for. I include something from the Invitation so that they follow the theme of the party. During the evening, these cards are handed out with small golf course pencils and everyone votes for each catagory. Votes are tallied for each catagory and the winners receive Halloween themed trophies.


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## Sublime Nightmare (Aug 2, 2009)

*need ideas, too*

We're doing a costume contest again this year. It's a family party so there are kids and adults. We did the ballot thing, but I found that there were people who didn't know the names of all of the contestants. I don't think the applause way would work in our case, either, because of it being a large group and it's hard enough to round up all the kids as it is. I'm looking for better suggestions, too. Oh, and I need some category ideas since sexiest and goriest are out due to being a family-oriented party.


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## chinclub (Oct 6, 2011)

Some category ideas:

Most original
Most spooky
Most funny


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## Lisaloo (Sep 27, 2011)

We had slips of paper with categories. I believe our categories were scariest, best over all and most original. We said all votes needed to be cast by 9:30, which was late enough for everyone who was showing up to be there already and early enough that folks weren't planning on leaving yet. We tallied them up, gathered folks up and handed out prizes which were little felt Halloween baskets which contained a scary DVD, a fall scented Yankee candle and some candy.


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## Halloween Scream (Sep 29, 2010)

I make up little ballots with a line for "Best Costume" and "Best Couple's Costume" (I like the idea of giving nicer prices to fewer people). People write in the names (or usually the costume description) at their leisure and put them inside the decorated box I made. Usually around 11:00 I make a final round and ask if anyone else needs to vote, then I have my sister-in-law count the ballots. I give out two plastic cauldrons full of prizes, the main prize in each usually being a gift certificate for two movie tickets. And heck yeah my husband and I are in the running every year! Our guests know this too - the first year I won best costume, and last year we tied for best (not a couple's costume, lol).


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## princessdark (Jul 17, 2007)

I also use ballots and determine categories based on our theme, last year for our "cirque du Freak" party we had categories of "freakiest" "Funniest' and "Scariest." When I send the invite I tell them the Prize winners will be announced at Midnight so people will stick around (and most do). At 11;30 I count the ballots with whoever is still semi-sober and announce at midnight. I usually give a bottle of wine or black vodka and people are happy with this. Last year I did gift baskets with circus related prizes, cotton candy, candy apples, circus peanuts, animal crackers, etc. I'm lucky in that my friends are all very competitive and try to outdo each other and get best costume. The funny part is a one guy has won the most years for scariest! One rule is that they can't vote for either host or hostess which people always do anyways!!


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## CelticWitch (Aug 11, 2012)

On a related note...hope you don't mind kmb123...when having a best couple category...do they have to be dressed "as a couple" (i.e., one hubby dressed up as Little Bo Peep and the Mrs. dressed up as Aunt Jemima)...do they qualify even though they don't share the same theme? I'd appreciate any advice on how all of you do this at your parties.


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## dbruner (Aug 23, 2012)

Last year I had the non costumed people do the voting, This year I was thinking of doing categories more like what they do on the Scream Awards that are kind of funky and weird, I like the idea of having everyone vote a ballot and put them into a box to tally, so maybe I'll do that.


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## Minshe (Jul 7, 2011)

you all go to a lot of work--these are my thoughts--It is our party so my husband and I just decide between us who we think has the best costumes. We always have a theme for our party so people have a direction. We usually have a best costume, funniest, scariest, etc, but we also leave it open so if someone has a great costume we will can make a category to reward that. 

We give pretty good prizes--like alcohol, lottery tickets, gift certificates to restaurants etc. So if someone is interested in winning they make an effort with their costumes. I personally don't like to take time away from enjoying the party by trying to distribute, collect, and count ballots. It has also been my experience that most people are not that interested in voting or participating in a long decision making process--it interrupts the flow of the party. We take a few minutes to hand out the prizes and recognize the winning costumes. We have never had any complaints and people return year after year with great costumes and ready to enjoy themselves. 

I think too much emphasis on the costume contest tends to make people who don't win feel badly, since a lot of people put effort into their costumes but not everyone has great creative costuming skills. Just my perspective.


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## 13ghosts (Aug 16, 2008)

We do voting slips also. I normally announce the winners at midnight. Our parties can go pretty late, so midnight usually works out good for everyone. I hand out the ballots maybe an hour or so before midnight. 
We do best costume, couples or group costume, and creepiest food. Not everybody knows each other, but most people do pretty well explaining the costume if they don't know someone's name. 
Me and my husband don't normally vote ourselves unless there's a tie, but I think I may change that next year. There have been a few times that I'm surprised by who ends up winning with the votes, they always have good costumes, but sometimes not who I think deserves to win. I usually make some kind of small trophies and a little gift basket. The first year one of our prizes was a halloween wreath, and I know it gets used every year  Last year our theme was movie monsters, and I gave out big popcorn holders filled with movie candy, popcorn and some halloween dvd's that I found at big lots for super cheap. I think each had 3 or 4 movies and I paid like $2 for each movie. 

I started doing the creepy food contest after our first party, I was shocked by how many people showed up with food or drinks for the party! But I get really weird about themes and things matching when I do any kind of party, so I figured offering a prize was the easiest way to keep the snacks Halloweenie! I actually have a few friends who get so excited about their creepy food contribution, that they start looking up recipes months before, and I always have a few people telling me how they'll definitely win the prize that year cause they have the best plan!


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## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

We xerox copies of a ballot with the usual categories. About 2 hours into the party we'll have the "contest" where each person or couple has to get in front of the crowd and "play" their costume. We then have voting which can go for individual or couple (like one year, we had a pair of Smurphs - they won funniest). A highloight of the party is when I open up the haunt in the garage, so while the balots are tabulated, the guests can come over and see what's new. When folks eventually get back to the house we announce the winners and hand out prizes. They are Halloween-themed, and are usually nice items picked up at clearance sales the year before. We have gotten some grerat prizes at fantastic prices that way. Once prizes are handed out music is turned up, lights go low and the party continues.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

I've been thinking about this myself - how I want to do the contest this year. I co-host the party with my (18 year old) daughter so we have adults and teens at the party. In the past, we had a ballot vote but it seemed the teens won all the prizes, which kind of leaves out half my guests. I'm not sure if the adults don't vote or if they just vote for the kids.

Our categories for this year are - Scariest, Funniest, Sexiest, and Most Original. I think I'm going to have a vote by applause but I'll pick three guests for each category and then ask for nominations for other contestants. I'll do one category at a time and a guest can only be entered in one contest. It will save a lot of time too by not having to count the ballots and will help to get everyone interacting together.


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## Shadowbat (Sep 27, 2009)

We decided this year to change the Scariest, Funniest, and Best categories that we usually have. Not everyone dresses up, but everyone does vote, and alot of our guests have said that it's sometimes hard voting for specific categories depending on the costumes people are wearing. So, I'm simply doing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. We do ballot voting. So whomemever has the top 3 number of votes wins the trophies.


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## Edward (Sep 24, 2010)

We use the guest voting method. When the party is at it's peak, we hand each guest 1 ballot that has a matching number on each end and the categories listed. We have the guest tear off one end so they can keep their number for a random drawing held later. The guest just fills in who they think should win each category. The winners get a trophy, and a gift basket with wine, a horror movie dvd, and various Halloween treats. The BONUS in all this is that each guest who voted is now in the running for a gift basket similar to the other baskets. It just makes it more fun for everyone if their in the running for a surprise and encourages voting. We also have smaller parting gifts for each guest.


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## hickoryislander (Oct 27, 2015)

I know this is an old post, but still relevant. What about handing out tags as people come in to give to the person who they think is best in the category? Person with the most tags per category wins. 
Tannasgach, you feel like teens get more votes, what about drawing votes out of the bag for a winner instead of counting them? Those with the most votes would be more likely to be drawn, but it would still be partly chance.


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