Fall party ideas are easy, just think outdoors, pumpkins, costumes and fall food! Throw in a quick craft for the kids and you’re well on your way to starting a longstanding family tradition!
We’ve been doing our Fall Party for 10 years, it’s our biggest party of the year and my favorite one to host!
October is such a glorious month! It’s definitely the kick off to the holiday season but it’s still early enough in the season to be in the no-pressure zone! Think about it, no one needs to rush from one thing to another like they do at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
And there are so many fun things to do at a fall party! I’m going to give you some of our fall party ideas and if you do your own fall party, please tell me about it, I’d love to get some fresh inspiration for our party!
Family Photo…
We always take a picture, Always, even though everyone kicks and screams and acts like I’m forcing them to walk on broken glass…we still take that picture. Those pictures are important because friends, we aren’t promised tomorrow. My sweet mama was still with us for the first 2 fall parties, the photos of her with her family and friends are so special. Here are a few of the photos we’ve taken over the years…
Here we are last year…
For us, the whole fall party thing started by accident in 2004. I was excited about the season, so I invited my friends and family to drop in for barbecue on the Saturday before Halloween. (Keeping the date the same year after year is also helpful if you plan on making it a tradition)
The Pumpkin Carving Years
I planned to have lunch and hang out but someone suggested a pumpkin carving contest! Since our house was appropriately decorated for fall we had a porch full of pumpkins which soon turned into Jack O Lanterns! After that, we spent the next 6 (years)parties in fierce pumpkin competition!
For the pumpkin carving contest years, I picked 3 or 4 judges & everyone else picked a partner. The partners talked before the party and decided on a pattern, got a pumpkin and tools. (there were several years when power tools were the norm!) On the day of the party we first ate lunch then went to paper covered tables to carve the pumpkins!
Our family is just this side of nuts when someone says contest! Here are some of the better pumpkins from over the years… (sorry about the poor quality pics, these were taken BTN…before-the-Nikon 🙂 )
In 2010 when my sis carved the face of the Lord in a pumpkin, I felt that perhaps the competition had gotten out of control 🙂
The Chili Cook Off
So in 2011 we stepped away from our pumpkin carving and had a Chili Cook Off instead! That was fun too and super easy to coordinate! We picked 5 judges and every other family brought chili! There were 6 crock pots full of everyone’s go-to chili recipes! My daughter Stephie and SIL Jon won with the best chili I’ve ever tasted…which reminds me, I’ve gotta blog that chili!
Costumes
Between my sister and I we have 7 grandchildren that enjoy the party, they all dress up in their trick-or-treat costumes
It’s fun to have a little corner set up outside in case anyone wants to take small family photos…
Photo Ops!
Here’s one I set up in our old house…
Here’s the photo op vignette from last year…we got lots of pics with our little ones sitting on hay looking ever-so-cute!
Kids Craft!
And while we’re talking about little ones, having something for them to do at a fall party is a really good idea! Now that ours are old enough to enjoy a quick project, last year we did a little owl craft…Whoooo Loves You Owl! HERE
You probably know this, it’s important to have all the craft supplies organized when doing a project with little ones. I put everything they needed for our little owls in paper bags…
More Competition …
I’m not really a competitive person so it’s a mystery to me when people want to compete! But setting up some sort of outdoor game and picking teams really engages the men in my family! Corn Hole is the game of choice…
So there you have it! A few ways we’ve done our fall party for the past 10 years! I’d love love love to hear your ideas sweet friends!
Tell me about your fall get-togethers…xo
Sending love!
What a great party!! I will start planning for our next year party. I did have a Harvest party once in CA. It was such fun and everyone loved it. We had a bouncy house for the kids, chili and cornbread, popcorn, caramel apples, pumpkins for the kids and a barn full of animals that was a huge hit because most of our company came from the City. Now that we’re in the South, what better way than to get together with the neighborhood and celebrate a beautiful Season!! I’m bookmarking this post for future reference!
Your family is adorable and this looks like so much fun! My husbands family; aunts, uncles, cousins and all the kids and their kids, etc. (50+) are having a chicken stew (A NC thing) games, etc. this weekend. Do you all have chicken stews??
I love the idea of a fall party too!! We are big college football fans so seems like everything centers around watching a game. So, of course that means ballgame foods, etc. Sadly, our team isn’t very good so we really haven’t gathered much the past few years and my two adult children are a bit too intense when they watch a game (adult son likes to watch at home alone because he said he likes to use “bad” words, :O it’s kind of a family joke now.) It didn’t help when our daughter married an alumni of our teams biggest rival. 😛 We actually got together last weekend since our daughter, son-in-law, and one of our nieces were all in visiting. I cooked a big pot of vegetable soup and baked cornbread, two kinds of cookies and an apple cake. We visited, played a few games, and watched the baseball playoff game. 🙂
Friends of ours used to have a fall party every year while our boys were growing up – it was a blast! We did the pumpkin carving thing too, though it was just for the kids. So nothing elaborate like your pumpkin carving – you have some talented carvers! We built a bonfire and roasted weenies and then everyone brought a potluck dish or dessert to pass. Corn hole is a great idea for a big group. I wanna come to your party!
Always love your fall party Robin! So clever and fun. Yes- please share the chili recipe- its definitely getting chilly around here and we are ready for all things fall 🙂 xxoo
Vicky, wish we lived close together so you guys could come to the fall party! ox
You Teach Me How To Be Fun!
Thank you!!! xoxo Love you!! Can’t wait!
This looks like so much fun and I adore the photo of all the kiddos.
This looks like a blast to me! I love the owl craft for the little ones…so cute! I chuckled over the Jesus pumpkin…but it is really, really impressive as they all are. Love your beautiful blog.
Melinda, hello my new friend! The party really is fun! I chuckled at the Jesus pumpkin too! 🙂 ox
You are so blessed to have your family together. We are looking forward to Christmas when we all will be together.
We still do the pumpkin carving – my youngest, Sam, won’t let go of that, even at the age of 22! I’m really liking the chili cookoff idea, though. Just think – you wouldn’t have to provide a main course because everyone brings it, like a potluck dinner. Great ideas for a fun time of year!
Jane, the pumpkin carving can be so much fun for even the adults!!! xo