Thread: Open House vs. Usual Party

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Hi, everyone! I am wondering whether any of you have had an Open House vs. the usual party for Halloween. I'm thinking of hosting an Open House with nibbles, drinks and Halloween crafts activities throughout the day. Do you think that would be more work than having a regular party? We had a good turnout last year but noticed that people stayed an hour to an hour and half at the most. They ate and left!!! I even had entertainment, music playing, etc. So I was upset (cried a little) because I had decorated the house to the hilt and was left with a pretty empty house by 9:30 pm (party started at 7:30 with majority of folks arriving at 8 pm). Sooooo I'm trying to find a way to celebrate the holiday with less stress and decoration (though I LOVE to do it). Please let me know your thoughts.

We have a kids and family open house on Friday and then have our adults only party on Saturday night. Many of the people with kids show up both nights which is exactly what we want. That way the kids get to see it and the adults have a night to themselves.

Thanks! Do people wear costumes to the open house?

We don't ask for costumes to be worn at the open house but quite a few people did wear them, especially the kids.
Costumes are required for the adult party.
Having 2 parties in addition to setting up for Halloween is definitely more work but we get to enjoy it for 3 days!

I hesitate to ask this...... but did you serve booze??

I had the same problem last year. Tons of people came, ate, looked at the decorations and then left.
We didnt serve booze because almost everyone has kids. Since everyone had kids I dont know how many would show if
We made it an adults only party. This year Im going to try and serve booze and we are setting up our whole upstairs
for the kids.(no decorations, kid movies, snacks, and blankets and pillows on the floor.) That way they have somewhere to go thats not scary.
I wanted to do an open house this year but my hubby is worried that people will just come to that and not the actual party. We will see how
it goes this year.

Originally Posted by GhostTown

I hesitate to ask this...... but did you serve booze??

Oh, yeah, loads of it! The only difference I can find is that most of the kids that we invited with their parents are now pre-teens, so maybe that had something to do with it. Not sure. There was a time when all those kids were into Halloween and now they think they're too cool for it.

Honestly, I gave up hosting parties years ago. I would work myself to death decorating and preparing food and games to entertain these people, only to have them not show up at all or make an appearance and act like they were doing me some big fat favor. Sounds a lot like what you've experienced. If you choose the open house approach, I would be prepared for the eat and run crowd. I also would not plan activities, since you don't know who will be there or for how long. To me, the open house actually sounds like more work than a regular party. At least with a regular party you know when most of your guests will arrive and leave. Good luck, whichever you choose!

We've had kids and adults at our parties throughout the years - always with booze and it's up to the parents to bring their kids if they don't think they'll be too scared. All of the kids who've been coming to our parties had been going to our Halloween parties since they were young so they weren't scared - guess I exposed them at a young age, lol. Anyway, I think that adults may find it a hassle to look for a babysitter for their kids on a busy night but at the same time they would like to go to an all-adults party so they can relax.

Originally Posted by Madame Leota

Honestly, I gave up hosting parties years ago. I would work myself to death decorating and preparing food and games to entertain these people, only to have them not show up at all or make an appearance and act like they were doing me some big fat favor. Sounds a lot like what you've experienced. If you choose the open house approach, I would be prepared for the eat and run crowd. I also would not plan activities, since you don't know who will be there or for how long. To me, the open house actually sounds like more work than a regular party. At least with a regular party you know when most of your guests will arrive and leave. Good luck, whichever you choose!

OMG, that's exactly how I feel - "work myself to death decorating and preparing food and games to entertain these people, only to have them not show up at all or make an appearance and act like they were doing me some big fat favor"! So what was their reaction when you stopped having the parties? Were some people sad or didn't care?