Colonial Halloween Party Theme
Celebrate Halloween with a Colonial Halloween Masquerade Party. You will find in this article invitation ideas, decorating ideas, party games and activities and menu suggestions for a perfectly planned Halloween party for adults.
Invitation Idea
Make the front of the invitation look like a simple mask using construction paper, markers and glitter. On the back give information about the party. This is a colonial period masquerade so invite people to come dressed in that time period. You can even suggest that some come as famous dead people from the era.
Decoration Ideas
Decorate the party area like an old haunted mansion. Halloween Figurines available at most stores are great for a quick transformation. Cover the furniture with white sheets. Put up fake cobwebs. If possible hang paintings of the past occupants of the mansion. You could even have one set up as a place to take pictures. Have the eyes cut out of the picture and have a volunteer stand behind and look through. Then have the guests take their picture next to it as a fun memento of the party. Put a fake cemetery in the yard that can be seen from the windows of the party area. Darken the lights and put keep out signs wherever you can on the outside of the house. Use as many candles as you can for the flickering light effect. Make the table look as extravagant as possible with a rich tablecloth and runner and fancy serving dishes.
Party Games and Activities
Provide items to make a mask. You may want to consider finding a few pictures of masks from the time period. Find waltzes and other similar music. Provide each lady with a dance card and the men with pens. During the colonial area at extravagant formal balls, the men would ask to be put on a ladies dance card. Play the music and let everyone have fun pretending to be snobbish and refined as they dance.
Other activities at colonial Halloween parties included telling ghost stories and fortune telling. You could have a friend dress up as a gypsy fortuneteller and tell guests their fortunes during the party.
Bobbing for apples was also a popular game in the colonial period. It is linked to fortune telling in that the apples were supposed to represent people you may marry and the apple you picked told you who your future spouse would be. Another similar Halloween activity that was often done at Halloween parties especially by the young girls was to walk down the basement stairs backwards holding a mirror. The face that appeared in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs was supposedly that persons next lover.
You could also host a pumpkin carving contest and give prizes to the winners. See who can be the most creative and remind your guests that they can carve more than just pumpkins. During the colonial era it was common to see other vegetables such as gourds and squashes carved with faces and put on the doorstep with a candle inside.
Menu Ideas & Serving Suggestions
Provide various types of punches served in large bowls. Put teacakes, small muffins and biscuits (cookies) on a layered server. Have a lot of harvest time fruits and vegetables with dips. Have a cake and bake money into it. You were considered lucky if you found a piece with money in it. Serve cheese and crackers, small sausages with bacon around it.