Halloween lands on Saturday, October 31 this year, which is the best possible day for it. No work the next morning, no excuses for a half-hearted costume, and a whole region that takes dressing up seriously. In the Bay Area, a costume is rarely a cheap mask. It is a whole afternoon of effort, a thrifted blazer, a reference nobody over thirty will get, and a friend who somehow built a working hat.
We are a florist, so we want the flowers to keep up. This is a lighter, sillier post than most of ours, but the advice underneath it is real. We have also written about marigolds and Día de los Muertos, which falls on November 1 and 2 and is a different holiday with its own meaning. This one is about the fun.
🎩 Three Looks
1. Spooky-pretty. Deep, moody, and a little theatrical. Think burgundy and wine-colored roses, dark red or near-black dahlias and chrysanthemums, celosia, amaranth, berries, and dark foliage, with a few Chinese lanterns for a flash of orange. It looks dramatic by candlelight and wonderful on a dark wooden table. Our guide to mums covers the longest-lasting of the fall flowers.
2. Playful. Bright and cheerful, for a family party or a porch. Orange and yellow mums, sunflowers, zinnias, and a handful of small pumpkins and gourds. Nobody needs to feel spooked, and the kids will actually notice it.
3. Elegant. For the grown-up party with a theme but no jump scares. White mums, cream roses, white or pale pumpkins, greenery, and candles. It feels autumnal and a little gothic, and it goes with every costume.
🍾 A Party Table That Survives Capes
A costume party is a dangerous environment for a centerpiece. People wear capes, wings, tall hats, wide skirts, and wigs, and they have to walk past your table with a drink in one hand. A few rules from a florist’s point of view:
- Keep it low and stable. A heavy bowl or a pumpkin vase will not tip when a cape swishes past. A tall, narrow vase is one sleeve away from a flood.
- Choose LED candles near costumes. Open flames and flowing fabric, wigs, and decorations are a bad combination. Real candles are lovely, but if there is a crowd in costume, keep them high, away from edges, or switch to flickering LEDs.
- Think about the food table. Keep flowers away from the plates. People will be eating in the dark, and nobody wants a petal in the dip. Please also keep in mind that most florist flowers are not meant to be eaten and should not be used as garnish.
- Go easy on fragrance. A packed room with candles, costumes, and food is already full of smells. Our guide to the least fragrant flowers helps with choosing.
- Give them a second job. Small bud vases down the table can double as drink markers, or as place settings for a themed dinner.
🎃 The Pumpkin Vase Shortcut
This is the easiest big win. Cut the top off a pumpkin and scoop it out, put a plastic liner or a glass jar inside so the pumpkin stays dry, fill it with water, and arrange the flowers in it. It looks like you spent hours, and it took about twenty minutes. A carved pumpkin can do the job as well, but it will rot faster, so decorate it the day of the party. We described the full steps in our sister site’s Halloween flowers guide, and the method works anywhere.
🏠 The Porch: Trick-or-Treaters and Fog
If you have a stoop, a porch, or a doorway, it is the one place that gets the whole neighborhood’s attention on Halloween. Here is how to do it well:
- Use potted mums. They are cheap, bright, and tough, and they last through the season, long after the pumpkins are gone.
- Weigh things down. Bay Area evenings can bring wind, and a light pot on a step may not stay put.
- Plan for the weather. October is often one of the clearest months here, but fog and a sudden chill can arrive near the coast, and the temperature can be very different from one neighborhood to the next. Our guide to the Bay Area microclimates explains why, and our post on the science of fog shows how the flowers feel about it.
- Keep candles and costumes apart. A lantern on the step, with a real flame, is a hazard when a child in a flowing costume goes by. LED lanterns are a better choice for the door.
- Keep the path clear. Trick-or-treaters walk in the dark, in masks. Put the decorations at the sides, not in the middle of the stairs.
🐾 A Note on Pets
Halloween is a big night for dogs and cats, too, and some of the flowers used in autumn displays are not safe for them. Lilies, in particular, are dangerous for cats. Our Tigard sister site has a useful guide to which flowers are toxic to cats and dogs. If you have a pet, keep arrangements out of reach, and if you think one has eaten something, call your veterinarian.
👑 The Flower-Crown Costume
If you are still looking for a costume, a flower crown is one of the easiest and most photogenic. A woodland fairy, a garden goddess, a forest spirit, or a poet in a field all start with the same crown. Our Tigard sister site wrote a good guide to flower crowns for fall. A few tips:
- Order it fresh and wear it soon. A fresh crown looks best on the day it is made.
- Pick sturdy flowers. Mums, statice, and small roses hold up for an evening better than delicate petals.
- Keep it low-scent if you will be near other people all night.
- Save it afterward. A crown can be dried and kept. Our guide to drying and pressing flowers shows how.
🎁 The Boo-Quet
Here is our favorite Halloween tradition, and it costs very little. A “boo-quet” is a small, surprise bunch of flowers left on a friend’s or neighbor’s doorstep, with a card that says “you’ve been boo-ed” or just “Happy Halloween.” It is the flower version of a doorbell ditch, and it makes people smile. A few notes:
- Keep it anonymous, or not. Either is fun.
- Send it to a coworker, a neighbor, or a friend who is having a rough week. A small orange-and-yellow bunch is a cheerful surprise on a Friday morning.
- Choose a time. Because Halloween is a weekend day, the Friday before (October 30) is the best day for a delivery. If you want it on Halloween itself, confirm the day and the time when you order.
- Think about the recipient. A shared building, a leasing office, or a workplace may want a heads-up. Our guide to the surprise delivery explains how to plan it.
We deliver to San Francisco, Oakland, Marin, and across the Bay. If you are sending something to a friend as a general thank-you or just-because, our thank-you flowers page is a good starting point.
🧡 The Short Version
Pick a look, keep the table low, keep the flames away from the capes, and put a potted mum on the porch. Send a boo-quet to someone who could use one. Have a wonderful, ridiculous Halloween, and we will see you in the costume.