Thread: Hosting halloween for college-age kids

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Hey, so I hosted my first party and halloween party last night and it was a hit! My lurking of this forum for the last two weeks gave me lots of ideas so thanks for your amazing recipes/suggestions!

So Halloween in Australia is getting bigger and bigger every year and a party seemed appropriate this year after several years' of people wanting a party. I'm 19 and I hope to give some advice for those my age/hosting for kids my age. All unis here are pretty much primarily commuter unis, so this was an off-campus house party.

What I learned from last night/tips for college-age people:

-Music is possibly the most important thing you can consider among all else. It really does act as a mood-setter and having a variety of different types of music keeps everyone happy. I spent a good 4/5 hours compiling a halloween-themed eery playlist for earlier on (with gangsta rap, pop and horror soundtracks with scary themes) and some nostalgic floor fillers from the 90's/early 2000's as well as an indie playlist. I also wanted to make a playlist for popular stuff from the last couple of years but I didn't get around to it. Diversifying your music and having a good bunch of songs from different genres will keep people happy.

-Food. We didn't have heaps of time to prepare so there were a lot of meals we normally cook thrown in. :P We bought catered sushi and that was a hit, as well as simple stuff like fried nuggets, etc. The food was primarily non-halloween simply because we didn't think about cooking until a few days before. Next year I'd like a few more halloween-themed foods. If you're running out of time and you have a budget get food catered! It does take a lot of the stress out.

-Drinks: We made jello shots (from thread 111215) and they were a hit. Otherwise we just catered a 5l keg of beer and some beers already in our fridge and some liqueurs from our cabinet. We suggested very heavily in the invitation to BYO as food was being looked after (we didn't ask for anyone to bring food. for some reason this worked for us getting people to bring drinks). For those on a shoestring, kegs and cheap wines worked very well for us.

Guest lists etc.:

-The guests: It depends on personal preference but I am of the a-few-good-friends rather than lots-of-people kind of type. We had about 20 guests, all drawn from 2 groups of people (high school/uni friends). I feel that kids my age, whilst social, still tend to stick to people they already know. When planning the guest list make sure most people have at least a bunch of people they know.

-+1's: I think from now on I'll keep +1's to a minimum. Usually if it's a boyfriend/girlfriend it's pretty safe because the bf/gf wants to impress/be cool with their friends. In the things I've hosted in the past (nights out, etc. not a party), sometimes the 'friend who last minute wanted an invite' can upset the guest balance you wanted to achieve before. And especially if you don't know them at all, I'd recommend no for 'a friend' (who knows no-one) and yes for bf's/gf's for +1's. Be firm in your invitation that +1's are by permission only and next time I'm going to have a cut-off date for +1's. :P

-Inviting: reinforcement is a big way of getting people to attend. When I first sent out the invite, we got about maybe 8 people. It's important you speak to people about the idea before making the event so you can get some sure attendees so your event looks not-lame :P. Get people excited about the event and make sure you get a double-RSVP (facebook and text/in person) so you definitely know who is coming. This system worked well for me. We got a couple of no-shows and two surprise guests (both maybe attending) who knew everyone but otherwise smooth sailing.

The entertainment:

-A table tennis table is surprisingly good as an icebreaker. (so is a pool table I've seen at other parties). Wasn't my idea but you can't say no if someone wants to get the table out.

-We had a horror movie on in the background when there were less people at the start. I suppose it's decent entertainment and keeps those without friends at the party yet comfortable.

-The costume prizes were an absolute hit. Passing around the hats to vote for best/funniest costume was a fun activity and people enjoyed the little spectacle of wine prizes/certificates/frames.

-After the prizes we played the game 'werewolf' (also called mafia). Whilst a bit chaotic and hard to control 18-odd people I think it went reasonably well. If we play it next year it will be fine. I had the game as a backup anyway, cards ready to go if people wanted to do something. No-one moved off right after the prizes so I broke the silence by introducing the game.

Funny thing about kids our age is that I don't think we're all up for organised activities all the time but a lot of the entertainment turned out to be somewhat like that. The trick is not to force anyone into playing anything. Also, getting people to do something who aren't involved makes them feel part of the party. This is helping prep stuff early on etc.

Wow, that was a lot. Hope you got something out of my recollection and I have this here to remember by this time next year. Next time: take more photos.

Glad your party was a hit