Thread: Party was on Saturday - Didn't live up to last year's

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I had my party this past Saturday (the 24th). While I was pleased with everything I did (food, decorations, invites, costume contest, etc), I don't feel like the party was that much of a success. We had about 30-35 people show up throughout the night. A good many left before the time of the costume contest, so they were disqualified.

One of the girls that left early came covered in blood. I had white sheets set down on all the furniture, and her blood SOAKED THROUGH the sheets and got on my sister's couch. This same girl also spilled a completely full cup of red punch on my buffet table and on my sister's beige carpet. This was about 30 minutes after I "opened" the buffet. What a great start.

I tried having horror movies on in the background with the sound turned down.. But when I wasn't in the room, people actually TURNED DOWN my stereo that was playing the Halloween compilation CDs I had worked so hard on and were just sitting there, watching the movie. Completely boring.



The completely awesome Bloody Mary bathroom I worked so hard on barely got used, and no one commented on it at all. (Yes, I am sad that no one used the bathroom at my party.)



Everyone enjoyed the food.. but, other than that, the party was dull. We even added a photo opp to our party, and it barely captured anyone's attention for more than a minute:



There are a few things I'll be changing for next year's party (if there is a next year's party.. I don't know if I could handle another dissappointment like this):

- Shorter guest list. Will be removing the boring people (I know that's rude, but I don't care), and making sure the people we do invite know not to bring anyone other than significant others.
- Shorter hours. We held the party from 6:00-12:00 so that people who couldn't come early could come late, and vice versa. Next year, we'll probably cut the hours to 7:00-11:00. That way there won't be such a slow trickle of people coming in throughout the night. And most people will be there at the same time.
- Earlier costume contest. I guess four hours is a long time to make people wait for the winners to be announced. So if I start the party at 7:00 next year, we'd probably announce the winners at either 9:30 or 10:00.
- More activities. This is what always gets me. Last year, we had the exact same activities, and everyone had a blast. This year, I tried the same thing, and everyone was bored (or seemed so to me). I guess it really is hit or miss. If there is a party next year, I'll have to add a lot of activities that everyone can participate in.

And that's how I felt my party turned out. Very dissappointing, but these things happen. Next year I'll know better than to rely on my guests to entertain themselves.

I hope everyone else's party turned out better than mine!

We had something similar - last year's party was great and had a big turnout, this year's even though I did MORE had much less attend and I was pretty sad about all the effort. At least the ones that did come seemed to have a good time.

I would freak about the blood and the punch spill... that's one of the main reasons I don't do any food with red in it it. Even my punch is a light orange (sherbet, ginger ale, pineapple and lime concentrate... with a touch of cranberry juice) so that if it's spilled it will not stain.

35 guests sounds like a ton of people to me, tho.

Originally Posted by Frankie's Girl

35 guests sounds like a ton of people to me, tho.

Well, last year we had 40 guests. So this year was already less than last year. And this year half the people showed up early and left, and half the people came late. So there was only about 15-20 people at any given time. :-\

I just don't get how a group of grown ups can be bored?? You would think that after a drink or 2 everyone would loosen up and start talking. I can see why you would need to have activities for children but adults need activities? Those must have been some pretty boring people. LOL

Originally Posted by dippedstix

I just don't get how a group of grown ups can be bored?? You would think that after a drink or 2 everyone would loosen up and start talking. I can see why you would need to have activities for children but adults need activities? Those must have been some pretty boring people. LOL

We don't serve alcohol at our parties

I think part of the problem was that most of the people that knew each other were there at different times. So it was just an ongoing problem on no one knowing each other.

I had a similar problem last year it was dull there was a big game on and it just became a football party.
So I was about to call it quits this year but I did it anyway and this year was awsome! So don't give up. I love what you did the bathroom is awsome. I pushed my back to 7 and I am thinking of even going to 8pm next year the party never really gets started until then anyway.

I was all set for my party to be a bust - I had a bunch of people bow out at the last minute that had already RSVP'ed. Invited over 100 via Evite but only got about 20 RSVPed there. A few others who didn't RSVP still showed up. I think people have just gotten really bad at RSVPing.

I felt like I had fewer than last year, but I still claim this year's party a success. Starting later definitely helped, although we went pretty late - started at 8pm (most guests didn't start arriving til 8:30) and ended up having people here til about 1:30. I had a number of games/activities as well as the costume contest through the night, so that broke up the event.

I'm not sure if it is because it was a whole week before the actual holiday, or the economy, or what, but I definitely feel like the "mundanes" (those who are only sort-of into Halloween) are just less interested in Halloween this year.

The cool thing is there's almost a week and two party nights to go this year! So maybe I can enjoy the holiday now after spending a lot of time/energy prepping for the party.

I loved the photo-op, its look so cool! We too started our party too early this year. It was our first so I guess you learn as you go. This year was 630-12, were thinking about starting at 730 or 8 next year because like you said seemed liked everyone came and left or came late and thats annoying when you go through the trouble of making all the food. We also had lots of people bail out last minute and not show up at all which I think is horribly rude. But oh well those who did come seemed to have a great time So dont give up.

Everyone is making me nervous. My party's next week & I'm so nervous about things going wrong. Too bad to hear about yours V_gan.

Your pictures are finally showing up for me. Everything looks great! I would have had a blast at that party.

Don't be too worried, Princess. I just had our third annual halloween party and I've been pleasantly surprised each year. The first 2 years, I was worried about living up to my expectations, but this year I was able to relax a little and people were still pretty impressed with my work (thanks to this forum!). The most important part is having people over who are willing to be a little crazy (even if completely sober) and not being afraid. I had tons of activities too (costume contest, "CSI" game, tempt your fate balloon game, killer wink game, etc...) Also, getting a good "base" of guests who know how the night goes and aren't nervous is a huge help. Our "veterans" definitely brought out the best in our newbies this year. As for v_gan, I'm really sorry about your night, your setups look amazing! Just don't fret, "come back from the grave" next year!