How to Prep and Decorate For Halloween Party
Food
It's not a party without food! While your guests would love any kind of traditional party foods, there are definitely opportunities to spice things up in a spooky way! Head to the store, grab a bottle of orange food coloring & some candy eyes, and you're ready to go. From caramel apples to "brains," the variety of Halloween appropriate foods is endless!
Decor
Decorating is the most crucial part of any Halloween party. If it doesn't look like Halloween, then it's just a party! Regardless of budget, from $5 to $5 million, you can find ways to decorate. If you're on a budget, head to the dollar store, pick up some black and orange streamers, plastic spiders, and stickers! Spend about 20 minutes decorating with those supplies and voila, you're all set for Halloween!
If you've got a larger budget, you have more options to work with (including the Home Depot 12-foot tall skeleton!)
An incredibly fun way to decorate for holidays and events is to use wall decals or a wall mural. If you love Halloween and Halloween decor, wall murals and decals are just the things for you! Find a mural with spooky creatures like vampires, mummies, zombies, and more to frighten passersby! These kinds of wall murals can be installed in a simple four-step process, and can then be removed when the season or holiday is over. It can then be reused next year, as long as you remove and store it properly.
Banners are a great option for decorating for the holidays or a big event. You can create your own for specific events like Halloween! Find a spooky banner to hang over your doorway to add to the ambiance as people trick or treat! Pendant banners are especially in style lately. Etsy has some great ones you can buy online or to even give you some great design ideas if you do want to make your own.
Music
The proper music is integral for a Halloween party! Singing along with the Monster Mash and dancing to Thriller are yearly traditions at an October gathering. The primary thing to consider is the age range at the party! Are the songs on your playlist appropriate for any youngsters running around?
Check out these song lists from Good Housekeeping and NME for great, expansive Halloween to get some ideas for your own personal playlist.
Costume
What would Halloween be without a costume? As always, there are so many different ways to approach this. You can try to peek through your wardrobe and see what you have available or head to a Halloween store and buy a pre-made costume out of the box there. If you're having a serious creativity block, try heading to a thrift store to browse and get some inspiration! Sometimes, the best costume ideas hit us when we're thinking about it the least.
If you're hosting a party and want to make things even easier for your guests costume-wise, give them a theme to work from, whether it's a movie, TV show, or even simply a concept!