
This year’s annual Halloween party advertised our whimsical abilities. Last year we showed off our gothic side with a classic Haunted House, and of course, who could forget our other fun and whimsical party, Alice In Wonderland. This year’s theme is one that can be used for birthday parties, Halloween parties, and even Weddings – that’s right, why not? A wedding can be fun & whimsy, so why not use some whimsical elements from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Sweets tables are a very popular item at weddings, so why not use the Willy Wonka theme for your sweets table. And, let’s face it, Willy Wonka himself was a pretty dapper fella – play up the dress code with a colorful top hat and vest, or if you really want to be creative, go for the purple coat. Beyond all that, what if you’re longing for an outdoor venue in a cold climate? Use Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory as your muse – a loft covered in grass perhaps? Trees made out of licorice and candy canes? The sky’s the limit when you use Willy Wonka as your starting point.
For our Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory Halloween party, we created a double-sided Wonka sign to go on top of a gate that we fashioned out of garden gates and zip tied to our front yard columns. Zip ties are the greatest invention, and we use about 2 canisters of them for every party. We made Oompa Loompa stand-ups, a chocolate fountain and chocolate pipes. We made a miniature sized boat to block the driveway and fill with lights. Drinks were given fun Wonka names. We covered a wall on the outside of the house with ‘lickable’ wallpaper and set out a ‘contract’ for all to sign. The chocolate fountain was our informal backdrop for a photo booth where we made large candy bars and small oompa loompas for people to hold. We covered our bushes in large fake candy and astroturf. We also laid down astroturf down our driveway and at the end of the driveway, we showed the movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. We set up pillows and chairs for people to relax upon while watching the movie. We strung a bit more than a hundred clear balloons to give the effect of bubbles, a la Fizzing Lifting Drink. We created a template to use to spray paint boxes and burlap bags to look like cocoa and sugar shipment containers and set them out with large fake candy bars placed on top.
The pictures below show some of our set-up and creating process along with actual party photos – enjoy!
Here are some pictures of how we utilized Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory as our Halloween Theme:
