Last-Minute Halloween Party Ideas That Still Look Planned

It is the week before Halloween and the party has crept up on you. It happens to all of us, and the secret is that a last-minute Halloween party can look every bit as planned as one you started in September. You just need the right eight things and next-day delivery. 👻

Here is the list, in the order to do it.

Last-minute Halloween decorations you can put up in ten minutes 🕸️

Honeycomb and paper decorations are the fastest way to fill a room. They arrive flat, open in seconds and need no more than a bit of tape or a drawing pin.

• Autumn Pumpkins Garland 2.5m - along the mantelpiece or across the food table, and it works for the whole of October rather than just the day.
• Black bat window clings - up in two minutes, off in one, and they make the house look Halloween from the street.
• Halloween Black Spiders x 10 - scatter them over the food table and the bookshelves.
• Spinning Ghost Decorations x 10 - if you only buy one decoration, buy this one.

Last-minute Halloween balloons 🎈

Foil balloons are your friend when time is short. They inflate with a straw or a hand pump, no helium needed, and they stand up on their own. The Jumbo Skeleton Foil Balloon is a whole decoration in one, and the 3D Orange and Gold Pumpkin Standing Foil Balloon sits by the front door for trick-or-treaters. For the party itself, the LED Light Up Pumpkin Latex Balloons x 5 glow when the lights go off and are the thing every child remembers.

A tip: the Black and White Striped Pumpkin Foil Balloons are small enough to tape to the wall in a cluster, which looks styled and takes about a minute.

A last-minute Halloween table 🍽️

Do not try to build a themed table from scratch. Pick one shaped plate and let it carry everything. The Ghost Shaped Party Plates x 8 on a plain black tablecloth, with the Halloween Party Napkins x 16 and plain orange cups, is a finished table. Add the Black Gold Tip Cake Candles to whatever cake you have managed to get hold of and it looks deliberate.

Halloween games that need no preparation 🎃

The best last-minute Halloween games use what you already have. Musical statues with a Halloween playlist and everyone frozen as a monster. A ghost hunt with the spinning ghosts hidden around the house before guests arrive. Pass the pumpkin, which is pass the parcel with an actual pumpkin and no wrapping needed. Doughnuts on strings tied to a broom handle, eaten with no hands, which is the game every single party ends up playing anyway.

Something to wear for the grown-ups who are not dressing up 🦇

There is always one. The Halloween Headband with Bats is the answer - it goes on in a second, it photographs well and it counts as a costume. Keep a couple by the door for anyone who arrives in normal clothes.

Last-minute Halloween party bags 🧡

The Halloween Cauldron Party Bags x 8 filled with a glow stick, a wrapped biscuit and a spider from the pack above take ten minutes the night before. Full Halloween party bag ideas are in last week's post if you have another ten minutes.

The last-minute Halloween checklist ✅

1. Balloons - jumbo skeleton, LED pumpkins
2. Candles - black gold-tip for the cake
3. Something to wear - bat headband
4. Window clings - black bats
5. Spiders - for the food table
6. Party bags - cauldrons, filled the night before
7. A garland - autumn pumpkins
8. Napkins - always more napkins

Everything in stock goes out next-day. For a Saturday 31 October party, order by Tuesday 27 October to be safe.

Capture the last-minute Halloween memories 📸

Nobody will know it was last minute unless you tell them. Take the photos with the lights off and the LED pumpkins glowing. Tag us on Instagram at @littlebigpartyco - we love seeing your Halloween parties! 👻

Shop Halloween with next-day delivery 🛒

Everything in this post is in our Halloween Party collection, with balloons in Halloween Balloons. Free UK delivery over £40 and next-day delivery on everything in stock.