New to Forum- Party questions

[masdc78]

How do you all handle inclement weather. My house can comfortably house 20 ppl, which is generally what we have held our annual Halloween party to. I want to REALLY expand, but am worried about the outdoor weather!

[Endora]

We have our haunt outside and Last year, we got hit with rain...we were only paritally prepared. We did have some thing set up in the garage, like the food and some of the activites. But since we do a Haunted forest, the guest got really wet. And of course we couldn't keep the campfire burning.
This year, we are going to be totally prepared for rain. We are buying and borrowing as many tarps/canopies as possible to cover as much of the trail that we can, and still have things set up in the garge.
But if you don't have a garage or another outside building you can use, then I would suggest renting a tent( one of those big ones) or asking family and friends if they have any capony or gazebo set ups that you could borrow.
Good Luck

[BooBerrie]

Ours is an inside and outside party, and we usually do at least 3 tents of various sizes. Don't bother buying the cheap ones on Ebay - I did that last year and it was a waste - it was okay for the party, but the poles bent easily and it took hours to put up. If you watch the sales, you can usually get a "pop-up" tent pretty reasonably at Wal-Mart or Bass Pro shops if you have one nearby. Put a few of those up, maybe some side by side and you should be okay. You could always attach that cheap plastic stuff (kind of like garbage bags) from Lowes or Home Depot to the sides if you're worried about that.

[LHALLOW]

We also do a large tent and if it's cold we throw a space heater out there. If you really wanted to expand you could always look into renting a firehall or something for the night. I think if we ever got that big thoug, I'd probably charge a small admission fee to cover some of the costs.

[peeweepinson]

Weather is always on my mind as the haunt is either a trail or hay-ride, something outside because I have at least 300 people come through. I try and prepare for rain or shine and advise everyone to dress according to the weather. I have a large garage that is decorated people can get in if the weather is rainy. I check the weather channel almost to the minute of the party worrying every year, you never know what you will get in TN at that time of year.

[MsMeeple]

We build a closed in tent from our back door....across the patio....till the carport. We have a patio warmer that we use if its cold. The first year we built the tent, it rained during the night. Woke up on the morning of our party with a collapsed tent and bent poles. Friends of ours came and saved us. Straighted out all the poles and rebuilt the tent with more of an angle and also rope between the frame. Still, every year I still worry about rain at night while we sleep.
The added space it gives REALLY helps.
In the pictures, its all lit up because of the flash, but at night with low lighting and candles you don't really notice it. Of course you have to make sure none of the drunks bang into a pole

Here you can see how the tent is attached to the privacy fence:



And here you can see how we attach black plastic tarp to close off the areas without a fence:

[masdc78]

Thanks- This will def. help the haunt. We live in the middle of nowhere so working out my plans now.