# Panicking! First party problem!



## meloncholydolly (Oct 10, 2009)

Hey, Im new to forum but a long time halloween lover lol. This is my first year throwing big halloween party.
Im going all out with decorations and such. A witches kitchen, gored up bathroom ect ect. Im gunna post pics after. Now I made the brilliant decision of throwing out a massive invite on fb. Mostly because I knew most 
people wouldnt show. Now I have about 19 for sures and a few of them want to bring people. If I had the space this would not be a problem. Basically I have the living room and the kitchen for people to hang out in. They 
are small spaces and once i fit in the chairs its gunna be hot and crowded. Im not sure wat to do. There is a spare room but its got a washer dryer, junk and cat litter in it so i dont know how..hospitable it would be. 
Theres also the basement...but its unfinished and theres nothing to do down there. Not to mention the stairs are rickety and steep and I dont need some drunk falling and hurting themselves. I was hoping the weather 
would be nice so we could have a fire in the back yard but winter came early so I dont see that as an option. Maybe Im overeacting I dunno. lol. I just dont know wat to do.


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## Ween12amEternal (Apr 15, 2006)

Hi & welcome. Please feel free to introduce yourself in the Members Introduction section.

Maybe you could send a follow-up stating that due to space constraints, you'll only be able to entertain those who were invited. If they're truly your friends, they should understand.

Good luck!


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## Drayvan (Sep 22, 2009)

Hello and welcome. First off where do you live? Im sure most guests will like a fire going as it gets crowded they will move outside. If you can you can try smaller seating IE bar stools and such. I would refrain from the basement if you think the stairs are unsafe. It is my guess that most of the guests will hang outside if the space is larger and they will filter in and out as they need to to get warm again. Good Luck


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## Zeltino (Aug 7, 2006)

unfinished basement sounds like the perfect place for a creepy party! But not if there's drinking and bad steps . We sent out a FB invite, but made it private - only those who were invited could see it. Maybe get rid of a couple of chairs?


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## meloncholydolly (Oct 10, 2009)

I live in Alberta Canada. By halloween its really cold and we already have snow lol.


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## nightdancer16 (Oct 5, 2009)

If you really think the steps will be a problem, then try rearranging furniture a bit to see if you can make the room a little more spacious. And people will wander as well - they'll be in your kitchen and other areas that they can find to congregate. And if it does get hot, yeah people will definitely meander their way outside.

If you don't see the stairs becoming TOO much of a problem, then your basement sounds like a fabulous place to throw a really creepy party - and then you could open up your entire house. And it's easy to cover up the walls if it's unfinished - you could do a great little decor scheme down there. But, again, if you're seriously concerned about steps, then don't do that...

And you can always stress that you don't have a whole lot of space in your house, and you're glad they're coming but to be aware of how many people they're inviting. You can have a party where people can only bring one other person, that way you don't have to pick and choose who can bring guests and who can't. And people will understand space limitations 

Good luck!


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## housedragonmom (Oct 11, 2008)

There are places that rent those stand up propane heaters. We used those one year to help a too cold patio on Halloween. It kept the smokers warm.


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## Blumpkin (Aug 5, 2009)

How about fixing the basement steps? Sounds like they need it anyway.


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## Boo Baby (Oct 7, 2008)

meloncholydolly said:


> Hey, Im new to forum but a long time halloween lover lol. This is my first year throwing big halloween party.
> Im going all out with decorations and such. A witches kitchen, gored up bathroom ect ect. Im gunna post pics after. Now I made the brilliant decision of throwing out a massive invite on fb. Mostly because I knew most
> people wouldnt show. Now I have about 19 for sures and a few of them want to bring people. If I had the space this would not be a problem. Basically I have the living room and the kitchen for people to hang out in. They
> are small spaces and once i fit in the chairs its gunna be hot and crowded. Im not sure wat to do. There is a spare room but its got a washer dryer, junk and cat litter in it so i dont know how..hospitable it would be.
> ...


I'm running into the opposite problem Dolly...I have put a bunch of expense into my party so far but I have only 2 people who have confirmed they are coming (and the one guy just had surgery this past weekend on a broken ankle!!) 

I also sent out a FB invitation and nobody is giving me confirmation. I have about 20 maybes but really, how do I plan a party on a maybe?? I'm certainly not going to go to big expense on food and have nobody show and waste it! 

Too bad we didn't live closer, you could throw a few my way!! lol


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## leighanne4585 (Aug 28, 2009)

We have a decent amount of space upstairs but we also have an unfinished basement. We have a ping pong table downstairs and some people play ping pong but for the most part people gather down there. We replace the lights with black lights & cover the rest of the ceiling with glow in the dark webbing. The fact that it is unfinished makes it creepier & better. For areas that we do not want people in we just hung black trash bags, inexpensive & gave us a cool look.


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## theicewitch (Oct 2, 2008)

Without knowing your floor plan it is hard to gage how help but I always use my basement along with the rest of my house. I agree see if you can fix up those steps. My basement is always popular.


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## lollypopholly (Sep 7, 2009)

tell everyone to dress for an indoor/outdoor party. Have the fire, dance around it. A fire would be perfect but someone has to seriously watch it, only downfall. Put it out into the universe that weather needs to cooperate! Cross your fingers and have a drink People will filter in and out of your party. They won't all stay


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## Kerimonster (Sep 10, 2009)

meloncholydolly said:


> I live in Alberta Canada. By halloween its really cold and we already have snow lol.



I'm in Alberta too! Maybe if we get lucky the snow will be fully gone in the next few weeks. (I know it's completely off of our lawn as of today.) 

I also think your basement sounds like a great space. You could always board up the broken step with caution tape! Hopefully your friend will just be respectable-drunk and be cautious.


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## yummum29 (Oct 22, 2008)

Hello ! I am also in Alberta and am just hoping that now that the snow has melted it will stay away until Nov! Do you have a bathroom downstairs? If you do, why don't you just have the whole party down there? An unfinished basement is a great place for Halloween and if it 's all down there, there won't be people going up and down. Or, you could just do the first part of the party downstairs, like games . Then when people start to filter out, move it up.?? I know that you probably don't want to turn people away, but before you do, get absolute confirmations. I don't know about your friends but some of mine have big plans on coming but fizzle out at the last moment.


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## yummum29 (Oct 22, 2008)

leighanne! Where did you get the glow in the dark webbing?? Has this been in front of my eyes for forever and I've just missed it?


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## halloween71 (Apr 22, 2007)

I am stressing to.I have about 80 -100 people that I think will come.If it is not nice weather I don't know where I will put them.There has only been 1 that said they weren't coming.So I pray for good weather.It is showing 60 deg with 40 percent chance of rain.It has been 40 here this week.So I feel for you.Just have a good time.


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## Gothikren (Aug 17, 2008)

You would be surprised how many people will just sit in the floor and that most of the people won't really sit at all. So you could probably move some of the chairs out. Do you have an outside entrance to your basement? If so block off the bottom of the stairs and lock the door at the top. Have them use the outside entrance to go from one area to the next or do it all downstairs and only use the upstairs for bathroom if you don't have one in the basement. My party was last night and it was cold around 40 degrees or so or less and the guests all stayed outside most of the night. We did have a bonfire to heat them up but when they got too cold they just moved inside and warmed up for a bit then came back outside after that. It worked out pretty well. Good luck and fingers crossed for you.


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## meloncholydolly (Oct 10, 2009)

Thanks for the good ideas guys. I really think the basements out of the question though. The stairs are steep and slippery which is no good for a bunch of drunks lol. And there is no outside entry. As for fixing them..this is rented house so thats not happening lol. Hopefully someday Ill own my own LARGER house and this wont be an issue. The weather had warmed up a bit. Im hoping it stays this way. Its been pretty warm out the last two nites but in Alberta you cant tell the last minute what the weather is going to be like. I have a friend whose going to dress up as a gypsy and do tarot readings. I was pondering putting him in the small spare room so people can maybe hang in there (even though u could only fit 3 or 4 in there). my friend doesnt wanna be cut off from the party....but theres no room for him anywhere else. grr. so much to think about!!!


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## Kristine (Oct 6, 2009)

I am also new,sorry to hear about the basement, I am using mine as a liquor and adults only room, to keep the kiddos at bay. Do you have a garage? maybe use that as well? I used every room in my house, including the bedroom...set up a boogeyman theme in there, with chairs etc. 
Good luck and keep us posted.


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