an october harry potter marathon

treats for harry potter and the sorcerer's stone -- jelly beans, chocolate frogs, and licorice wands

Russ and I aren't scary movie lovers (we really don't watch them at all), so the only movie we always watch at Halloween time is Hocus Pocus. But in trying to come up with something festive to do in October, I decided we should have a Harry Potter marathon over the whole month. I can't believe I had never thought of it before, but Harry Potter movies are perfect for Halloween! They have witches and wizards, odd creatures, and sometimes even Halloween celebrations. Plus there were 8 weekend nights in October and 8 movies, so it was perfect! (Though we ended up only using 7 of the weekend nights so that we could attend our friends' murder mystery party)

treats and decor for harry potter and the chamber of secrets

Rather than only invite specific people, I decided to open up the invitation to literally everyone. I posted it on my neighborhood Facebook page, on my personal Facebook page, and I sent a text invitation to both of my girls movie night groups (each group has 10+ people). I was really excited for the chance to meet new people, reconnect with old friends and acquaintances, and spend some time with people I was already friends with. I've always had strong feelings about the weekend being a time to do something different and fun, so I wanted to provide that opportunity to other people. I also wanted anyone who doesn't often get invited to things to feel like they were invited to my movie parties. Although I understood that blanket invitations aren't as good as personal invitations, I hoped that this blanket invitation would have success. I tried to word my Facebook reminders in such a way that people would know that I really meant it when I said that ANYONE could come.

pumpkin pasties for harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban.
i also made butterbeer, but the rum extract in the recipe toooootally ruined the butterbeer

However, things didn't go how I had hoped. I had hoped for a full house every single night of the marathon, but we didn't get a full house on even one of the nights. And honestly, not having a full house kind of made me feel defeated and rejected. It's true that many people would have had to get babysitters to come, but I guess I wanted people to be willing to do that. It was a fun date night, after all, complete with fun decor and treats to go with each movie (at least in the beginning). There were also a ton of people who don't have kids who wouldn't have had to get a babysitter, and yet they didn't come either. Sure, there are many Halloween activities to do and parties to attend in October, but there were seven different options for these parties -- I doubt everyone I know had other plans on every single one of these days.

witch hats and wanted posters for harry potter and the order of the phoenix

Buttttt the lack of a full house just made me more grateful to all those who did take the time to come to these parties. I'm SUPER grateful to the Johnsons, Splattstoessers, Pagottos, and Jonsons (yes, two different Jo(h)nsons) for coming to any of the parties. It was always nice to at least have one other couple, and it was especially nice to be able to count on the Splattstoessers every time :)

harry potter and the deathly hallows part 1

I doubt I'll ever do a party invitation quite like that again, but it is what it is and I'm happy for the time I got to spend with the people who came. Maybe in the future I'll rope 7 other friends into it and we'll change venues/hosts for each movie!

platform 9 3/4 stayed up all month long in our house! and these
are the awesome people who closed out the marathon with us :)