Thread: Party was a flop last year, should I try again?

Tweet

This past year I hosted my first Halloween party. I absolutely am obsessed with the holiday and it was my first chance to do this and I had been wanting to do a party for YEARS.

Nobody showed up. Well, three people I think, plus my mom and her boyfriend. I was so disappointed, and was expecting more from my close friends. This has made me scared to do another one, because I was so disappointed at the outcome after all that work and effort of transforming my house.

So what do you think? Do I try it again? And if so, how can I make people anticipate it more and actually show up? Any good ideas would be GREAT!

I had the same thing happen last year. Our 3rd Halloween party and the last two were great with good turnout, but last year our area got hit hard with the flu and we had a grand total of 7 guests.

I was and still am very sad about it as we had a pretty awesome theme and the indoor decor was better than I'd ever done. (and I got the flu myself on HALLOWEEN so I'm pretty bummed about all of last year)

To have one or not is totally up to you - I am still debating doing anything this year - or taking a break from Halloween completely and just going on a nice vacation.

Ways to get folks excited about your party if you do plan to do one:

Door prizes
We get folks to write down their names on a slip of paper and do a drawing - sometimes it's a gift card, sometimes it's been a gift package with fancy candy, liquor, etc... One year's was in the theme of a haunted open house with keys sent out in the invites - the winner unlocked a closet door where the former owner was entombed with the prize pack. Last year's was a reading of the will for our funeral theme with the main winner having to retrieve their prize from the coffin of the deceased.

Games with prizes
We play a game called "Tempt Your Fate" (search on this board for games). We put good/bad fate slips in helium balloons and guests have the option to play by popping a balloon and either winning a small prize (I buy $5 horror DVDs and other cool but inexpensive items) or having to do something silly as "punishment."

Costume Contest
We do it by ballots from the guests - and have three categories. I make trophies each year in the theme of the party and prizes like the door prize are awarded.

There are tons of great ideas on this board for party stuff - you can take a look through and see if anything sounds fun and who knows - maybe you'll feel like giving it a try again this year!

I agree, you should try again.
It's their loss that they didn't attend. Being sick is a legitimate excuse, rudeness isn't.
But if nothing else.. do it for yourself the Halloween lover!

These are great tips to get people involved & inspired to attend. I myself have issues with wishy / washy people. They act all excited to be attending & promise they'll for sure be there. But, then they don't show up. No phone call or anything. Another idea would be to write down Halloween recipes on index cards & include one with each party invite, as a suggestion of what to bring. The recipes would range from appetizers, casseroles, or desserts.

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I played tempt your fate, but of course it's not exciting with three guests! I also did the Murder Wink game and my murderer forgot to wink! lol.

Whatever the case, I might still do it, I have a lot of supplies left over from last year that I didn't use because I got so excited I over-bought.

I agree Haunty, I had A LOT of people that said they would show who didn't and no calls. One of my friends swore he told me, but he actually told someone else and I heard it through the grape vine. I had people say they got weekends mixed up, and I think I had one person who was sick and he at least expressed many times how he felt bad for not coming and that he should have.

I suppose I'll just keep trying!

Thanks!

Keep Trying!
My first few parties were lightly attended affairs. Half the folks wouldn't show up because,GASP,THEY HAD TO WEAR A COSTUME!!!!!. Umm folks, its a Halloween party, isn't that the point?. I told folks ,"just show up ,I don't care if you dress". That got a few more butts in the seats,also the promise of free food and liquor.....
Then,tell your friends to bring other friends, the more the merrier.

Definitely give it another shot! If you enjoyed decorating and the process of getting your house ready...then why not. I know it's a bummer when way less then is expected show up. But honestly, it happens.

The past year we had our second party, and while the turn out was good...I noticed that people attending didn't seem as into it as they did the year before. Now, the Phillies were playing that night (I'm from Philly) so that had a lot to do with it....everyone seemed glued to the tv instead of mingling and really enjoying themselves.

I had contemplated not doing a party this coming Halloween. But, once again I've got the bug. I think I'm going to keep it small and only invite a few people that I know will be here and that I know will enjoy my effort. I'm even thinking about doing a Halloween in July party...just so I can get some of the decorations out again

As far as getting people interested....I'm not one for party games. So we don't do any of that. When did you send out the invites last year? Did you do a save the date type of thing? Or did you start letting people know closer to the party? Maybe doing an earlier "save the date" and then sending out a reminder closer to would help. Also, we had our party ON Halloween last year and this was a problem for some people, especially those with kids. Not sure when you had your party...but could this have been an issue for some of your friends?

At any rate...as I said above, I definitely think you should give it another go. If you're really worried about doing all the work for nothing...just tone it down a little bit this year. Although it's hard to not go crazy with the decorating once you get started. Believe me...I know

I suffered the same fate as you and Frankie last year. Made big plans for my first ever Halloween party, went to tremendous cost and effort and had 5 people show up. I was devastated. The thing with me was not only was I upset about nobody showing, what upset me the most was the fact that I had put ALL my effort and attention into the party and my beloved Halloween came and went and I didn't even enjoy it. I felt completely robbed of my favourite night of the year, and the fact that I have children made it all the worse (was impatient and crabby with them because of all the party-stress). I went into mini-depression mode after that night for a good month.

In my particular instance I will not attempt to throw another Halloween party (not right on Halloween night FOR SURE). But I am not adverse to ever throwing one again, just not while my children are still young.

With all that happy news I do say to you go for it. If you loved the planning and experience then absolutely do not let one disappointing year dampen your spirit.

I had my party the week before Halloween. Even though none of my friends have kids I thought it wouldn't be great, besides, I LOVE passing out candy.

I started telling everyone I was planning it at least two months in advance, and passed out the invitations two or three weeks in advance.

Guess it just wasn't the right timing. I invited only the people that I thought would show though, and it turns out there were many more people at work that had wanted to come, but that didn't want to ask if they could or thought they were too old that I didn't invite. I plan on inviting more of them this time, and see what happens.

Now I just need a good theme!

It sounds like communication was your biggest reason for people not coming. (On coworker's part, not yours.) Ours was that we planned our party on the same night as an animal shelter charity ball in town that we didn't know about. That kept about a dozen couples away because they had already paid for their tickets by the time they found out about our party. This year, we're doing our party on a Friday night and going to the ball ourselves on Saturday.

This year, we're also sending out save the date cards in September. We also have two other couples that want to have parties but don't want to interfere with ours, so we're all co-hosting one big bash. I may not know everyone at the party this year, but I'll also only have 1/3 the stress of putting it on.

You're having a difficult time just getting the people in your door, so you should probably spend some time focusing on how to attract the people and hold their attention. I agree that a "save the date" and a followup invite would be a good idea. A lot of people forget, or initially plan to go but then lose interest or just get distracted before the date. So keep their interest up...make them want to come! You might spend more time than you did in making your invites unique and intriguing. I would suggest that at least until you start getting people to come you might not want to insist that they dress up. We used to insist but gave up on that. If they have enough fun at your party this year then next year they'll WANT to dress up I suspect. Especially if they see that they're about the only ones not dressing. The less intimidated they feel the more inclined they are to come I think.

Of the friends you expected to show but didn't...is there any possibility that you could convince them to help you out in some manner? If you could do that then they'd be sucked into the party and also be more enthusiastic. They might beinclined to invite someone else too. Of course, this all depends on the size of crowd you can handle.

Over the years we've had a lot of parties, some very well populated and some less so. What I've learned is to prep as much as possible and then just relax and enjoy whoever does show up. I do hope that you get more than 3 people next time, but I also hope that however many people does show up that you're able to relax and enjoy it!

Good luck, and don't give up!