The Halloween Party and All Its Quirks

Halloween is, hands down, my favorite holiday. I love the colors, the tacky gore, the mythology, and the tradition. I even hope to have a haunted, gothic mansion someday for the sole purpose of hosting a fright festival complete with a tour, games, and delectably spooky goodies. For now I have to settle for my tea party-sized gatherings in a little efficiency apartment (which I adore; don’t get me wrong), so I’m utilizing this time to enhance my skills as a party hostess.

I had my Halloween party this past Friday, and as far as the guests could tell, it went very well…which is exactly what I want them to think. However, I was a nervous wreck on the verge of projectile vomiting at times, and eating the smallest bit of anything was out of the question for me, a shame, really, since my cousin (Rachael), BIC (Brother-In-Christ, John), and I had been in the kitchen all day preparing the snacks I had been eager to taste all month. Did I bring this on myself? Yes. As it turns out, even I, the girl who’s been throwing themed parties since she was ten, have a few things left to learn about being a hostess and event planner.

Numero Uno: For one thing, I did not get enough sleep the night before. I foolishly thought I’d have time for a nap before the party started, but I never should have counted on it. I knew I’d be cooking and baking for a long time, and any contingency time I had would likely go toward correcting a mistake or making an extra trip to the grocery store.

Numero Dos: Also, I overdid the menu. I know it’s better to have too much versus too little, but I had too too much. I could have easily cut two dishes, maybe even three. I had a “bug preserve” Jell-O that didn’t even get touched, and I ended up throwing out two very full bowls of dip. Part of the reason behind this was that I had some friends who brought food which I didn’t account for in my menu. What I should have done was planned two “centerpiece” food items, thus allowing guests to bring food, cutting down on my time in the kitchen, and reducing my stress level so that I could be a better hostess.

Numero Tres: I chose to have my guests play this one really stupid game, if you can even call it that, instead of whipping out some Halloween trivia. I wanted to have kind of a random chance for points (since points were accumulated throughout the evening in competition for a prize), so for some hare-brained reason, I thought that guessing the number of different types of decorations in my apartment would be a fun way to do it. When my guests started asking questions about which things I’d counted, I realized I didn’t know how I wanted to answer them; I had thought that my hints written on their cards would be enough to help them. When I got the cards back and saw that no one paid attention to the hints due to their confusion and my evasive answers, I chose to “X” that game off of next year’s list. Trivia would have been a much more fun replacement, and in the end, I ran out of time for it and didn’t get to do it at all.

Numero Cuatro: I forgot about the costume contest. One of my guests mentioned it, and since I had not anticipated the time I would have wanted for it, I only had them cast ballots. I wish I’d had the presence of mind (which I might’ve had if I’d gotten enough sleep…) to turn it into a fashion show or something like that in which the guests got to explain their costumes first.

Numero Cinco: I waited until the end of the evening to start taking pictures. I was lucky that the people-related ones turned out well, but the food was so sad-looking by then that it wasn’t worth taking pictures of it…with the exception of the Broken Glass Cupcakes.

Now, I’m not completely dogging myself here; I actually do have some things to be proud of, too. I sent out the invites early which resulted in a high turnout of 56.25% (normally, you tend to get about 30% at best), had a majority of the decorations put up by the first weekend of the month, had the menu and game list set over a week in advance, picked a variety of games which the guests seemed to enjoy, and got my guests to talk to people they’d never met. Overall, I’d say the party was a success; my friends had fun, and that’s the most crucial detail. I just want to make sure I remember to correct my mistakes for next year so that perhaps I can enjoy the party, too.

Happy Halloween, everybody!

[I realize that this is one of my more boring blog posts, but this one’s mostly for me to use as a reference. If you read the whole thing, I commend you. Would you like a bag of Skittles? Seriously, I’m looking for someone to throw some at; I have too many and don’t even like them all that much.]