Throwing a Last Minute Halloween Bash? Here’s How to Get it Together While Staying on Budget

Suddenly, you decide to throw a last minute Halloween party, your budget is tight, and you only have a couple of days or even a couple of hours to get everything together. Can you do it? Follow these tips and you can throw a successful last minute Halloween bash while staying on a budget.

• Invitations. Obviously you are probably too late to mail out written invitations, but you can still phone everyone. You can also call a few key people and ask them to spread the word.
• Theme. Decide on a theme so that you can narrow down your shopping list. If you have thrown parties in the past, you may have items already available around the house or packed away in the attic or basement. With such short notice, you can rehash your last bash while adding a few updates to keep it fresh for this year.
• Decorations. Grab those decorations from the past, or make a quick trip to the local dollar-type store and get to work. If you have family or friends available to help, start delegating while you work on another item on your to-do list. Hopefully, you already decorated to some extent both inside and out.
• Costumes. Either encourage guests to dress according to your theme, or have a general Halloween costume party. Either way, let everyone know you will have judges, and prizes for the winner. To save money, you can give a gag or white elephant prize. You can also make black and orange award ribbons out of construction paper. The winners won’t really care – they will enjoy the accolades.
• Food. Many people are used to BYOB parties where they also bring along a snack. Although you can make your own favorite Halloween treats, either ask key helpers to make something, or ask guests to bring their favorite snack.
• Party favors. If you have time, pickup several small inexpensive gift bags from the store and place homemade candy, cookies, or cupcakes inside for a parting gift. Your guests will love having a treat the next day as they remember how wonderful your party turned out.
• Keep it simple, sweetie. There are myriad ways to throw a party. When throwing a last minute Halloween party, you will want to keep it as simple as possible. Remember, the devil is in the details and you don’t want the devil messin’ with your party.

You know your friends and family, and you already know what they are willing to contribute to have a great party. Just letting them know you are having a last minute Halloween party may have them begging to help.

Much of the fun is putting the party together in the first place. Keep it simple while staying within your budget, and you will have a successful Halloween party you and your guests will enjoy!