Harry Potter Halloween 2019
I was pretty set on no more party planning, like ever, after the year and a half of wedding planning we had just made it past. That is until my cousin brought up the option of a Harry Potter themed Halloween party and I bounced back into planning like I didn’t just spend close to two years slowly losing my sanity over to-do lists and late night crafting.
Within two weeks our house was covered in hovering witch hats, floating candles, chocolate frogs, and a make-shift Ollivanders shop. My cousin, Jesse, and I were determined not to let the party become another awesome plan that flopped and I am so thankful we stuck to our guns. It turned out to be the perfect night filled to the brim (literally our house was packed to near capacity and I wouldn’t have it any other way) with awesome people creating the best memories.
As the invite stated, costumes were mandatory. Anyone who failed to abide by the rules was gifted a prisoner of Azkaban costume (comprised, masterfully by Jesse, of T-shirts and duct tape) and received their very own wizard mug shot. Since the party was pretty late notice, we figured we would have some people who didn’t have a chance to come up with costumes in time. This was a super fun and pretty easy way to make sure everyone was included in the spirit of Harry Potter Halloween.
Even when we were living in a tiny cottage with fairly limited space for decoration options, I have always went all out for Christmas. . This is the first year I have branched into Halloween decorations and it was so much fun to transform our home into a spooky wonderland.
In the spirit of Harry Potter we knew we had to have an Ollivanders store. Jesse and I found the perfect wand inspiration in little pieces of drift wood scattered around a local beach. We included hot glue and bottles (spray painted to add spookiness) filled with glitter and sand for people to add to their wands for a personal touch.
Then there were the games. I wish I had, had more time to take pictures of these moments. It was a little chaotic, since we planned them so quickly and our point system wasn’t fully perfected. However, we made due as we went and had a blast playing Quidditch Pong, capturing Pixies, building Mandrakes, forming mythical creatures, and quizzing one another on all things Harry Potter. We had four teams and each team got to choose their names. There was Dumbledore’s Army, Pooter Power (a play on “Potter” that went wrong), The Filthy Mudbloods, and The Golden Snitches. After an intense, multi-level, tie breaker between Dumbledore’s Army and The Golden Snitches, Dumbledore’s army pulled ahead and claimed the title of year one’s winners. Their prize was the claim to the title and a picture with our own version of the House Cup.
Harry Potter Halloween, Year 1, was the best form of a house warming party Caleb and I could have asked for. Jesse and I already have plans forming for Year 2 and we can’t wait to see how this party grows with the coming years. Thank you to everyone who attended and helped fill our new home with some incredible memories! And of course…