Thread: "Dread Hat Society" theme - ideas and critique needed.

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Greetings, all! After taking a bit of a hiatus from this year's party prep (how could I have possibly let two whole months slip away?!), I've thought long and hard and finally decided against using my Disney-esque "graveyard social" theme. The overall setup just seemed too complex and scattered, and it began to seem as though the wordy invites I'd slaved over would end up confusing guests more than actually building their excitement for the party. It just seemed too broad and complicated. (For those who don't remember, I worked around the typical "join the ranks of the spirits for an evening" context.) I'd much rather my guests spend the party enjoying themselves and the atmosphere than being confused and constantly asking me, "So, hypothetically speaking, am I a ghost or not?"

Since having a little more time to think, I've been able to start from scratch and narrow down my ideas into something that might seem more reasonable to pull off. I thought for a while and came up with a "Dread Hat Society" tea, which would probably end up poking more fun at the famed ladies' group more than actually borrowing from their activities.

Because I'm still nowhere near age 50, I'm not the foremost authority on the comings and goings of the Red Hat ladies, but I do think it would be funny to see their flamboyance and zest for life (or in this case, the afterlife) applied to a typical cast of witches, zombies, monsters, and more. I would host as the Queen Sorceress (equivalent to the Society's "Queen Mother", with flowing witch attire and, of course, an overly elaborate hat). The invites would encourage guests to wear costumes that prominently featured a hat, or for those who won't wear a full costume for whatever reason, to "dress up from the neck up", and would probably include a quirky tagline like "Aging? What's that? We're undead!" My goal here is to keep the actual influence broad enough for the male guests to find humor in it and want to participate, too.

I'd most likely use a color scheme of darker reds and purples, already generally accepted "Halloween colors", with black accents (still wavering on this, as a Halloween without orange has always been near unthinkable for me). This would probably lend itself to more sophisticatedly spooky decor and serving-ware, and it would be great if I could procure a tea set that reflected the theme colors and designs. Menu items would include tea and some spooky appetizers and pastries - I'm thinking scones lined with monster teeth and a pumpkin cheeseball (anyone seen these before? They look great and seem super-easy to make). I'd create lots of displays with pumpkins and hatboxes painted different spooky ways.

I might make everyone a matching hat-pin (would need to be noticeable without detracting from costumes) and do the typical ongoing observation-based game - I'd remove my pin at a certain point in the party and wait for the others to follow suit; the last to notice would receive an apropos fate. Other than that, I could see myself working in some more generic things that've worked in years past, like Tempt Your Fate, plus the all-important costume contest, perhaps with a few hat-specific categories.

I'd really appreciate anyone and everyone's input on this. This will primarily be an "older young adult" group, so I'd like to set a fun party vibe without humiliating anyone too much.

I have a sign that says Black Hat Society that I will be using at my Be WITCHY party.

I think you could have fun with this, if you have people dress their parts. Since you love orange for Halloween, you could open the colors up and let them be creative with the hat being the uniting thing. I'd love to attend.

You might use the colors to denote rank or age or whatever....

FYI--I ran into Cracker Barrel last night to see what they had by way of Halloween and found some wonderful witches hats. Some were very elaborate. They also had numerous of the small hats that have to be attached with chin straps. They were awesome and oh so elaborate.

Be sure to keep us update on your progress and PICTURES of the event.

Did I mention that I would love to attend??????