Check out the party photos.

Celebrating Halloween helps to keep me sane-ish

I hadn’t thrown a Halloween party since before my kids were born. I figured this year would be a good time to start since they are at an age where they are getting excited about Halloween. Also, let’s be honest, I will use any excuse to throw a party.

Going down the rabbit hole

The Creative Process

People actually ask me how do I come up with my creative ideas for parties. The answer is quite simple: the internet. A lot of what I do for my parties comes from other people, because the internet is full of creative people who share their ideas, so why not borrow from them? (btw I never take credit for ideas I did not come up with myself) Now I’m sharing things I like here, you’re reading it, and you’re welcome to do them too and make them your own.

Anyway, there is actually a process.

Step One: Occasion and theme

Why are you having a party/gathering/get together/celebration? And what is the feel you’re going for? I’ve wanted to throw an Alice In Wonderland-themed party for a long time, but didn’t quite know for what occasion. I love Halloween and a long time ago, when I lived in the national capital of Halloween, Salem, Massachusetts, I used to throw Halloween parties every year in my tiny downtown one-bedroom apartment. This was my first Halloween party in over a decade, so Alice was the perfect theme for this year.

Step Two: Get inspired

The way my brain works is I have to feel really excited about something in order to make it happen. It’s either hyper-focus or I can’t do anything.

Step Three: Design

My eyes need to see something before my hands can create it (does that make sense?). I take note of colors, patterns and elements that fit into the theme. A lot of the ideas I found for Alice In Wonderland have checkered patterns, clocks, keys, picture frames, playing cards, royal objects, mushrooms, lots of greenery, red roses, and others.

Once I am inspired by a bunch of cool ideas, I need to visually figure out how I would apply them to my space. For that I like to use the PicCollage app. I take pictures of the spaces where the party will be happening, and digitally plan out how to set things up within that space.

I do the same thing for all the spaces where I want to set up decorations, backdrops, food and drink tables, etc. I have to digitally plan everything out so that I can see what each space is going to look like before putting it together in real life.

Step Four: Budget

Like most creative party planners, my vision has no bounds… unlike my budget. After designing each space I make a handy-dandy spreadsheet to take notes of all the supplies I will need for each space. I take inventory of all the supplies I already have, and put aside the ones that match the theme I’m working on. Then I make a list of which supplies I have to buy, and start researching the lowest prices in stores and online. If the prices for a specific idea don’t fit the budget, I try to figure out if I can make it with cheaper materials or things I already own. If I can’t, I may scrap the idea altogether and go a different direction.

An important part of the budget is food and drinks. I think about what kind of food I will be serving; will it be one big meal, like hot dogs, pizza or barbecue, or only smaller things like appetizers and snacks? Will the budget allow for both? For desserts, can I fit specialty desserts (like custom made brigadeiros, for example) in the budget or just buy cupcakes, cookies and other baked goods at the grocery store? Can I do both?

When it comes to drinks, I always have a couple coolers with water bottles, non-alcoholic drinks and some beer available for the guests. The question usually is if I will set up a mimosa bar with wine and fruit juices, make up a signature cocktail, or drink dispensers with juice for the kids. All of these are included in the budget planning.

Then I’m ready to buy the supplies and plan a schedule based on when I have time and when products will be delivered.

Step Five: Party Planning Schedule

Time management is the bane of my existence (that is a subject for another blog post). It is probably my biggest struggle in life. That being said, my ADHD brain only works when there’s a deadline. And what is a more effective way to get my brain into gear than to know that there is a fast-approaching date when 40 people are going to show up at my house expecting a party? So I am forced to figure out how to get everything done somehow.

I plan my schedule several weeks before the party. Out of all the ideas I designed, I have to figure out which ones are an absolute must and which ones I will realistically be able to get done. I schedule those to be worked on weeks in advance. The less time-consuming details are scheduled later on.

I also make sure to include in the schedule the dates that food and drinks have to be ordered by or purchased. I have learned that having things delivered the day before or day of the event makes everything easier, so I do that when I can.

The party planning schedule includes everything I need to get done in the days leading up to the party, like, cleaning the house, yard maintenance, setting up backdrops, making props, etc. I also schedule things I would like to do, but sometimes end up not having time to get it done. Again, still working on the time management thing.

Step Six: The Execution

After deciding to have a party, thinking of a theme, getting inspired by different ideas, designing a vision, budgeting and planning all of it, the time comes to execute it. This part, my friends, is the number one reason that, when people suggest I’m “so good at this and should do it professionally”, my answer is “I can’t.” Because this is the part I’m truly not that good at; the execution.

I love the entire creative process of planning an event, especially a kids party. I do like most of the “making” part of it too. It’s fun for me to challenge myself and see what I can do each time. It is, however, a lot of work.

Most of it is fun, but it does take a great deal of work, which I can only accomplish during my very limited free time. In the days leading up to a party, I get both excited and stressed about the things that still need to get done, and usually what is most affected is my sleep. When people ask me “How did you do all this?” my answer is “I slept very little”, which is unfortunately the truth. While making decorations for this Halloween party I stayed up until 4am three nights in a row and until 5am the night before the party. Not to mention how stressed I get the day of the party, setting everything up, never finishing on time and feeling like I failed for not being able to do every detail I planned. Believe it or not, when all my guests are giving me compliments on how great everything looks, all I can see are the things that didn’t get done or didn’t come out just right. They have a great time regardless so that’s all that matters to me. Although I never say never, I don’t think I could do it for a living at this time.

With all the work and lack of sleep, the one thing that keeps me going is focusing on the results. The more I get done, the more excited I get to do the next thing. It’s really fun to see my designs come to life, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see my guests enjoying all my hard work.

These are some of the results from this Halloween party:

You can see the rest of the party pics in my Halloween In Wonderland Party Album.

This is my party planning process. I will continue to come up with fun party themes and go crazy making them happen because ironically that’s what keeps me sane-ish.