Halloween is one of the best holidays of the year.  It is the only day of the year when people of all ages can get away with costumery and candy binges.  It’s also a great excuse for a party and let’s be honest here, we’re always looking for those.  

There are three extremely important aspects of any Halloween party:  the decor, the costumes and the candy.  If any one of these is lacking you can not truly call the shindig a Halloween party.

Decorations
You can go two ways with decorations for an October 31st bash.  Creepy, all out ghoulish fun or you can focus less on the scary aspect and more on the costume aspect.

For the ultimate creepy decor try to make your venue look like a haunted house.  Cobwebs, spiders, black cats, jack-o-lanterns, ghosts are all necessary.  Fog machines can really add to the overall effect as well and make sure you keep the lighting low.  Check out Diddams, iParty and my personal favorite, Oriental Trading Company for all sorts of decorations.  They all have a dedicated Halloween section where you’ll be able to find anything you could possibly image.  Carving pumpkins for the event can be a fun pre-event too!  And make sure you ask around, chances are one of your friends is absolutely obsessed with Halloween and will be more than happy to help you shop and decorate!

If you are less excited about the creepy aspects of Halloween and more excited at the chance to break out that Popeye costume, your decorations can be less spooky.  Keep it simple.  Go for a fog machine and fun colored lighting.  Have a photo spot set up where guests can have photoshoots in their costumes.  And a costume contest with a fun prize is always a great choice!

Costumes
Encourage your guests to go all out for their costumes.  Providing a list of examples in your invite is a great way to spark the creativity of your guests.  If you are concerned you can issue a warning asking only for appropriate costumes, but no rules is always much more fun!  : )  Any of the Halloween Spirit stores that spring up during October are a great place to shop as is Goodwill or any Thrift Store.  The more creative your costume, the more work you’re going to need to put into it…very few people sell a fork costume.

Group costumes can be a creative way to dress up.  You can do a lot with a big group of people.

Here are some examples:
Stages of Britney (or any other celebrity)
Silverware
Heisman trophies
The cast of Scooby Doo

Candy
It’s Halloween so you can eat all the candy and goodies you can eat and it doesn’t count against your diet…

Every bakery and supermarket will have Halloween options.  Check FoodNetwork for fun recipes you can try on your own.  Epicurious has a great iPhone app that you can browse when you’re bored.

Another thing to keep in mind is the date of the event.  Remember that everyone has Halloween parties so either plan and promote yours first and have it on Halloween, or throw a party a few days before.

Keep the costs in mind (you still have to buy your costume!)  Look for sales, keep your party manageable and sell tickets on WePay!