Thread: 2009 Party Reflections- Post yours...

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Originally Posted by epi0302

Hi,
reflection from 2009 Halloween party from the Netherlands. In the Netherlands we don't have a Halloween tradition like in the US. It just started to kick off and some shops sell halloween articles and their are some amusement parks that have a party.
A few years ago we started to trick or treat with a few kids and parents, but most people in the neighberhood didn't understand the concept and were a bit upset.
So this year we organised a halloweenparty in a small forest for the kids (about 20). We made up a local halloween myth with of course a curse. The kids were divided in small groups and had to fullfill some tasks and puzzels to stop the curse. The parents were actors in the myth.
After the curse was ended we had a party to celebrate the happy end.
Everything went well. Even the weather was good. During this time of year it usually rains in Holland. But this year dry with a bit of fog, so it added a special touch.
But still people in the Netherlands stare at you when passing the street in a dracula costume.
Thank you all for the hints in your forum and hope you understand my english.

Welcome Epi! Glad you could join us. Glad to hear that you are celebrating Halloween regardless of how it's taken in your neck of the woods. SOunds like you had a great time and created a wonderful atmosphere for all of those involved!

Originally Posted by princessdark

My reflections:
It was a great party: the food was loved by everyone, drinks were flowing and everyone had fun with the games.
Bad parts: I drank WAY too many rum shots and was throwing up and passed out by the end so forgot parts of the late night and wasn't as good of a hostess because of it (thank god for my sober husband!) I never did that before at any of our parties. I will definitely not drink that much next year, I missed a lot of the party from too much drink!! I hate when people keep saying "did you know you did or said this?"
Everyone devoured our corpse food buffet so I wonder if we need more food next year, its hard to tell- we have had mountains of food left over before and this year, nothing left over except TONS of beer!!

Obviously you didn't drink enough if there was that much beer left over! haha
We have the same problem. Sometimes we have lots of beer left over and other years its all gone. Makes it hard to judge what you need for the next year. Especially for us because neither of us drink beer.

MsM

This years party was a success! The theme was Zombie Outbreak. I sent a teaser for the event in Mid september. My teasers are always a flash animated website:

http://www.masonbartondesign.com/fri...ightFest09.swf

Then in early october everyone invited gets a detailed email.

The idea of the theme was that everyone invited was infected with a zombie virus. To get a cure they had to come to the party. I love themes like this because it makes for a great group picture.

Once they arrive they receive a card that tell them at some point the infection will go to their brain and cause them to ...(insert different actions here). This is fun because randomly during the night i have someone tell each guest the infection has gone to their brain. They then have to perform the action on the card. Really fun and great with good actors.

We had soup and drinks out of pie tins and tin cans (added to the zombie vibe). We then played a couple table games like braingo (bingo) and a table relay game. Each table had to bring up items that were called out (a strand of hair, a sock with a hole, etc).

To keep with the theme i mentioned everyone looked hungry for flesh and said that around the room there were hidden eyeballs. That got everyone up close and personal with my props which i liked because they had to notice them this way.

I always have my party at our local church house so after the eyeball hunt i sent them into the next room where a projector and seats were set up. I had everyone watch Michael Jackson's Thriller. After the movie i gave a "scene it" type quiz about details in the movie. winner got a prize of course.

While they were in the movie room, the main room was being set up for the zombie walk. I had body party laid out in a circle. participants then had to walk around the body parts in zombie fashion then stand by one when the music stopped. A body part was drawn out of a box and the winner was the person next to the matching part.

We also had a place to vote for best zombie costume and also guess how much candy was in a jar. For all these activities they participated in (volunteer based) they secretly were handed a letter. They were told that by participated in the night they would receive these letters. That once they got all 6 they had to unscramble them and whisper the secret word to me. This would secure them the CURE for the Zombie Outbreak.

Just before the end of the night we announced there would be 10 minutes of mingling while the best costume and candy count votes for tallied. At the end of the ten minutes a loud fog horn sounded and 6 pre chosen guests screamed in agony then fell to the floor dead. I had ushers move the rest of the guest to the far side of the room. The six lay on the floor dead while creepy outside sounds played. Then Michael Jacksons "thriller" song came on and all six guests including myself rose and formed a triangle. We then danced the thriller dance. It was increadible! We spent two months secretly learning the dance from online lessons.

then prizes were handed out and the CURE was given to those that completed the letter collecting. the room was decorated so fantastically and all the guests looked really amazing in their zombie attire! I was starting to feel overwhelmed just days before the party and wondered if this was all worth it.

IT WAS!

Sounds like a really great time! And so many activities! That must have taken a lot of planning!

MsM

Thanks MsMeeple! It really is a lot of planning but i think you said it that its hard to not one up last years party. I'm trying to remember and too lazy to look at past posts, but was it you that had the haunted hotel theme this year? I LOVE THAT THEME! I've been wanting to do it for years and i think next year will be the one. My fear is that it is a whole new set of decor that i don't have. But i get excited because i use our church house for the party so i could totally use all those classrooms to my advantage. Anyway, might have to pick your brain later about it. Thanks for the great posts and ideas!

Masonjar

This is a great idea, and I'm stealing it for my next party!

Originally Posted by johnshenry

I invited people to use the laptop in the corner running "Media Monkey" in "Party" mode to choose songs just like a juke box. It worked well except for the few times when people spazzed and clicked the same song 2-3 times or more... I had to go password unlock it and clear them, but it was no big deal). Only regret, get more song selections next time. I usually am trying to put music together in the last hours before the party. But I did not feel like I spent the whole night in the bedroom where the DJ console was shuffling CDs and missing the party like years past. People came to me with "requests" and I just pointed them to the laptop and said"go see if it is there?"..

Lessons I learned this year:

• If you need last minute stuff (fake blood, cobwebs) just go to CVS/your local drug store. Halloween/party stores are a nightmare the day of and don't have anything you need.
• Do NOT do shots 30 minutes into your party.
• People stink at RSVP'ing, and there's nothing you can do about it.
• Cheap projectors and shower curtains make things 100x's more awesome.

Originally Posted by masonjar

Thanks MsMeeple! It really is a lot of planning but i think you said it that its hard to not one up last years party. I'm trying to remember and too lazy to look at past posts, but was it you that had the haunted hotel theme this year? I LOVE THAT THEME! I've been wanting to do it for years and i think next year will be the one. My fear is that it is a whole new set of decor that i don't have. But i get excited because i use our church house for the party so i could totally use all those classrooms to my advantage. Anyway, might have to pick your brain later about it. Thanks for the great posts and ideas!

Masonjar

Ha, you were close. I did say that its hard not to one up last year's party but I"m not the one with the hotel theme. Might steal it one year though Our theme was the funeral with the long lost dead uncle and all his money.

MsM

My party reflections!

- our party was nov. friday the 13th. so people are still talking about it. every year we throw a post-halloween party. it's a huge hit! people love getting their costumes out one more time + we get decorations 50-90% off!

- our theme was a Carnal Carnival. we didn't get to do as much carnival stuff as we wanted to do, but we turned the living room into a tent, had some clown stuff, popcorn, carnival games (we only made $6 lol), etc. people really liked it!

- We got comments all night on the decorations, drinks, the turnout, music, etc. It was sad that all the work we put into it only lasted from 9pm-3am, but it was a blast anyway. Our house got trashed, but it was worth it. One of our decorations is missing... which is weird, but maybe it'll turn up.

- All in all the party was a huge success! We invited over 150 people, had 46 who RSVP'd as attending, 60 or so "maybes" and a lot who never responded. 70-90 people attended! A lot of people brought friends, so that was good.

So anyway, I just wanted to share our party experience with everyone and post pictures!

This is the public link to view our party pictures. Anyone can view them, even if you're not on Facebook:

Jodie Cain's Photos - Post Halloween Halloween Bash IV! | Facebook -- check them out!!

Things to remember for the next party:

- Maybe go back to having the party on a Saturday so everyone has the entire day to get ready. Having it on a Friday caused us to run around like crazy doing last-minute things.

- Figure out a better food situation. There wasn't enough room for all of our snacks every where so the kitchen was a disaster area. Very disorganized.

- Continue making the party layout so everyone HAS to stay upstairs. Closing the downstairs area off with a tunnel was great... except the tunnel wasn't sturdy enough so it came apart a little

- Make all of the wall decor more stable. Things kept falling down all night. Nobody really cared or noticed b/c they were drunk, but we did! Don't wanna worry about that during the next party.

- Get a DJ. Our music was better this time, people didn't get bored with just hearing complete songs all night... the "mashups" worked out great. But, it still would have been better if we had a DJ.

- Somehow create more space in the house. Move out some of the tables to make more room... it was too cluttered.

Anyone still packing away Halloween stuff??? ugggh

here's my link

Pictures by katrinaspooks - Photobucket

Got everything packed and put away except for one box that I purposely left out for all the odds and ends you run across.

Love your pics! So what was that spider birth thing? Looks like it ran off a remote?

MsM