How to Style a Creative Drink Station for Halloween

Drink Stations are one of my favorite things to design for grown up parties. (They’re fun for kids, too, of course – but for grown ups looking to have a good time… they’re kind of up there with candy buffet status! 😉)

Read on to learn EXACTLY how to recreate this Witch-Inspired Signature Drink Station from my Modern Witch Halloween Party + some helpful tips for drink stations in general.

1. Simplify to Amplify

One common challenge with creating themed drinks stations is figuring out how to keep them looking stylish and decorated while also fitting in lots of different spirits, mixers, bar tools, and garnishes. And the answer is simple… DON’T! 🙌😉

I like to focus on just a few themed Signature Drinks for the “styled” station, then set other party staples like beer, wine, and popular/essential mixers and spirits in a different area. This also prevents your main drink station from feeling super cluttered. You want to make sure it’s easy for your guests to SEE and enjoy all the fun drink options you’ve prepared for them! 🍹😋

2. Streamline the Colors

It’s hard to get things looking “pulled together” when your liquor and mixer bottles have all sorts of different colors and design styles going on. The easiest way to get around this is to transfer your liquids to clear decanters and carafes. (And also choose mixers with colors that match your party palette.)

Ta-da! Things are starting to look streamlined already. 😍

If you don’t have enough decanters to go around, you can also remove the labels from bottles by soaking them in hot soapy water and/or using an adhesive remover like Goo Gone.

3. Put a Label On It

Now that the bottle labels are off the table (literally!), you’ll need a new way to let you guests know what’s what. 🤔 Printable labels are always my go-to solution. They’re functional AND stylish when you use a great font and design.

BTW – all the labels used in this drink station are included in my Modern Witch Printables. 👻

4. Creative Drink Names

One surefire way to make party guests smile is to give your featured drinks clever names that coordinate with the party theme. No matter how simple the drinks are, this instantly make them feel fun & celebratory!

You can use a play on words, use the flavor as inspiration, and so on. For example, since this was a witch themed party and one of our drinks included a Passionfruit Mixer, I named that drink the “Passionate Witch”. 😉🖤💚

5. Keep the Recipes Simple

This rule can vary based on the occasion and the type of crowd you’re entertaining, but for a Halloween party I personally love the idea of keeping the drinks easy. There’s usually a lot going on already with the costumes, games, treats, etc!

For this Modern Witch drink station, we used cocktail mixers to keep things SUPER easy and stress-free. Each signature drink option featured one spirit + a Master of Mixes mixer flavor. I recommended an easy “creepy garnish” pairing with each drink, too. (The “Pick Your Potion” printable drink menu is EDITABLE and included in the Modern Witch printable collection.)

Here’s a closer look at each of the cocktails…

The “Passionate Witch”

Cinnamon Whiskey + Master of Mixes Passionfruit Mixer
Garnish: “witch hair” (rosemary sprig) + black sugar

The “Black Magic Margarita”

Tequila + Master of Mixes Margarita Mixer
Garnish: “half moon” (blood orange wheel) + “leech” (moon drop grape) + black salt

The “Pina Ghoulada”

White Rum + Master of Mixes Pina Colada Mixer
Garnish: “speared eyeball”

6. Creative Garnishes

Cocktail garnishes are a great way to make any drink look extra-special. I wanted a bit of an “ewww!” factor for this station but – again – also wanted to keep things simple and color-coordinating. We ended up serving:

• Leeches (moon drop grapes)
• Half Moons (blood orange wheels cut in half)
• Witch Hair (rosemary sprigs)
• Speared Eyeballs (canned lychee fruit*, strawberry jam, and a blueberry)

*Canned lychee fruit is a specialty item, but we’ve found it at several standard grocery store chains. It usually costs around $3 per can.

We also put a really fun garnish into our “Spooky Sangria”… whole apples carved to look like jack-o-lanterns! The apples are cut sort of flat on the back side to help keep the faces upright.

“Spooky Sangria”

Red Wine + Master of Mixes Red Sangria
Garnish: “jack-o-lantern” apples, sliced apples, blackberries, blueberries, and blood oranges

The sangria was served in a separate area of the party and not right on the main drink station, but I still wanted to mention it because of the fun garnishes. PLUS, it also makes a really fun addition to any adult Halloween celebration! 🎃

7. Themed Decor & Details

In addition to the afore-mentioned labels on the decanters, I also decked them out with few plastic spiders and snakes! 🕷🐍 Hot glue typically peels off glass pretty easily when dry, so I use it to attach temporary accents like these quite a bit.

I usually pick some sort of creative “centerpiece” to act as the focal point of my drink stations as well.

In this case, it was a “witch cauldron” with “brew bubbles” floating above. 😆 The witch cauldron was actually a big cauldron-shaped ice bucket and the “bubbles” were small balloons (black, white, and marbled green) suspended from fishing wire.

Bold black & white printables were my other main “decorative accent” for this station and definitely pulled everything together!

The centerpiece cauldron was flanked by framed 8×10 signs (DRINKS + the “Pick Your Potion” drink menu).  Both signs matched the decanter labels… and the rest of the printables throughout the party, of course!

More “Modern Witch” Ideas

Wanna see more inspiration like this? Click the links below to check out other ideas (and tips on how to recreate them!) from the same party:

• A Modern Witch Halloween Party (general overview)
• Witch’s Brew Sour Apple Punch (Kids Drink Station)
• “Resting Witch Face” Dress Up Station
• “Sweets Spell” Halloween Dessert Station
• Kids Craft Idea: Halloween Glitter Globes