Brace yourself for photo overload. Our annual Halloween party has traditionally focused on the themed food and tablescape, but this year it took a sharp turn into costume territory. I’m using having a baby as my excuse for epic Halloween costumes from now on, but regardless of the reason, this post is mostly a place to preserve these photos.
The Little Mermaid theme was an obvious choice, which explains why it was our first family costume. Not only did it offer cute characters for all of us (including Pippa!), but it was a very minimal “costume” for Will, who really isn’t into dressing up. I may actually have to use some creativity next year!
My friend Haley also came to visit this weekend! It was so good to have her here to catch up and celebrate this Marks family tradition with us! Also, Pippa is always glad to have the extra pets, clearly.
Flounder had a little meltdown.
But how sweet is my Flounder? This was an extremely homemade costume I put together the night before and morning of the party. All I did was order a yellow turtleneck onesie and buy some blue fish scale fabric, tulle (in two shades), elastic, and stick on velcro squares. I used fabric glue to glue the scales onto the onesie (the arms were supposed to be the fins, so they were wrapped with fabric). Then I tied the tulle in strips onto the elastic secured with the velcro squares for a tutu. Finally, I velcroed another strip of elastic onto the front and back of a headband and tied it with shorter tulle strips for her head fin!
It’s always a party when Sally is there!
We like to structure this party as an open house starting at noon (when college football kicks off) and going until whenever people want to leave. This serves several purposes, but is mainly due to our limited space (there are never too many people over all at once!). It also helps to give us a chance to talk to everyone and maximizes the number of people who can come. We find that most people like to come at dinner time (the veterans remember the sit-down dinners from the first two years), but it all worked out beautifully!
Taylor and Molly are third-year veterans of this tradition, I believe! I am all about holiday traditions, and it is so special to have one that people have now come to expect. Doing the same party every year may not provide as much fresh blog content, but it’s important to us. It gives us something to look forward to, solidifies our identity as a family, and hey, it saves a lot of time and money when you already have the decorations and know what you’re going to make!
Victoria’s friend Eli just happened to be a lobster for Halloween!
The menu this year was the usual fare: chili (with all the toppings!), cornbread, pecan pie, and cider. We ended up having so many people, though, that we had to order some pizzas!
This is the first year we’ve introduced costumes into the mix, and they were very optional, but I was so impressed with our friends’ commitment to the costume element! It was so fun and will definitely be part of future annual Halloween parties.
I hope you had a great Halloween!