This blog post should come as no surprise to those who follow me on social media. This past weekend my friends and I had probably one of the most fun parties that has ever been thrown together in our group. To be honest, I have to give my two besties, Gabe & Rocio, a lot of props for this one. Planning a party can be a lot of work, especially with how big our friend group is. There's a lot of moving parts, but I think they handled it (almost) perfectly.
The first thing was coming up with the idea. Anyone can throw a costume party for Halloween, but getting people to actually participate in it can be tricky. Especially as you get older, dressing up can seem more like a hassle than the fun it really is. That's when they [Gabe and Rocio] came up with this really fun idea. They decided to rent an airbnb in Washington, D.C. for the night. Everyone pitched in the exact same amount of money and that money not only paid for the airbnb, but it also paid for alcohol (we're all over 21) and money for the costume contest winner. Since it was also in D.C. for the people who wanted to go to the D.C. bar crawl that night we're more than welcome too. Plus it was a place to stay for the night. Everyone was able to drink responsibly and sleepover.
On top of all of that being covered, just about each person brought something extra to the party. For instance, Omar made a "dragon's blood" jungle juice, Danya made a 5 layer bean dip, Hannah made spooky jell-o shots and I made an Oreo pudding "dirt" dessert. Of course, other people brought more drinks; alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Making sure people brought extra stuff was good because it got everyone involved in the party versus just getting an invitation and showing up.
The set up of the house was an easy one too. Gabe made sure no one claimed a bedroom, if you were sleeping over it was sleep where you fall sort of thing (except for the winner of the costume contest, they not only got money but also a choice of what bedroom they wanted to sleep in for the night). We also kept the decorations to a minimum (because why add more to clean-up). So instead we got more practical things such as Halloween themed cups and plates. Rocio also had a super cute idea of setting up a "photo booth" area and the house that we rented had the perfect spot for that. As you came down the stairs there was this little squared off area and she made a super easy DIY photo booth. She set up some fabric and tinsel and then her and I printed off some "props" to glue onto s stick for people to hold. This was a great asset to the party and pretty much everyone took pictures in this area.
The last part of the night was the costume contest. Rocio set up a board where everyone got to enter as a couple or individual. Then we basically did a semi- catwalk/go in the middle of the circle and show off your costume. This was hilarious because people got really into their character. For instance; Rocio and Gabe were the siblings from the Incredible and they acted like they had super powers, Omar was Drake and he did his little dance move from the music video, Hannah and Brian were Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy and they jumped into the invisible boat mobile, and I was Jigsaw and road my tricycle around without saying a word. After the show, everyone got to vote (not for themselves though) and afterwards the winner was announced.
That's right... I won! Let's be honest if Jigsaw hadn't won he just would have killed everyone anyways. After I won, it was time to party. I ditched the extremely tiny tricycle and we went on throughout the night dancing in our costumes, people riding the tricycle and hiding the Jack-Jack doll from Gabe and Rocio.
This was seriously one of the most fun parties my friends have ever thrown together. Especially so last minute. I can't wait to see how we can make it better next year.
What did you do for Halloween? Let me know!
**Disclaimer: Feline By Katsaris does not condone underage drinking. Please drink responsibly.
On top of all of that being covered, just about each person brought something extra to the party. For instance, Omar made a "dragon's blood" jungle juice, Danya made a 5 layer bean dip, Hannah made spooky jell-o shots and I made an Oreo pudding "dirt" dessert. Of course, other people brought more drinks; alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Making sure people brought extra stuff was good because it got everyone involved in the party versus just getting an invitation and showing up.
The set up of the house was an easy one too. Gabe made sure no one claimed a bedroom, if you were sleeping over it was sleep where you fall sort of thing (except for the winner of the costume contest, they not only got money but also a choice of what bedroom they wanted to sleep in for the night). We also kept the decorations to a minimum (because why add more to clean-up). So instead we got more practical things such as Halloween themed cups and plates. Rocio also had a super cute idea of setting up a "photo booth" area and the house that we rented had the perfect spot for that. As you came down the stairs there was this little squared off area and she made a super easy DIY photo booth. She set up some fabric and tinsel and then her and I printed off some "props" to glue onto s stick for people to hold. This was a great asset to the party and pretty much everyone took pictures in this area.
The last part of the night was the costume contest. Rocio set up a board where everyone got to enter as a couple or individual. Then we basically did a semi- catwalk/go in the middle of the circle and show off your costume. This was hilarious because people got really into their character. For instance; Rocio and Gabe were the siblings from the Incredible and they acted like they had super powers, Omar was Drake and he did his little dance move from the music video, Hannah and Brian were Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy and they jumped into the invisible boat mobile, and I was Jigsaw and road my tricycle around without saying a word. After the show, everyone got to vote (not for themselves though) and afterwards the winner was announced.
That's right... I won! Let's be honest if Jigsaw hadn't won he just would have killed everyone anyways. After I won, it was time to party. I ditched the extremely tiny tricycle and we went on throughout the night dancing in our costumes, people riding the tricycle and hiding the Jack-Jack doll from Gabe and Rocio.
This was seriously one of the most fun parties my friends have ever thrown together. Especially so last minute. I can't wait to see how we can make it better next year.
What did you do for Halloween? Let me know!
**Disclaimer: Feline By Katsaris does not condone underage drinking. Please drink responsibly.
xoxo, Michele
