Coolest Adult Halloween Party Ideas
Leave the plastic skeletons to the kids â€' these adult Halloween party ideas will add authenticity to your All Soul's celebration.
What we know as Halloween is an amalgamation of pagan and Christian festivals from all over the world. We drew from many rich traditions to bring you these unique adult Halloween party ideas.
A Harvest Home
Halloween hosting doesn't have to involve black and orange crepe paper. Halloween is as much about early twilights and the baring of branches as it is about the more overtly spooky witches, bats and spiders. Give your guests that fall feeling indoors with these adult Halloween party ideas for decorating!
1. Cover your windows, lampshades and furniture with earthy fall colors - sheets, shawls, scarves and scraps of material in brown, beige, orange or even deep red. Light lots of candles to offset the darkness and to add ambience. If you worry about the safety of your guests, use a few strings of white or yellow mini Christmas lights.
2. Gather as many colored leaves, dead flowers, sheaves or braids of grass, corn, barley or wheat, bare branches and/or branches with fall berries as you can. Make and hang wreaths, fill vases and scatter these harvest treasures around your house. If you are short on time, floral and craft shops usually carry bare wreathes, silk leaves, etc. Add a festive touch to your decorations by tying, weaving and braiding them with gold, black and orange fabric ribbon.
3. Create a beautiful cornucopia (horn of plenty) for your buffet table center. Halloween falls at the same time of year as the Pomona festival of ancient Rome, a party that called for a horn of plenty. If you don't have a horn-shaped basket just use any large basket, preferably tipped on its side. Fill the basket with straw, leaves or dried grass, almost to the top. Fill the remainder of the basket with seasonal fruits like apples, pears and pomegranates, having them ‘spill out' over the table from the cornucopia. Fill in the spaces between fruit with nuts, cranberries or other seasonal berries, dried fruits and muffins. If you prefer traditional Halloween bread for your cornucopia, look up a recipe for soul cakes (a European Halloween tradition) or pan de muertos (bread of the dead, a Mexican tradition on their Day of the Dead).
4. Oh, heck. Grab yourself a package of spooky cobwebs and spread them over corners and doorframes. Even adults like to be a little bit scared on Halloween!
Celebrity Altar
The ancient Celts believed that on Halloween, ‘All Hallow Eve, ' the barrier between the living and the dead became thin. The idea was to remember and to honor the dead on Halloween night. In Latin America the dead are often honored through altars. Celebrants lay candles, photographs, sweets, mementos and the favorite foods of their departed relatives on altars as offerings.
In many cultures the honoring of departed loved ones is a private affair, but we don't mind celebrating the lives of our dearly departed poets, novelists, artists, actors and musicians in public! Invite your friends to bring a memento (photograph, book, CD, etc.) of a favorite dead celebrity and an offering (food, candles, flowers, etc.) for your altar. This will not only add a fun twist to your Halloween party, altars can also be very beautiful.
Be sure to take photographs once all your guests have contributed to your celebrity altar - many of them will want a copy!
More Adult Halloween Party Ideas
Even the most austere adult has fond memories of dressing up and going door to door for treats on Halloween. Greet your guests like you would any trick or treater - with a handful of Halloween candy!
For an ambient buffet table, fill two bowls or vases with dry ice (always wear thick gloves when handling dry ice, which you can get from any ice vendor). Just before your buffet is served, pour hot water into the bowls or vases. A mist is created, and a visit to the buffet table becomes an adventure!
Visit your local library or look on the Internet for more adult Halloween party ideas. You'll also find plenty of ideas for kids Halloween parties that would be a lot of fun for adults, too!
If you've got some cool Halloween party photos and ideas to share, we'd love for you to send them over via this form. You can WIN a cool prize - but more importantly, you'll be taking part in creating the Web's ultimate Party community for everyone to enjoy!
Here is the coolest online selection of free Halloween party ideas. You'll find everything from halloween party invitations and games, to homemade crafts and supplies. It's all you need for the coolest Halloween party. All the Halloween party games are easy to print for fun - meaning you'll save lots of time and just watch the guests enjoying a whole day for party!
And here are lots of creative homemade halloween costume ideas and photos and we can't wait to get them all up and share them with you. They're all being added to the Halloween costume photos' gallery on a regular basis.
