Need a reminder that Halloween isn’t just for the kids? This spooky-meets-elegant All Hallow’s Eve Dinner Party by Bettijo of Paging Super Mom is a FANTASTIC example of an adult-oriented Halloween celebration!

Tons of drippy candles clustered & displayed on vintage candlesticks down the entire length of the table create a huge “wow factor” on the tablescape… while a few light-up skulls and a creepy skeleton “guest” holding center court at the table – and all decked out in a black & white suit nonetheless! – added the perfect amount of spookiness to the setting. And speaking of spooky, guests were greeted by a silent projection of the black & white movie Dracula, which was playing from one of the front windows of the house. Absolutely LOVE this idea!

Every Halloween party needs treats of course, and there’s a wonderful elegant simplicity to the “Creepy Specimens Dessert Table“, which featured interesting “treats” like Freshwater Leeches and Brazilian Wandering Spider Eggs… dig in! ;) Read on for more party pics & all the creative details… and stay tuned for a DIY Tutorial of the “Poison Bath Oil” party favors coming later today! 

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Bettijo…

“Of course it all begins with a formal invitation. I printed the invitations on extra-heavy cardstock and sent them inside of dark purple Stardream envelopes. We sacrificed one of the envelopes and used a bat paper punch to cut out the adornments for the top of the
invitation cards. I made spooky address labels, and then hand addressed each. I sealed the invites with a wax seal. I’ve had guests tell me they thought they were receiving a wedding invitation. Download the FREE address labels right here!

On the night of the party, guests are guided up our winding front path by luminaries. This year we used vinyl lettering to add warning messages to the luminaries that said, ‘Danger Ahead’, ‘No Trespassing’, ‘Turn Back Now’ and so forth. I’d seen a similar idea in Martha Stewart Living several years ago, but the article had suggested tracing letters on bags and then cutting them out, which is too hard and tedious for me. The vinyl lettering was a much easier way to go. I have my own vinyl cutter, but you can also get custom lettering made from lots of vendors on Etsy.

One of my favorite features was the projection in the front window of the house. We stretched a white sheet and hid a projector connected to a laptop in our living room that was showing an old, black-and-white  Dracula movie. The silent video in the window was an incredible, larger-than-life greeting for guests, and it completely set the mood for the party. I was also pleased that it looked cool from the inside of the house as well — two decorations for the price of one!

Our Creepy Specimens Dessert Table was available to guests during the before and after-dinner cocktail hour.  The dessert table was supposed to look like a selection of ghastly items from the shelves of our resident-witch’s potions cupboard. I gathered a variety of interesting sweets and labeled jars with specimen tags. Most popular among the guests were the Petrified Raven Hearts (really chocolate bing cherries), and my personal favorite were the Gazelle Thoracic Vertebrae (yogurt-covered pretzels). Download the FREE printable Creepy Specimens Dessert Table Labels right here!

Although we had nearly 30 guests at the sit-down dinner, we opted for one long table. I lined the center of the table with every candlestick I own — there is a mix of crystal, clear glass and silver. I’m constantly on the lookout at thrift stores for more candlesticks. I like a big mass of them so there can really never be too many. I bought a couple boxes of the white tapers from IKEA and burned through them all. Intertwined with the candles are plastic snakes, some rubbery mice and of course a fair share of spiders. I also added a few
glowing skull candles.  Each place setting receives a copy of the nights’ dinner menu, which includes such grotesque delicacies as ‘Dead Leaf Salad’ made with Transylvanian lettuce grown over the graves. ‘Layered Flesh and Blood’ (Lasagna) is the main course served with garlic-toasted Bones and small bowls of Blood for dipping.  For dessert we had ‘Remains of the Day’ a special mud pie that is brought in fresh daily by the local grave diggers.

Our party favor was a Poison Bath Oil that I made myself (I have my own line of bath and body products). The bottles I used are from Essential Supplies. Each bath oil bottle was dipped in purple wax (that I got form the candle supply area of a local craft store) and sealed with the same skull-and-crossbones seal that was used on the invitations.

For the last five years we’ve been hiring teens from our church to help out as servers at the party. Having several extra pairs of hands to call on makes being the hostess so much easier, but more importantly more enjoyable — this way I actually get to enjoy the party myself!  Also, since myself and many of our guests have young children, we arrange with a neighbor to have group babysitting with several sitters. Each family brings a snack or  activity to share and it’s becoming it’s own sort of kid’s party as well.”

Check out the Year’s Prior Party right here!