Fun Adult Halloween Party Ideas

Halloween is quickly approaching and it is time for us all to start thinking about what we will be doing to celebrate this holiday. Maybe you have decided that you will be the wonderful host of this year's festivities. If so, I hope that this guide helps you along the way.

Budget
Decide how much you are willing to spend before you start picking a theme, decorations, and menu to be sure that you don't get in over your head or end up with a ton of decorations and no food. Decide how much money you would like to put towards the following categories: decorations (include invitations in this section), beverages, food, and entertainment (including games and prizes). This will help you stay on track and not go overboard when you are shopping for supplies for your Halloween party.

Decorations, Invitations, and Atmosphere
Go out and get your invitations as soon as possible because Halloween parties are generally on Halloween and your guests may have a few parties to choose from. By getting your invitation out first, it might make the difference between one of your friends coming to your party or going to someone else's. If you are sending out invitations to someone who hasn't been to your house before, you should give them directions. Sure most everyone knows how to look up directions on the internet, but it is a lot more courteous as a host to provide directions for them.

You may want to have signs inside or outside of your house for indicating that this is where the party is or that a certain section of the house is designated for a certain game, the bar, restrooms, to let your guests know that a room is off limits, or for food. I have always been a huge fan of balloons so buy a pack of Halloween themed balloons, you don't even necessarily have to use helium, I kind of like the idea of a lot of balloons lying around on the floor. People may even accidentally pop them and add to the scare-factor of your party. Other items that you might like to use include decorations for tables and life-size cutouts of classic horror icons such as Dracula or Frankenstein. Whatever you do, do not forget to stock up on plates, napkins, and tons of cups.

Beverages
Parents leave the kids with a babysitter, this is your time to party and there should definitely be serving alcohol. This is an excellent guide to Halloween Party Drinks with a cocktail recipe or two (okay, actually eight) that you and your guests will love. All of which are in the Halloween spirit. Be sure to put a wide variety of liquors on your shopping list, but also keep in mind that there will probably be at least one designated driver at your party and you will need some non-alcoholic beverages as well.

Food
Fun Halloween Food: From Severed Fingers to Witch's Hands is a good guide of ideas for Halloween food to serve at your party. There is advice for meals, healthy food, and even treats including chocolate. Food Network's website has even more great recipes for Halloween treats and even shows some photos of how you could serve them. Make sure you don't just have a lot of sweet items on the menu; it won't mix well if you are serving alcohol that's full of sugar also.

Entertainment
Games are a must at your Halloween party. Bobbing for apples is not practical for adults, especially those of us who are going to be wearing makeup so you will need to come up with another game... Adult Halloween Party Games suggests using doughnuts on a string as an alternate to bobbing for apples. Another idea is a piñata that you could fill full of candy, party favors, gift certificates, or any thing else you might think is fun (get creative with it). You might want to get out the old Ouija board for some spooky, talking to the dead, fun. Maybe let your guests play Guitar Hero if you have it because I know how hard it can be to wrestle the guitar out of the hands of kids.

If you are having a costume party (which is of course what I think would be the best way to go), then you should have a costume contest. If you are having a lot of guests, you might want to break it down into different categories such as Best Costume Overall, Scariest Costume, Most Beautiful Costume, and Most Creative Costume. Get some gifts or party favors to give out to the winners, you don't have to spend a fortune; something cheap and fun would work great.

Another key entertainment element I think you should have at your Halloween party is cameras. I know I am biased as a photography fanatic, but honestly, who doesn't love to take pictures. I know some people may not like having photos taken of them, but there is no better way to remember the night. If you can find a Polaroid camera for the night that will work extremely well especially considering that next year at this time, there may not be any Polaroid film left so enjoy it while you can! Also be sure to have a pretty good supply of cheap, one-use cameras in case anyone forgot their own.

Hopefully these tips will help you get organized and start to plan your Halloween festivities. Halloween is a great holiday to have fun with your friends, especially when you can all get dressed up and have a Halloween party!