19 Creative Fall Party Themes Your Guests Will Drool Over
This is the season when I want to host a fall party theme to help my guests feel like they’re celebrating the season. When the host summer air shifts to a cool autumn breeze, I begin to feel like I’m genuinely in my element. I get inspired to bring people together and host outdoor movie nights, pumpkin carvings and share lasting memories we can cherish as a family.
However, if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been asking yourself how you’re going to come up with a fall party theme and where to even start, right? Let’s work on that together! In this blog post, I’ve compiled a list of fall party themes I believe you’re going to absolutely love!!
This post is all about fall party themes!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MOST ASKED QUESTIONS FOR FALL PARTY THEME
How Do You Throw a Fall Party?
The rules on how to throw a great, fall party are no different than the rules associated with throwing any party you want to host year-round. Food Fire + Knives does a wonderful job laying out the basic rules of the road when hosting! You’ll be schedule date / time, planning out the menu, and gathering enough supplies for the party. However, the main difference I would associate with an event planned in the fall is to be mindful of weather if you’re having the party outside. Depending on where you live, fall can be a very turbulent time for temperature and wind conditions. I encourage you to prepare your guests to dress for a warm day that may abruptly switch to a very cold evening.
What Is the Best Theme for a Party
When picking a theme for your party, you want to consider your audience. Does your audience have a lot of children? Then you may want to go with a younger theme like an “Autumn Carnival” that has face painting and crafts. Maybe you have an older audience who loves to read? Then let’s look at putting together a ‘cozy murder mystery’ themed party! Think of your guest list and you will know which theme will suit your crowd best.
19 FALL PARTY THEME IDEAS
Autumn Dinner Theme
Gathering friends and family around the dinner table with a fall aesthetic may be among the easiest themes to aim for! As you can see in the image above, all I did was host a regular dinner, but my decorations had an overarching autumn aesthetic. The tablecloth was imprinted with leaves as well as a beige plaid blanket. Wooden, earthy candles stood as the center piece! All of these combined created the look I was going for.
Pumpkin Painting / Drawing Event
Honestly, I think a pumpkin carving party is on everyone’s blog post by now, but I don’t see a lot of people discussing the benefits of hosting a pumpkin ‘painting‘ event.
Provide everyone a pumpkin or have them bring a personal one they want to decorate from home. You will provide the paints, markers, and stencils and set up stations for each guest to work at. The guest will then draw designs on their pumpkin while they socialize over snacks and drinks.
Benefits? This party means no cleaning up after pumpkin guts! Your guests will love this idea because the lifespan of their pumpkins will last longer! This is because you’re keeping the squash’s guts intact which prevents them from rotting faster.
Caramel Apple Decorating Contest
Collect all of the supplies needed to make caramel apples and encourage your guests to design the most unique caramel apple! You can have three neutral judges (they can’t know who decorated what) to decide who the winner is. Then have a small prize at the end for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd! This is so unique and a great way to get people excited!
Note: Make sure you include to go baggies, so your guests can take their beautiful creations home if they don’t eat them immediately. 😉
Gilmore Girl’s Marathon
Who wouldn’t want to host Gilmore Girl’s marathon? I would suggest picking out the episodes based in autumn and enjoy a girl’s night in with popcorn and cozy blankets!
Autumn Campfire Feast
The set up for this should be minimal as it’s your guests who will cook their own food rather than you having to prepare a feast ahead of time!
Gather anything that would taste amazing when cooked over a fire such as hot dogs, spicy sausages, popcorn, and of course s’more! Don’t forget the s’more sticks for your guests! We provided an Amazon find for you below!
Escape Room Dinner
Have you ever done an Escape Room? Create your very own escape room dinner party! You can create clues and puzzles your guests have to solve! There can be a motivational prize at the end and a timer they have to race against.
You can create your own or use the puzzle and plot from one of the many ‘Exit Game’ sold on amazon. I linked a series I like from Amazon below:
Apple Tasting Event
You’ve heard of wine tasting events, but what about an apple tasting party? Have a variety of different apples with various flavor profiles and a charcuterie board with various cheeses and dipping sauces the guests can taste alongside other fruit slices. Give each guest a chart they can use to rate which apple was their favorite. Guests will adore this activity as this exposes them to new apples they may have not tried before!
Do you want to make a game of it? Test your guests to see who knows their apples best! Have the guests fill out a template to guess the proper names of each apple and include a fun apple themed prize at the end.
Hocus Pocus Halloween Party
The Hocus Pocus movie has a huge following, and people would be thrilled to go to this type of themed event! For dessert I highly recommend you do what my friend at Le Mirage did which was get a decorated cake to match the theme! Her guests just loved it!
Fall Harvest Potluck
This rising inflation, groceries are getting super expensive which can put a damper on your party bill! Share the cost with your guests by hosting a autumn themed potluck in the park!
Autumn Crown Craft Party
Have you ever seen or made a flower crown? Well, I believe it’s high time we bring this fun craft idea into autumn! Prepare all the party supplies in advance and create stations for each guest to make their own autumn crown! Everyone may want to get a picture while wearing their crowns, so have a backdrop set-up ahead of time! Tell everyone to arrive in their cutest fall outfit!
Outdoor Movie Night!
Autumn is one of the BEST times to get everyone out to enjoy an outdoor movie! The weather is just perfect! Remember to tell everyone to bring warm clothes and heated blankets!
Murder Mystery Dinner
My family and I have been wanting to host one of these parties for a while now! If you have murder mystery lovers amongst you, then this is going to make you such a popular hostess!
An interactive murder mystery game I have on my wish list is the Death By Chocolate game where all the guests participate to determine the murderer before the evening is over! Looks like a blast!
Pumpkin Carving Contest
It’s on everyone’s list for a reason! A classic is a classic!! You haveall of the carving supplies ready and ask your guests to bring a pumpkin they want to carve!
Enjoying Our Fall Party Themes? Check Out…
Haunted History Tour
If you check out your local area, you may find there’s haunted history tours you can join! This is an awesome way to learn about your town’s history while also keeping everyone on their toes!
Autumn Art Class
Check out and see if there are any local art classes you can get all of your friends to go to! Painting fall scenery is a wonderful way to enjoy the season with friends!
Fall Candle Making Party!
Now this just sounds like an outright blast! You can either buy the supplies at home or see if there’s any local classes your friends can all attend!!
Host a Harvest Moon Astronomy Night
Are you and your friends completely in love with the stars? Host an Autumn Harvest Moon party at your house or in an area where there is low light pollution! Tell anyone who owns a telescope to bring their own and hunt for constellations for a night!!
‘Last Chapter’ Book Club Party
By this point, we’re all pretty familiar with what a book club is and how much fun they can be! However, have you ever thought of hosting a party celebrating the last chapter you and your friends just read to talk about the ending? Have the theme match the vibe of the book you’re reading! I think this would be so much fun!
Board Game / Card Game Night
Board game nights are a classic, but what if you included an autumn theme game? I’ve shared a link below that is 100% autumnal and adorable!
This post is all about fall party theme!
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