Halloween is a great excuse to dress up and have a dinner party with friends. This year, we decided to dress up as Popeye and Olive Oyl, so we asked our friends to dress up as couples as well. They all looked amazing, and it was a blast to see what each of them came up with. One friend couldn’t make it, but a stand-in was brough in for fun! If you’re going to go through the effort and time to decorate your home for Halloween, why not host a dinner among friends and play a game? All our friends are married so we played The Not-So-Newlywed Game, and the answers did not disappoint. Check out our Halloween Dinner Party Plan for ideas and inspiration.

I love creating unique invitations and I have to say that this one is my favorite so far. I love cloches for decorating, and when I found these mini cloches, I knew they would be this year’s dinner party invitation. It all worked out after I used black butterflies to decorate the dining room, I decided the cloche could house an orange butterfly with the invitation. You’ll notice the printed invite is pretty small and some of the text is obscured, but all our guest had an electronic save-the-date and a follow-up email with the important details. So, the actual invite didn’t need to be completely legible. The fun box was found at the Dollar Tree and worked perfectly. I created an Instagram Reel showing how to put together the invite in case you’re interested.

For this dinner party we served Yumm bowls. There’s a restaurant chain on the west coast call Cafe Yumm that we absolutely love and miss now that we’re in NW Arkansas. One of the great things about Yumm bowls is that they can be gluten and dairy free. They are also healthy, and each guest can customize their own bowl. To make these Yumm bowls, our sweet guests brought most of the toppings and we provided the chicken and a copycat Yumm sauce. Here’s a list of the traditional Yumm bowl ingredients: rice, beans, chicken, cheddar cheese, Yumm sauce, sour cream, salsa, olives, tomatoes, avocado, and cilantro. We also served chips and salsa as an appetizer and to snack on after dinner too. I wish I would have taken some photos of dinner; it’s a colorful dish and it was so easy and delicious.

We tried several copycat Yumm sauce recipes and this one was the closest in our opinion. We made one batch and it easily fed 12 adults with leftovers. My main tip for this recipe is to boil the chickpeas first for ten minutes to get their skins off. We handpicked the skins off each one to help get the smoothest texture we could for the sauce. It was worth it! We blended all the ingredients in our Ninja blender and added a little more water to get the right consistency.

This dessert was so easy to make and is one of my favorite cupcakes to eat. I followed this tres leche cupcake recipe and the only change I made was only pouring two tablespoons of the three milks over the cupcakes. When I first tested the recipe, I did all three tablespoons, but it was a bit too soggy for me. Of course, my husband prefers it this way and technically it is the correct texture for tres leche, but I made the call to cut one out. The topping is fresh whip cream, a dusting of cinnamon/sugar, and a dried orange slice. Keep the cupcakes in the baking pan when you add the three milks and keep them in the pan to refrigerate too. Right before I was ready to serve them, I moved the cupcakes into the striped paper cups, piped on the topping, and served with a fork. They are easiest to eat still in the wrapper with a fork. Anyway, they are delicious and a light treat.

Sometimes I like to have guests sit wherever they’d like, but since we were going to play The Not-So-Newlywed Game, I created name cards and placed the couples across from each other. Once dinner was done, we moved the chairs out and the guys sat on once side of the room with the ladies on the other side. I found dry erase boards at the Dollar Tree and that’s all we needed to play. After searching the Internet for newlywed game questions, I narrowed it down to 15 questions for the guys and 15 for the gals. Our friends did so well, and there are several comedians in the group. Best of all, I loved getting to know everyone better through the questions.

As you can see in the photos, the decor was simple, but having a few details elevates any party space. I love using baby’s breath because it lasts, and a bundle is only $5 at Sam’s Club. I used mostly things I already had except for these fun table coverings. The small vintage inspired vases are from Amazon and can be found here as well as the tealight candle holders. The gold chargers are from Hobby Lobby ($1.99) and are often 50% off. If you like heavy-duty napkins that also hold silverware, I got these on Amazon. We don’t have enough dining chairs, but I added some seat cushions to the folding chairs which adds some comfort since we’re doing so much sitting.

I love how the party space looked, especially the whimsical butterflies. I enjoyed adding a little creepy and spooky for Halloween, but a little bit of newlywed vibes going on too. Like I mentioned, everyone dressed up in wonderful costumes and looked fantastic. Check out Jeremy and I as Popeye and Olive Oyl, followed by our lovely friends.

Thanks so much for checking out this post and seeing the details of our Halloween Dinner Party Plans. While the food, dessert, and game was great, it’s always the company we keep that reminds me of how blessed we are. We’re grateful to have good people in our lives to share fun times with. I hope our dinner party inspires you and gives you some ideas to host your own get together. Be sure to subscribe for my free email and get updates on new decorating, DIY, and party ideas and inspiration.