Spooky Halloween Backyard Party Ideas for Adults

Halloween in Orange County is hot. October is the warmest time of the year and that lends itself to great trick-or-treating, outdoor Halloween celebrations, and over the top outdoor Halloween decorations. Backyard Halloween parties are commonplace in these parts with the warm weather. For years we’ve had parties with scavenger hunts, monster mash cake-walks, Halloween party games and a pumpkin carving contest, you name it, our neighborhood has probably done it.

When I was asked to create some outdoor Halloween party ideas for Pottery Barn, I wanted to put together something different than I’ve done in the past, so a spooky outdoor dinner party was on the agenda, and I couldn’t imagine anywhere better to host it than at The Homestead at Bridle Creek.

This gorgeous venue nestled in the hills of North San Diego with it’s acres of live oak trees, a pumpkin patch, and gorgeous gardens was, as I’m sure you will see, the PERFECT location…an amazing outdoor space. If you are looking for backyard Halloween party ideas, be sure to check out this spooky party. 

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To keep guests entertained while waiting for dinner, I created a drink station for creepy concoctions out of some awesome railroad ties and old boards laying around the property. Nothing fancy here, I was keeping it simple and using what I had on hand.

If you have hay bales and can throw a cool old board across them, you can do the same. Using these more natural elements in your party planning keeps costs down and adds to the decor. I mixed the old with the new and added crystal candle holders and pretty glass goblets to the spider webs, glitter spiders, skulls and bright orange pumpkins.

I love to add in vintage sodas to all of my drink bars because they add great colors to drink stations and the bottles look interesting. And, as much as I’m not a huge fan of the durability of paper straws, they look so cute and add so much great color and pattern to any drink area I have to include them. I love the look of these orange straws in the vintage cat trick or treat bucket.

In place of before dinner drinks and creepy cocktails, this would be a great place to also set up an apple cider or hot chocolate bar for after dinner. 

Setting up a spooky table setting under the tree branches was easy with all of the resources I was able to find on the farm. A great old door with chipping white paint and an upside down trough made for a great long table. I layered some cheesecloth over the table to make things a little spookier, almost like spider webs. Cheesecloth is awesome to use as a garland or to drape just about anything during spooky season. I wasn’t really thinking about any particular Halloween themes when putting together this outdoor party, I just wanted things to be generally creepy feeling but a little sophisticated.

The trees added such a great canopy over the table. A covered patio covered in a few bare branches or grape vines would give you a similar look. You could also hang a chandelier or string lights from the trees or pergola to give you plenty of lighting as the sun sets. 

The farmhouse had a bunch of great black spindle chairs that were perfect for the party guests to use for dinner, and the black chairs against the white table was a great contrast. Bugs, spiders, black flowers and candles always make everything look spookier, so I made sure to add plenty of them to the table, along with antique books to add some height and the coolest candle sticks.

These have been in my collection for awhile, but if you can’t find something similar, old wine bottles with flameless candles, or if you’re in a safe enough spot to use real candles the kind that get all drippy look really good as the wax drips and melts down the side of the wine bottles. 

A lot of the serving pieces…the skull plates, bug condiment holders, drink server, skeleton hand…and several pieces of decor like the birdcage, glitter spiders, flameless candles and lanterns were pulled from the awesome Pottery Barn Halloween collection. It is one of my favorite places to get Halloween decor every year. Classic stuff that I can use again and again. 

You know I love a charcuterie board, and I found a cool black slate board that held all the cheese for the party. Bugs just creep me out…year round…so the addition of beetles and plastic spiders to the food is always an easy, instant spook factor. I mean, who wants to think about bugs in their food? Not me! Serve up some spooky Halloween party food like tomato soup with mozzarella ball eyes, “finger” foods, creepy crudites…all kinds of fun ideas. 

A self-serve dessert buffet is a perfect choice for a party because it let’s guests serve themselves and helps keep you as a host out of the kitchen and enjoying the party. I whipped up a couple of super easy DIY desserts including donut holes on a stick, and cool chocolate covered oreo skulls out of candy melts and chocolate molds.

These are SO easy…they honestly take 10 minutes to make. So fast! Brownie bites got a spooky makeover with the addition of some candy tombstones. I added some orange and white striped candy sticks in a jar. 

More skull dessert plates, pumpkins and glitter spiders decorated this cool old stove out in the middle of the pumpkin patch. Everything about this outdoor party celebrates the outdoors and natural surroundings. 

I know Halloween weather may not be as toasty in other parts of the country, so if your worried about it add some cozy blankets to each of the chairs for your guests. Bring in a patio heater or tell ghost stories around a portable fire pit while you eat s’mores. There are lots of creative ideas to keep party guests comfy and cozy in chilly fall temps. I hope you are feeling inspired and ready to host your very own Halloween party! This really was SUCH a fun shoot for me and I hope that you enjoy the results as much as I do!

Here are some of my current favorite Halloween home decor products. Click on any image for more info.

Looking for more fun Halloween ideas?  

Here’s a sampling of some of our other most popular Halloween DIY’s and free printables:

Krispy Skreme | We’ve Got Our Eyes On You | Rest In Pieces | Bone Appetit | Bugs & Kisses

Halloween Candy Buffet | Halloween Home Decor | Mummy Treat Bowl | Pumpkin Pancakes | Halloween Dinner Party

DIY Spider Wreath | Halloween Dinner Ideas | Spiderweb Snacks | Spider Headband | Spiderweb Drink Bottles

Looking for more fun DIY Crafts and printables?  You can find even more fun Halloween ideas in our Halloween DIY Gallery.

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Happy entertaining!
Tammy