Top tips for a Halloween party

Add some cheer to an otherwise dreary time of year and offer to host a Halloween party for your family and friends following their trick or treating with these handy top tips. The professional cleaning expert suggest keeping it simple otherwise you will give yourself far too much work to do.

Timing: Ensure that friends know exactly when the party starts and finishes. If children are involved, you will need to make sure that you finish before the sugar rush and tiredness sets in!

Dress Code: In order to set the right tone for the party, it’s a good idea to insist on a Halloween related dress code for adults and children alike – even run it as a competition. This helps to create the right atmosphere and provides a talking point throughout the party.

Decorations: Most DIY shops supply a variety of easy to assemble and good value decorations. Don’t go overboard! Ask the children coming to the party to bring a pumpkin they have carved for a competition. Decorate your house or room with each pumpkin and announce the winner at the end of the evening and supply a prize! Fake cobweb and some lanterns here and there will do the trick. Choosing the correct lighting is the key though!

Food theme: In order to keep planning simple, decide on a theme for food and ask everyone to bring something – do make sure you ask some to bring savoury dishes otherwise you could end up with just cupcakes and sweets! Going by colours at Halloween party can be a good idea too. Anything black, white, red or orange can give plenty of variety and fun. Do try to incorporate some healthy options too amongst the traditional foods. Why not try:

• Pumpkin devilled eggs
• Ghost pizza bagel (Mozzarella cheese shaped as a ghost)
• Mummyfied baked brie or camembert cheese (simply bake as normal but adorn with two or three strips of pastry and two cut black olives as eyes).
• Witches broom with string cheese sticks cut into strips with a pretzel stick at the top.
• Stuffed orange peppers to look like small pumpkins.
• Chipolata sausages with the tips dipped in Ketchup.
• Slime bug jelly moulds with bug jelly sweets surrounded by chopping up red jelly to denote blood.
• Toffee apples.
• Chocolate and pumpkin cupcakes.
• Vanilla milkshake shots with a dribble of strawberry coulis dripped down the side and rim of the glass.
• (Virgin) bloody Mary shots.
• Blood beetroot cocktails made from Prosecco, grated beetroot and aperol.
• Pumpkin punch.

Stick to paper: There are some fun Halloween themed paper plates, cups and napkins available in shops, so stick to these for the party as they will not only help with the overall decoration, but will also make clearing up much more simple.

Music: Download a collection of appropriate music including some eerie door creaking! Ghostbusters, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Thriller by Michael Jackson or The Specials for example. CDs are available especially compiled for Halloween, so keep a look out in supermarkets.

So, we hope the above top tips you will be persuaded to host a Halloween party for all to enjoy. Keep it simple with a few very good drinks and nibbles, turn the music on and enjoy the spooktacular!

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