Less if you are like me and are having the Halloween events on the Saturday night before the holiday. With the holiday in mind I am going to now start focusing most of my blog posts on all things Halloween. I have two Real Parties I plan on sharing with you and a ton of do-it-yourself posts coming in preparation for my 2010 party. I also want to focus on spooktacular drinks and eats throughout these 35 days.

For me, all of my parties really begin with the invitation. As soon as an idea evolves I am busy working on what type of invitation will really SET THE TONE for the entire event. Today’s post I am featuring some great invitations that can be found on-line or at local stores, you can do yourself and a couple of invites I’ve done in the past for this holiday. Let me know your favorite invite, invites you’ve seen that I might have missed, or what you plan on doing for your Halloween party invite!

1. A party printable from TomKatStudio over at Etsy. This party invite also has many wonderful party elements ready for you to purchase and print at home.
2. Featured at CountryLiving.Com this spooky invite would be great for a more formal Halloween get-together. You can purchase these invites at Michael’s Craft Stores.
3. Planning a Halloween Ball? This chandelier invite in the traditional orange and black will really set the tone for a hauntingly good time. The invite can be found and personalized at Invitation Box’s website.
4. If you haven’t gone and checked out TomKat Studio then you don’t know what you are missing! The printables found there are beyond beautiful and ridiculously affordable. This Halloween Glam collection is by far one of my favorites (as are the amazing Laura Winslow photos from the collection’s photo shoot). 
5. Another customizable invite from Invitation Box. This simple spider invitation can lend itself to a fabulous Halloween Cocktail party.
6. Another Etsy Find! This beautiful scroll invite can be found over at Artful Beginnings. It would be a great invitation for a small Halloween Dinner Party.

1. Martha Stewart’s team never ceases to amaze. She has instructions on how to make several awesome invitations for your Halloween bash. The three pictured above are found at the Martha Stewart Website: Masquerade Invite,  Message in a Bottle Invite, and Severed Finger Invite
2. Better Home and Gardens has several home made invitation instructions available on their site ranging from invites perfect for kids parties all the way to a eery wedding invitation. The three pictured above are found at the BHG website: Hallowedding Invitation,  Bewitching Invitation, and Owl Invitation

A couple of friends of mine recently got married and I was lucky enough to bring my camera. The couple in question are laid-back, anything but fussy and currently enjoying a ton of homework as they are both currently furthering their education.

They decided to gather with friends and enjoy a VooDoo Too! wedding. VooDoo Doughnuts is a local doughnut bakery that creates awesome and interesting doughnut creations. They have two locations in Portland and one in Eugene, OR. The VooDoo Too! location has wedding packages available to customers.

Enjoy the photos of this no-fuss and absolutely, incredibly fun wedding!

One of the two doughnut desserts that the venue provided. This one reads, “Nick and Natalie”

The Witness and the Groom

The traditional “cake cutting ceremony” done just a little different.

The wedding guests and the bride and groom in front of the VooDoo Doughnut truck.

Picking the first dance song on the jukebox

The First Dance

It is that time of year again when all I can think about is Halloween! I plan my Halloween party themes nearly a year in advance, but I really dig down and start the party planning in September. So, I thought that today’s “Friday Finds” would be all about Halloween Costume Inspiration. Check the blog out every Friday from now til Halloween for more Halloween Finds!