Halloween is that time of year when we can all go back to being kids. Dressing up in crazy costumes, binging on candy, having fun, indulging in partying and mischief – and all without being judged? Yes, please! However, there is one aspect of it to which you cannot stay oblivious. Now that you are a grown-up, you realize that organizing and hosting a party can cost a small fortune.
Don’t worry. With these tips, you will have a howling good time with lots of spooks and scares – but opening your bank statement won’t be one of them.
Pick a theme
Of course, Halloween is a theme in and of itself, but there are so many flavors. To make your party classy on a budget, set clear limits. For example, vampires, witches, graveyards and ghosts, zombie apocalypse, crime scenes, haunted houses, monsters, horror movies, etc. Sometimes limits are exactly what you need to spur your creativity and start producing ideas for each aspect of your event. Ask any essay writer: clear topical boundaries give you something to kick off from if you feel blocked.
Consistency is vital when planning a themed party, especially when trying to stay within the limits of a modest budget. Small things go a long way when you gear all your decorations, food, costumes, music, and party favors around one topic instead of having a mishmash of ideas. Staying on the theme makes your party look more stylish than spending a lot while being inconsistent.
Choose time, date, and venue
Your party doesn’t need to be precisely on Halloween night. A couple of days before or after doesn’t make a big difference, especially when people are pepped up since the beginning of October, if not earlier. The crucial question is what will be the most convenient. To save money, you probably won’t be renting a venue, but making do with what you have, i.e., your room. Discuss it with your roommate, resident advisor, or family, and agree on the time, date, rules, and limits.
If the weather allows, your backyard or a green patch on campus grounds can be a fantastic option. The best time is, of course, in the evening. This way, eerie twilight and darkness will do half the job for you. Moreover, it will be an excuse to use candles, lanterns, and party-themed fairy lights, which aren’t expensive but create a stunning effect.
Identify the number of guests
This step is critical for planning any party, let alone a budget-friendly one. Estimate how many people can comfortably have fun at your place, how many you will be able to provide with food and drinks, how many you can handle as a host with planned activities, etc. For a small party, you can only invite close friends. Don’t feel like you have to ask over your entire class, football team, or drama society.
Send invitations
When your guest list is ready, it’s time to let them know. Create invitations in the style and colors of the party to set the tone. Plenty of free templates are available online, but if you have spare time and feel creative, you can come up with a unique design. It won’t cost you anything, but it will be a nice touch. Moreover, you don’t have to print them out – save custom papers for special occasions. Instead, send your invitations via email or a messenger you prefer.
Definitely clarify if bringing a plus one is okay based on your estimations from the previous step and indicate costume requirements. If your guests stay on a theme when putting the costumes together, they do most of the job for you! Announce the contest to encourage creativity. However, someone always gets lazy, so make provisions for that eventuality and stock up on inexpensive masks, hats, or other accessories. You can DIY them – Pinterest is full of cool and easy ideas.
Plan your decor
First, come up with a color scheme based on the theme. Two, maximum three main colors will ensure everything looks neat and put together. White and blue for ghosts, black and orange for a classic pumpkin-inspired Halloween look, green and black for zombies, black and purple for witches, black and red for vampires, etc. Black is not the only dominating color. You can play with the existing color scheme of your premises. For example, suppose the primary color of your room is beige. In that case, you can pick a mummy tomb as a theme, and then your color scheme will be beige (for limestone and desert sand) and white (for mummy wraps).
Fake cobwebs, spiders, lanterns, papier-mâché gravestones, and other strategically placed details will help you create the right mood. Those don’t cost much, but you don’t have to buy ready-made decorations at all if you want to save. DIY them using printable templates (black spiders, ghost faces, etc.) and stick them onto walls or hang them by a thread from the doorframes.
Get creative with small details
Improvise! For example, if it’s a vampire-themed party, cut little paper triangles and stick them as fangs on the family photographs or celebrity posters you have around the house. Decorate glasses to serve drinks with drips of red paint. Cover the mirrors with a flipped photo of the interior to create an illusion of reflection with no guests in it.
For a witch party, bring fallen leaves, pieces of dry moss, and gnarled branches from the garden and paint pentangles and other symbols on mirrors and windows. For a murder scene, cover everything with plastic sheets and put restriction lines with yellow caution tape (these are useful if you actually need to limit the area accessible for the guests).
Create the mood with background music
There are ready-made playlists on streaming platforms and YouTube for all styles and moods, including Halloween classics or more niche thematic collections. If you feel creative, be your own DJ and craft a playlist yourself, but make sure to keep the central theme in mind – eerie, wonky, ironic, haunted, witchy, etc. You may want to create two separate playlists. One as a background ambiance, and another, more upbeat for competitions or if your guests will feel ready to hit the dance floor.
Instead of music, you might opt for a movie in the background to create the right atmosphere. Alternatively, watching an iconic scary movie can be a part of the evening’s entertainment, so carefully choose the available titles. To stay on a budget, borrow a speaker from a friend and subscribe to a trial period of a streaming app to play music and film ad-free.
Prepare snacks and drinks
Catering for many people is costly, but you can get around it by making it a potluck party. Alternatively, serve snacks, drinks, and sweets. Homemade cupcakes, punch, candy, popcorn, chips, and salsa are all inexpensive and simple. Make sure you coordinate colors with the theme. Play around with cookie frosting, pick candy bars based on the wrapper, and choose drinks appropriately.
For example, if it’s a vampire party, tomato juice, red wine (that is, if everyone invited is of age), cola, cherries, black chocolate, brownies, etc. If it’s traditional pumpkin Halloween – orange juice, carrots, peeled tangerines with little celery “stems,” orange-frosted cookies, and so on.
Take care of activities
Nothing entertains guests more than a bit of competition. Prepare a fun trivia to test how well everyone knows Halloween traditions, horror movies, superstitions, vampire lore, etc. Apple bobbing, scavenger hunts, pumpkin carving, ring tossing, or darts with a thematic target are also tried and true classics of parlor games. Another fun activity is the photo booth, so make sure to create a dedicated set and prepare relevant props.
To cut costs, instead of giving out rewards to winners, you can give certificates granting bragging rights until the end of the evening. Another way to add incentive is to make losers do something a little scary or tell a story.
Save on the cleaning
Cleaning up afterward is one of the hidden costs of every event, especially if your guests accidentally break something or spill drinks on the carpet. Take care of this before the party. Restrict certain areas of the house, put away breakable and expensive items, and cover furniture with cheap materials like disposable tablecloths, old sheets, or other stuff that works within a theme.
For example, white sheets are great for a haunted house and ghosts. Plastic covers create the right atmosphere for crime scenes and a zombie apocalypse. Earthy tones and old rugs will look spot-on for tombs, mummies, witches, and so on.
As you can see, you can eat, drink, and be scary without breaking the bank. All it takes is a little creativity and planning. Have a fang-tastic time, and don’t forget to bury the bodies!
