Halloween is creeping closer, which only means one thing… Halloween party planning!
And to make sure you don’t miss a trick (or treat!) we’ve put together this handy Halloween party checklist to help you get your spooky celebrations underway.
Read on for our full list of what you need for a Halloween party and our top tips for throwing a spooky soirée!
Halloween Party Planning Checklist
One month before
Set a date
First things first, set a date for your party! Halloween 2017 falls on a Tuesday so most people will probably be throwing their parties the weekend before or after Halloween.
Choose a venue
Next, choose a venue. Home is a great place to throw a Halloween party as you can give all the nooks and crannies a real haunted house vibe, although if you want to hire a venue, that’s fine too.
Write your guest list
Next, decide who is invited to the party. Writing a list will help you make sure you don’t forget anyone!
Send your invites
Once you’ve made your guest list, send your invitations well in advance to make sure all your guests keep that night free. The weekends before and after Halloween are popular nights for parties so get your invitations out early to avoid guests already having plans!
Decide your budget
Before you go any further, make sure you’ve decided how much you’re prepared to spend on food, decorations and costumes. Setting a budget and sticking to it will help stop the costs spiraling out of control!
Three weeks before
Order your decorations
Now for the fun part – ordering your decorations! Before you buy anything, choose a theme. Then go to town choosing decorations for inside your party venue. And if you’re holding your party at home on Halloween, don’t forget some outdoor house decorations to welcome trick or treaters!
Order/make your costume
Next, choose your costume! We’ve said do this three weeks before the party because there are so many costumer themes to choose from, you may need a bit of time to decide who you’re going to be!
One week before
Buy all non-perishable food
The more you can do in advance, the better, so we’d recommend buying all non-perishable food about a week before the party. (However, to keep the cost down you could ask each guest to contribute something to the buffet on the night).
Make a spooky playlist
Practice your Halloween make-up
If you’re planning on going all out with impressive Halloween make-up, it’s a good idea to practice it before the night of the party! Check out YouTube to learn how to do some seriously easy but impressive Halloween make-up looks.
One day before
Final food shopping
As it gets closer to the night of the party, it’s time to pick up all your last minute bits. Any fresh food should be purchased the day before so that it doesn’t go off.
Carve your pumpkin
Leave your pumpkin carving until the day before so it looks perfect on the night of the party. Pumpkins can go off quite quickly (especially when they’re kept inside a warm house) so this job is best left until the last minute. Plus it can be a fun activity to get your in the mood for Halloween!
On the day of the party
Put up your decorations
It’s almost party time!! Now is the time to put up all your decorations and make the house look absolutely spooktacular before your guests arrive!
Prepare the buffet
It’s also time to prepare the buffet – and you can make this quicker by preparing as much as you can the night before and keeping it in the fridge.
Get into costume
Last but not least, get into costume, put on some spooky tunes and let your Halloween boo-nanza begin!
