MeckMom.com

I’m thrilled to see that so many of you are on board.  You won’t regret it!  Here are your next steps in your planning.

Step 4:  Set Up a Budget
Okay, I know it’s really tempting you skip right past this step and get to the planning, but trust me, by setting a few limits now, you’ll save yourself from going overboard later.  I’ve designed a simple budget sheet for you to work with.  Don’t worry about filling everything in at this point.  Just give yourself an overall limit and then break that limit down into the four categories.  For example, if my goal is to spend around $125 I might assign my categories as follows: Invitations ($25), Clue Hunt Supplies ($50), Ending Location Supplies ($25), Refreshments ($25).  If you’re hoping to spend less, don’t worry, it’s doable.  This is what you can expect to pay if you set up your party just like mine, but there are lots of areas to cut costs and I’ll try to point them out as we go along.

Once you’ve got your category limits set up, try to stick to them and keep records of what you buy.  I’ve designed the form to accommodate two hostesses so that if you’re sharing expenses with a friend you’ll be able to keep track of who buys what and how much you’ve each spent. 

Step 5:  Start Scouting for Clue Locations
This is probably the most important step in your planning process.  Great clue locations can make or break your party, so take your time in finding them.  This is actually one of my favorite parts in the planning process.  I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent driving around with my camera in hand…looking for the perfect clue location.  The good news is that no matter where I’ve lived (big city or small town, suburbia or out in the middle of nowhere) I’ve always found great clue locations.  You will too if you know what to look for.  Here are a few hints:

First of all, you need to find a place that will be accessible at night.  Chances are your guests will be visiting these locations in the dark between the hours of 6pm and 10pm, so make sure your location won’t be locked or off limits after hours.  Also, you don’t want your guests to spend too much time in the car, so try to keep all 5 of your locations within at least 10 miles of each other.

Second, try to find a spot that’s distinctive.  You’ll be writing clues to lead your guests to these locations, so you want to find a spot with a little character to make your clue writing a little easier.  For example, public parks can make great clue spots but the sheer number of parks can make it hard for your guests to distinguish one from the other.  Try to find a park with something distinctive in it (like this statue of Leatherlips in Dublin, OH).  It will help you write a better clue and will help your guests find the right spot.

Next, you’ll want to try to pick spots that have an element of eerieness to them.  It is a Halloween party, after all.  Don’t worry, there’s more of these in your town than you’d think.  You’ll be surprised how nightfall can transform almost any isolated location into a spooky spot.  For example, this cool little pier in Erie, PA wasn’t particularly scary on it’s own, but the murky surrounding water made it very eerie to walk down at night.  A cemetery can be a great clue location too, but you’ll want to be careful to be sensitive to your guests and choose only older or historic cemeteries like the one pictured in the next paragraph.  Also, because many cemeteries are closed at night, you may want to choose to hide your clues somewhere outside the gates.  Just being able to see the cemetery in the foreground will be enough to add the spook your looking for.

Lastly, you’ll want to choose destinations that are relatively hidden from the public.  You will be hiding the brew ingredients and clues at least a few hours before your group starts their hunt, so it’s critical to choose a location that won’t be disturbed by the general public.  Take steps to avoid unwanted attention by hiding your clues in trees, under bridges, buried in sand, or even submerged under water.

As a side note, you can also choose a public location as well.  For example, during one party we had our guests visit a local pumpkin patch to hunt for a clue.  Before the party we purchased 6 small pumpkins from the patch and hollowed them out.  We hid the clues and the brew ingredient (I think it was a rubber snake) inside the pumpkins and then re-hid the pumpkins in the patch.  The teams had to search through a whole field of pumpkins to find the pumpkin with their clue.  These type of locations can be really fun, but they’re also more work to set up (we had to coordinate with the owners to ensure that our pumpkins weren’t disturbed) so I usually only include one or two on each hunt.

Now that you know what to look for it’s time to get out there and scout.  Don’t forget to bring your camera and take pictures of both the location where you will hide the ingredient as well as the surrounding landmarks.  The pictures will really help you when it comes time to write your clues.  Good luck!  I can’t wait to see what you come up with.  You can find the free download for the budget plan below.  Just thought I’d pass it on.