Written by Jaiden Arada, Converge multimedia journalism intern and Senior at Cherokee Bluff High School
It’s October, which means spooky, chilly temperatures and candy corn galore! Halloween falls at the end of month, so there are always plenty of frightfully fun festivities leading up to it. Many people celebrate the pumpkin-themed holiday in different ways, but this year, I wanted to throw a Halloween party!
My brother came to me and asked me to help him throw a Halloween party for him and his friends. With my secret talent of party planning, I happily agreed to do so. I was very excited to plan the party, and the first thing I did was make a checklist of all the things I needed to do. I’ve put together this list here so that anyone can use it for a reference. This is how I would throw the perfect Halloween party!
First, we need an invitation. We can have a great party setup, but if no one is there, then what’s the point? You’ll need to get everyone’s contact information to send out the invitations to each of the party guests. My brother had all of his friends’ phone numbers, so we were set. To go the extra mile, I made our invitations online with Canva. Canva is a free graphic design website where you can create different graphics for things like social media posts, website banners, etc. I used it to design our cute invitations and send them out to the recipients. Make sure to put your RSVP information on the invitation so you can get a head count!
Next, we need food! While candy seems like the obvious choice, I did not want every guest to be on a sugar high. When it comes to cooking, I am pretty clueless so I turned to my best friend, Pinterest. I searched up easy but fun recipes to make for Halloween parties. One of them included drawing ghost faces on string cheese to make them cuter. Another used croissant dough and thinned it out to wrap around a hot dog. Then, candy eyeballs were added to them to make the hot dogs look like mummies. There was even a recipe for a drink that included Sprite and candy eyeballs! All these ideas and more, were on my Pinterest party planning board to help me keep everything in one place.
Then, we need to create the ambiance of the party. When in doubt, music always livens the mood. I created a Halloween party playlist on my music app with songs that remind me of the fall season. I also added in a couple of classic songs that everyone can sing along to and no one feels left out. The setting of the party also needs to be visually appealing. Party City or the Dollar Tree are where I get all of my party planning supplies. Around this time of year, they should have all of their supplies stocked on shelves.
Finally, but arguably most important: the costumes! Have your guests dress up and rate each other’s costumes for some friendly competition.
All of these components should help anyone throw a great Halloween party. With everything in account, everyone is bound to have a pleasurable experience at your fantastic party!
