How to throw a charming, vintage Halloween party! Inspired by traditional vintage Beistle decorations, we’re sharing all the details for hosting your own party, the best vintage Halloween decorations, Halloween invites, games, and more! All the Halloween party ideas you’ll need!
We fell in love with the nostalgic feeling of a traditional Halloween party. So we created a vintage Halloween theme using classic decorations, games, and Beistle decorations. It turned out so charming and was such a blast!
With the vintage Beistle Halloween decor, hay bales galvanized buckets, and a lot of market lights you can also create the best Halloween party!
See all of the details below for creating your own beautiful and charming vintage Halloween party!
I also thoroughly enjoyed showing my
How to Host a Vintage Halloween Party
Vintage Halloween Invites
Paperless Post is our go-to for all invitations. You can find super cute vintage Halloween invites that you send through email. It allows you to track the invite, make notes, and communicate with guests. Technically not really “vintage” but hey, it’s a modern world we live in!
Vintage Halloween Decorations
Since vintage Beistle was the inspiration behind having a traditional Halloween party. They are a manufacturing company that has been around since 1900 and is known for their Halloween decorations.
We purchased all of the paper decor items from their online store called Vintage Beistle. It’s all really affordable too and they create reproductions of the classic Halloween decor items sold in the 1920s!
We purchased the fortune-telling Jack-O’-Lantern Game, the Witch Fortune Wheel Game, which was originally produced by The Beistle Company in 1927 and is fun to play with kids, Witch Moon and Pumpkin cutouts, Cat Head Napkins and the Scat Cat Band Cutouts.
You can also order Beistle from Amazon as well.
Decorative Items for A Vintage Halloween Party
These are items you can add to the party to give it a vintage feel.
Galvanized Buckets and Trays
Pumpkins
Vintage Cauldrons
Spider Webs
Wild Flowers – Dried and Fresh
Old Vintage Pictures and Paintings
Salvaged Doors and Windows
Candles
Sheets and Cloths to Cover Furniture
More Vintage Halloween Decor Items
Vintage Halloween Honeycomb Decorations
Vintage Halloween Plates or these are great too.
Vintage Halloween Flowers
Flowers are a must at all of our parties! They add color, texture, and instant party decor. Use galvanized buckets and fall flowers to make beautiful arrangements.
Ideas for beautiful fall flowers you can incorporate:
Chrysanthemum. Beautiful chrysanthemums create a cushion of color in festive seasonal shades of red, orange, yellow, peach, and white, as well as contrasting shades of pink. ..
Pansy
Celosia
Purple Fountain Grass
Croton
Flowering Kale
Aster
Dianthus
Hay Bales for Halloween
Hay bales are a go-to for Halloween. They work as extra seating and stacking to use as a table. For example, we used two hay bales and a whitewashed board on the top to even it out.
Super simple, but loved how it turned out! The ‘table’ is really sturdy and we wrapped it on fake cobwebs, because…Halloween!
DIY Jack O Lanterns
We created these paper maché hanging Jack-o’-Lanterns and they looked so awesome “floating” in the air! We used battery-operated tea lights to light them up! By far, a favorite detail!
The cardboard pumpkins are from a craft store and then we painted them, added a hole to the top and strung fishing line through it. They looked awesome at night!
Halloween Drinks and Cocktails
When it comes to drinks at your vintage Halloween party, you can’t get much more traditional than cider! Try making a Halloween punch recipe, spiked or not, and add in fall flavors like cinnamon and sliced pears! Here are some more fun Halloween cocktails:
Halloween Candy Corn Vodka Shots
More charming drinks to serve at a Halloween party.
Don’t forget the kids, make them this 3 ingredient Halloween punch! Add little gummy frogs and warms to make it “spooky”.
Desserts for a Halloween Party
Can’t be a Halloween party without desserts! Serve vintage candy in bowls like taffy and candy corns. Then add baked goods to platters and trays. Store-bought baked goods are always fine to use for a party. Support your local bakery and order delicious cookies, doughnuts, and cupcakes to add to a tiered galvanized tray.
If you want to make some desserts here are our favorite Halloween treats!
Brown Butter Mummy Rice Krispie Treats
Caramel Apples – Perfect For Halloween Parties!
Caramel apples scream vintage Halloween! We used this caramel apple recipe and it worked out great. However, caramel apples can be a pain to make. You can always buy them and make your life much easier!
However, you can’t buy marbled candy apples and they’re pretty awesome. They’re easier to make than caramel and there are fun colors you can do.
You can dip them in toppings like crushed cookies, candy, or nuts! They’re so fun and nostalgic, you can use twigs as the stick for an extra vintage vibe!
What to Serve at A Vintage Halloween Party
Personally, we think takeout is perfect for a Halloween party! If you don’t want to stress with making food, then order from your favorite restaurant or have the party catered.
However, if you’re hosting a small gathering and you want to make something to eat here are a few options:
Halloween Meat and Cheese Platter or Cheese and Charcuterie Platter
Sheet Pan Chicken and Sausage Bake
Cranberry and Orange Cornbread
Also, check out all of our Halloween party snacks too!
Vintage Halloween Games
There are so many fun games you can play at a vintage Halloween party! Here are some of our favorites:
- Bobbing for Apples – See more below!
- Potato Sack Races – We’ve used these before and they work great.
- Deluxe Game of Bingo – This set fits right into a vintage Halloween party.
- Hammer and Axe Row Game – We love this very cool wooden set for a vintage party.
Bobbing for Apples
Bobbing for apples is a Halloween tradition that dates back to the 18th century! But it’s so fun and full of laughs. I’m sure everyone has had a go at this, but in case you’ve never set this game up:
Find a suitable tub.
Fill the tub with cool water.
Float several apples in the water.
Select the order of players.
Catch an apple with your teeth. …
Keep your hands behind your back while bobbing.
Keep track of how long it takes each player to get their apple. You can give a time limit per player, to keep things moving at a fun pace.
Select the winner, whoever got their apple the quickest!
Tips For Bobbing For Apples
- Use smaller apples for the kids, if they are bobbing for apples. Smaller apples allow children to get their teeth around the apple.
- If you don’t want guests to get wet then you can do a variation of bobbing for apples, where you hang the apples up on the string.
- I purchased this galvanized tier from here, it will come in handy when entertaining and for parties in the future!
Outdoor Lighting For Your Vintage Halloween Party
Lighting is everything, especially for a Halloween party at night. When the sun sets, there is nothing better than having the magic of beautiful lighting.
Lights create a lovely, warm environment for your party. You can make it festive and it will feel like an outdoor movie set.
Here are three ways to add lighting to your party:
Market Lights
We have professional outdoor market lights strung outside, over our patio year-round. It was so worth putting them up because we use them every day. You can string temporary lights for a party. Amazon has a pretty large supply. We also love these Edison lights as they look even more vintage.
Candles
Candles are another go-to for us when hosting parties. Candlelight creates a cozy, warm atmosphere. They can be used to keep away bugs or scented (like pumpkin!) to add more aromas to the party. Beistle even has its own fun Halloween candles that are perfect for this party theme. If you don’t want to burn real candles, there are plenty of options for flameless candles that look so real!
Fire
A fire pit is perfect for parties and takes the coziness up a notch. It adds physical warmth and a nice area for guests to hang out. For a cool detail add these super awesome ceramic fireproof skulls in the fire!
Check Out These Other Great Halloween Ideas
Our Favorite Halloween Decor and Entertaining Items
The Perfect Halloween Candy Cart
The Most Delicious Oreo Halloween Cake
If you try any of these vintage Halloween decorations or party ideas, let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
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We hope you’ve been inspired to host your own fun vintage Halloween party! Also, if you need any vintage Halloween costume ideas, Etsy has some amazing makers and sellers that create beautiful costumes!
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Do you have a tutorial for the paper maché Jack o Lanterns? They look awesome!
Hi Becca!! We are going to put one together very soon! We bought the pumpkins and then spray panted them.. they’re that easy!
This is so cute, love it all!