Everything is set for our Halloween Bash with the menu planned, invitations distributed, and the itinerary created.

After making the meal, decorating our house, and gathering the supplies, we were ready for our guests to arrive.

Part 3: Executing the evening of the Halloween Bash

With the itinerary in hand, the party began.

• Greet each guest and allow the children to play in the living room

While the children played, the adults put the final touches on dinner and served the children’s plates.

• Serve dinner: lasagna, salad, and bread

With Paul’s help, we had three tables:

1. Adults
2. Older children
3. Younger children

• Create crafts with the children

I purchased four different types of craft kits from the Target $1 section. Each child got to choose the craft of their choice. I had enough crafts for each child to do one, and each received their first choice. Glad it worked out. 😉

At the conclusion of the craft, each child was given an empty goody bag and allowed to choose prizes from the two containers.

• Choose teams and play Bounce the Ball into the Pumpkin.

This game is one of the favorites. The children got so excited getting those ping pong balls into their pumpkin.

The real fun is choosing their prizes and playing with the Halloween-themed toys.

• Play Mummy Wrap.

The children had so much fun playing Bounce the Ball and no one wanted to do the Mummy Wrap, so we skipped this game.

• Serve Dessert

One of our guests offered to bring dessert, and her chocolate trifle was delightful!

• Play Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin.

Following dessert, I assisted the children playing Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin. Almost all of them got it in the right spot. Pretty impressive if the blindfold worked! 😉

Each child then received more prizes for participating. Once finished playing with them, they added their prizes to their goody bag.

• Play with toys and prizes from the games

Giving the children free time to play with each other, they chose different items. Some of them played the games again while others enjoyed the toys and prizes.

In executing the itinerary, I followed the plan making slight adjustments throughout the process. Seeing what the children enjoyed transitioned into a smooth running, enjoyable Halloween Bash.

As you carry out your itinerary, make adjustments as needed. Knowing where you are going in your plan gives you freedom to tweak and rearrange the order resulting in a fun event for all. Happy planning!

Question: During execution, do you adjust your itinerary?

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

With the arrival of Halloween week, I need to finalize the plans for our Halloween Bash.

Last week, I began this short series with preparing 2 weeks prior to the party with the menu and invitations.

During party week, I focus on the itinerary for our Halloween Bash.

Part 2: Finalizing the week of the Halloween Bash

The week of the party is when I work on all the details of the meal, games, and prizes. The goal is in sight as we prepare our house for our celebratory Halloween Bash.

Our Halloween Bash Itinerary

• Greet each guest and allow the children to play in the living room

• Serve dinner: lasagna, salad, and bread

• Create crafts with the children

• Choose teams and play Bounce the Ball into the Pumpkin – Set a plastic pumpkin in the middle. Give each team the same number of ping pong balls. By bouncing or tossing the balls, the teams race to see who can get all their balls in before the other team.

• Play Mummy Wrap – Using toilet paper and a person, each team races to see who can wrap their person using the entire roll of toilet paper the quickest.

• Serve Dessert

• Play Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin – the Classic Pin the Tail on the Donkey Halloween-style.

• Play with toys and prizes from the games

With the itinerary set, the details fall into place. My home is decorated, prizes purchased, grocery shopping done, and the game pieces gathered.

By this step in the process, I am ready to execute the itinerary on the evening of our Halloween Bash. In using time wisely, I just need to follow the plan. Happy planning!

Question: How do you set your itinerary?

With the exception of last year, our family has hosted a Halloween Bash each year. I think this year marks our 4^th Halloween party.

Last year, our family was ill and another family that we invite annually was also battling sickness, so we cancelled. It was sad for us all, but we planned to celebrate this year.

In this short 3-part series, I breakdown our Halloween Bash by time:

Part 1: Preparing 2 weeks prior to our Halloween Bash

Part 2: Finalizing the week of the Halloween Bash

Part 3: Executing the evening of the Halloween Bash

Part 1: Preparing 2 weeks prior to Halloween Bash

In preparation for our Halloween party, I start with the food and the invitations.

Selecting the Menu

Knowing what I plan to serve helps me determine the number of people to invite. Since our party occurs in the evening, I plan a dinner menu. After contemplating the many choices, I settled on making two pans of lasagna, a large salad, homemade French bread, and a dessert.

Creating the Invitation

With the menu planned, Paul created our invitation. Using the chosen date and time, he updated the information on the invitation sent in prior years. Using the same template year after year saves time and energy. 😉

Choosing the Invitees

Repeating our Halloween Bash with our friends is part of the tradition. We try to invite the same families year after year. Since they are all good friends, I choose to e-mail the invitations.

Knowing that our celebration was planned, each of them was waiting for the e-mail and responded back promptly. I think we were all ready to get together.  🙂

By selecting the menu, creating the invitation, and choosing the invitees, we had our Halloween Bash prepared two weeks prior to our party. All three tasks took less than one hour to complete.

In using time wisely, our Halloween Bash is progressing along. Next week, I’ll share the details of party week. Happy planning!

Question: How soon do you begin planning a repeat party?