Tag Archives: Halloween party

Halloween has snuck up on us fast this year!  Today, we want to share tips on hosting an “elegant” Halloween soiree… Maybe you want to host a neighborhood or supper club dinner, or even a celebration of something in collaboration around Halloween. We hope these tips help give you some spooky yet sophisticated ideas… Thank you to Liz Banfield for the ghostly images.  Set your color scheme.  It doesn’t have to include orange- for ours, keeping it elegant meant using black, white, and silver.

food-and-bev-collage

Obviously, this theme could work well with a cocktail party, a dinner party, a roaming party or drop in, so lots of options here. The food and beverage can play hugely into the decor. We found simple black and white trays, but using vintage silver ones could play into a “haunted house” theme also. “Deviled Eggs”, or “Devils on Horseback” are easy and simple food items that add effect- there are so many fun options here and recipes galore online. For a fun bar design- we hollowed out large pumpkins painted silver, and put our speciality cocktail (Black Widows) containers inside. Great for a serve yourself, or if you have a bartender make sure they are in costume of course!

dinner-collage

For this seated dinner party, standard black linens work and are a great backdrop. We painted mini pumpkins white for the seating cards which looked just so pretty. Easy and affordable centerpieces were large glass vases with silver painted pumpkins and pillar candles. We used white pea gravel to hold the candles in place and not slump. Large taper candles in candelabras would be perfect and lovely too, and once the wax starts dripping you have a perfect spooky look.

Of course, what’s Halloween without costumes.. You know there are always those that get in the spirit and those that can’t or don’t. I like the idea of ordering nice and lovely masks online and having them there for guests so no one feels left out.

candy-collage

Candy and desserts are essential of course. We used many different clear glass vessels and vases and set up a variety of crowd pleasers- bulk candies, individual wrapped, cupcakes, cookies, etc.  Then, we staged black take out containers for guests to fill up their own take home boxes.  For decor, we took some of the more expected items, but used them in unexpected ways- skulls were displayed in pretty cloches, dollar store tombstones look mysterious with great lighting and a smoke machine. Colored light bulbs can go a long way for little cost.

Don’t forget your playlist- spotify can help curate something different so the typical tunes don’t dull the party.

 

10.09.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Food and Drink, Parties, Uncategorized | Comments >>
Oct 16, 2017

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Happy Halloween! This was such a fun night for our couple from this week’s Wedding Wednesday. Their rehearsal dinner fell on Halloween, so they embraced it and threw a killer party at a Historic (and sometimes creepy) downtown venue, the Confederate Home and College.  Liz Banfield was there to capture all of the “gory” details.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Invitations by Lettered Olive were custom designed in an elegant macabre tone. The Spooks and Sprits afterparty for all out of town guests brought in a silver foil printed Raven as a darker nod to the wedding’s Bird and Branch theme.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

White painted pumpkins were the obvious choice for displaying the dinner seating cards.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Painted silver pumpkins gave a bit of elegance to the dining table centerpieces. Surrounded in a glass vase with candles placed on black linens gave the room quite the glow.

 

 

 

 

 

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Pretty tablescapes for dinner. Printed menus that doubled as place cards were served up in black envelopes with silver calligraphy.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

We had fun with the cocktail hour and appetizers, serving traditional fare like “deviled eggs” that also worked with the Halloween theme.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Black Chinese to go boxes were perfect for anyone wanting to take advantage of the Trick or Treat station offered.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

No Halloween is complete without candy, so we had a trick or treat station for guests to take home sweets. Lots of artifacts and creepy items in cloches helped accent the spooky decor.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Guests were encouraged to get into the spirit of the evening and wear some kind of costume to the afterparty. The bride and groom did a quick transformation after the actual dinner.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Even the servers and bartenders got in on the fun. Here a zombie bartender serves “Black Widow” cocktails out of silver pumpkins to willing guests.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Custom carved silver pumpkins like this one (which greeted guests to the after party) with the bride and groom initials were sprinkled throughout the venue and grounds.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Guests partied the night away in the foggy haunted graveyard. A chamber music quartet played appropriately spooky tunes

10.16.17   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Charleston, Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Events, Food and Drink, Rehearsal Dinner, The Lettered Olive, Uncategorized | Comments >>