# learning from our parties



## dbruner (Aug 23, 2012)

The things I'm doing differently this year from last year (my party is tomorrow night) are the food - finger foods this year rather than food you have to use a fork for, and more cutesy decorations. I also made ballots for everyone to vote on costumes, last year I had all of the non costumed people vote. I'm basically trying to relax more and not take the whole thing so seriously.


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## tgoodman (Sep 25, 2009)

I agree with dbruner. Our party isn't till the 27th, but this is our 5th and I'm just trying to relax and enjoy it more. One thing I did learn a couple of years ago, having a large party (40+ guests) makes it a bit difficult to do certain games, especially if you have to explain to everyone what the objective is. We did Winking Murderer, and while a great game and the participants had a blast, not everyone caught on to the objective and so, didn't understand why some dude was winking at them. Ha! Consider the number of people you're having and plan accordingly. I've always used Facebook for the invitations and have taken to explaining game objectives and rules on the event's Facebook wall to reach a large number of guests before they ever get to the party. It's worked well. Good luck with your party! People are happy to be invited and their expectations are MUCH lower than yours, so relax!


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## onyxkeeper (Sep 11, 2010)

The one thing I've learned is that when you replace your kitchen bulbs with red ones, you dont have to mop before hand  floor always gets nasty at the party, so if I don't have to, yay!

Onyx


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## tweety16_6 (Aug 10, 2011)

what i learned is not to put all food and drinks in the same area ( kitchen for instance) one year all the guests were in the kitchen all night and no one was dancing or spending time in the livingroom..... now we have drinks in the kitches, food in the hallway, cold drinks in the bathroom and seating/ music in the livingroom. now the gueats have to move around...lol


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## Killamira (Oct 14, 2009)

These are so helpful guys! Thanks great thread


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## Sublime Nightmare (Aug 2, 2009)

I just had my party and I will never send DVD invites again. They lost them, people showed up 1 hr early, couldn't remember the time, couldn't find my directions, etc. Never again. But they turned out so cool! I was proud of them and did get compliments, but it was not as effective as the paper invite they pin on their refrigerator. I also learned to have better control over the people going through our small haunt. It was more chaos than anything.


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## 13ghosts (Aug 16, 2008)

onyxkeeper said:


> The one thing I've learned is that when you replace your kitchen bulbs with red ones, you dont have to mop before hand  floor always gets nasty at the party, so if I don't have to, yay!
> 
> Onyx


That's one of the things on my list too! LOL! Halloween is the one party of the year that I don't have to go on a cleaning spree for, all of the lights are dimmed, or switched out, so why bust my butt cleaning something people won't be able to see anyway?


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## AthenaHM (Oct 27, 2011)

I love the red light idea. I would have to say that if it didn't become expected after a while, I would play tempt your fate at every one. It was so fun. This year, we are going with the winking murder game to mix it up a bit, will post the results of our variation. The food in different places is a good choice, too, I think.


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## AthenaHM (Oct 27, 2011)

Also, I would say that going for foods that are really simple/not messy to eat with your hands, over foods that look freakin' amazing, but have to be cut or pulled apart, ensures that you won't have a bunch of leftovers. People like to at least appear polite when they eat in public.


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## Killamira (Oct 14, 2009)

We also have food spread out for the party. Kitchen has the drinks and chili al diablo, den has the chocolate fondue and dipping foods, living room the lobby popcorn machine and more drinks and the hallways homemade crackers,cheese,dips,fruits and veggies and other munchies. Oh and somewhere in between the mummy dogs  Keeps the heard moving throughout the house.


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## Wifeofrankie (Apr 12, 2012)

Our party was on the 20th. One thing i would do differently is to make sure everything is ready, turned on, and we are all costumed up at least a half hour to 15 mins. before the party is to begin. People started showing up at 6:45. Right when I was going to start my hair. 

Also another thing is that I would really like to remember to take more pictures before, during, and after. This year went so well, and yet I dont have much to show for it.

TAKE PICTURES PEOPLE!!!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT.


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## bettyboop (Jul 24, 2010)

tweety16_6 said:


> what i learned is not to put all food and drinks in the same area ( kitchen for instance) one year all the guests were in the kitchen all night and no one was dancing or spending time in the livingroom..... now we have drinks in the kitches, food in the hallway, cold drinks in the bathroom and seating/ music in the livingroom. now the gueats have to move around...lol


Definitely agree with food stations. And I never have seating. I rent high top tables and linens for the yard. I have approx. 60 people and this way they are moving and mingling throughout the night.


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## Wolfbeard (Sep 22, 2008)

EAch year, we have about 40 guests for our Annual Boo Bash. Last year we added to the party by expanding into the garage to set up a dance floor with great lighting and sound. That really keeps the party going. We had our party on the 6th this year and went from 7:30 pm until after 1:30 AM. Not bad for a group of 20+ to 50 somthings in a suburban neighborhood.

We also use the multiple locations for food and drink to great effect, as people will mingle more, not just congregate in the kitchen

The best lesson I have learned was from last year and it carried over to this year. Every year, I knock myself out to create new scenes and props, because we change themes every year. 15 years and not a repeated theme. What I have learned is that even though I never get to do everything on my list, no one but me knows what is on my list, so therefore no one knows I didn't do everything I planned. I can now let those items go from my mind and enjoy the party.

It is really a freeing experience. I also try not to get too elaborate with effects. I used to spend more time triggering effects or inevitably fixing things than I did enjoying the company of our guests.

Eric


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## 13ghosts (Aug 16, 2008)

Wifeofrankie said:


> Our party was on the 20th. One thing i would do differently is to make sure everything is ready, turned on, and we are all costumed up at least a half hour to 15 mins. before the party is to begin. People started showing up at 6:45. Right when I was going to start my hair.
> 
> Also another thing is that I would really like to remember to take more pictures before, during, and after. This year went so well, and yet I dont have much to show for it.
> 
> TAKE PICTURES PEOPLE!!!! YOU WON'T REGRET IT.


I still have trouble with the costume thing... Every year I rush around getting everything else done and wait till last for my costume. It never fails that someone shows up 15-20 minutes early. It drives me crazy!


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## AthenaHM (Oct 27, 2011)

This happens to me, too! But I have a lot of help this year, so I am hoping I will have the forbearance to get my a** in gear and looking awesome before anybody shows up early!


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## mamadada (Aug 18, 2008)

no 1 to do differently... Dont throw my back out two days before the party!!! not only physically painful but emotionally as well. so much didnt get done, but the kiddos didnt notice any of it! however it was no fun for me at all. oh well...there's always next year!!!


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## JennWakely (Jun 19, 2012)

It's funny ( and annoying) what seems to work one year will not work the next. Part of my problem is the people I invite! I get so many "maybes" or "I'll try to stop by", BS like that. so how am I supposed to know how much of everything to get? The first two years I made kiddie punch in my gigantic cauldron so there was tons of it. They barely made a dent in it. So this year I made less, I put a bowl in the cauldron (hoping to do the cool smoke trick with dry ice). Tons of kids showed up and I was out of punch pretty quick! So then they attacked our soda and wiped it out! (I hadn't planned on using that, grrr!). I got so many adults who said they would come so I got a pony keg. Thankfully I did have a few that came and drank beer, but we still had about half the thing left in the morning. Mostly it was my friends that flaked out and not my kids. I don't know, I'm getting annoyed. I think I want to move to a new (warmer!) state and make new friends! Friends who appreciate Halloween and all the work I do!!


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## Ghouliet (Nov 5, 2010)

OK, guys and gals you are allowed to laugh at me. My tip is Take the lens cap off the camera when taking pictures at your party! The only pictures I got last year were of my food.


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## nathancarter (Aug 7, 2012)

I think next year I'm going to set up a camera way up high on top of the kitchen cabinets, with a wide-angle lens and an intervalometer to take a picture every 30 seconds. Then I'll put them all into a time-lapse fast-motion video of the party


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## GodOfThunder (Aug 26, 2011)

Well, I had a few lessons learned both this year and from previous years that I was able to leverage this year for our party that was last Saturday.

Total headcount was about 40 or so (surprisingly, I didn't do an actual count because people are always coming/going, had some neighbors that showed up separately from the RSVP headcount). 

But in past years, I've always had a trash problem. So this year, I pulled in TWO big trashcans, clearly and largely labeled them for cans and bottles for recycling, and also had one outside by the coolers. it made things MUCH easier. I know it sounds fundamental, but I have played garbage man FAR too much each year it seems with taking trash out, whether food or cans/bottles, etc.

I had a bit of a traffic flow issue this year too. Overall, much better than last year with too many people always congregating tin the kitchen and living room, but since I had a movie projector on the garage (which is detached and at the rear of the driveway that goes along the side of the house) there were a lot of people who walked up the driveway and came in the back door. Not a problem, but had to chase a bunch of folks down to give them Winking Murderer scrolls and brief on the Tempt your Fate game. But no biggie.


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## mamadada (Aug 18, 2008)

I was obviously burned out after last year and have got the bug now that Easter is over so I started reading posts again. Thanks for so much input on this one. Great ideas. Here's one...I bought this really cool window cling at lowes that said. "Beware" and it looked like a red bloody font and had some extra blood spots with it. It clinged great! Especially on my door to the powder room...my cream colored door. There is a red bleed (for lack of a better word) in the paint. What's worse is that it's a week after Easter and I still haven't repainted...just a warning


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