Sometimes you don't need a big night out or an elaborate plan. You just need a reason to get everyone together.
This weekend, I hosted a Witches’ Brunch at home for my mom, my two sisters and me, and it ended up being one of those afternoons that reminds you why it's worth making the effort to plan something a little different.
Although, honestly, it really wasn't that much effort.
Everyone came in, immediately put on their witch headbands, grabbed their pumpkin beads, and we were off.
By the end of the afternoon, we'd eaten way too much, discovered our witch powers, told our witchy fortunes, made magical cauldrons, drank cranberry mimosas and had some genuinely good belly laughs.
At one point someone said, “This was fun. We needed this.”
And I think that pretty much sums up the whole afternoon.
Setting Up Our Witches’ Brunch
I wanted the table to be the main event rather than feeling like I needed to decorate the entire house.
Luckily, my house is already decorated for fall, so I focused most of my attention on making the brunch table feel special.
I started with a purple tablecloth and layered a black spiderweb lace runner over it. In the center of the table, I added a spiderweb decoration along with three black LED candles that light up with a spiderweb-style pattern.
Then came my favorite part—the individual place settings.
Each witch had:
- A Reserved for a Witch place card
- A witch hat headband
- A skeletal-hand wine glass
- Three pumpkin bead necklaces
- A nicer disposable plate
- Skeleton disposable utensils
I draped the pumpkin beads out of the wine glasses, which added a lot to the table without really requiring any additional decorating.
And no one left them sitting there for long.
As soon as everyone arrived, the headbands and beads went on.
I also set out my Welcome to the Witches’ Brunch Club sign and the Pick Your Poison sign by the drinks.
The Pick Your Poison sign was one of the biggest hits of the day. Sometimes it's those little details that make an ordinary setup feel like an actual event.
Our Easy Witchy Brunch Menu
I didn't want to spend the entire morning cooking, so I kept the food fairly simple and did a mix of homemade and store-bought.
We had:
- Breakfast burritos
- Chocolate chip banana bread muffins
- Chicken salad
- Lemon Bundt cake
I made the burritos, muffins and cake myself, but we bought the chicken salad.
And I would absolutely do it this way again.
Not everything at a get-together needs to be homemade. I'd much rather buy one thing and actually have time to sit down and enjoy everyone than spend the whole morning trying to make every single dish myself.
For drinks, we had Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon along with cranberry mimosas.
The mimosas couldn't be easier—just Prosecco and cranberry juice. We also like to add a little edible glitter because, obviously, a witches’ brunch deserves a little sparkle.
Discovering Our Witch Powers
I knew I wanted activities, but I didn't want the brunch to turn into three hours of organized games.
So instead of trying to do everything in my Witches’ Brunch Club package, I picked a handful of activities that sounded fun and left plenty of time for eating, talking and laughing.
One of our favorites was discovering our Witch Powers.
The sheet combines your birth month, birth year and drink to reveal your witch power.
Mine?
The Healing Witch.
We also chose our witch types.
Before everyone arrived, I cut the individual witch type cards apart, folded them up and put them into a jar. Everyone reached in and randomly chose one.
Surprisingly, almost every single one seemed pretty accurate.
That became part of the fun—reading the description and immediately deciding whether the universe had gotten it right.
A Little Witchy Fortune Telling
I prepared our Witchy Fortunes the same way.
I cut the fortunes apart, folded them up and let everyone choose one.
It was incredibly simple, but everyone really enjoyed seeing what fortune they ended up with.
We also played Proper Potion or Total Poison and Witchy Would You Rather, which gave us plenty to debate and laugh about.
There were other games we could have played—including trivia and Who Among Us—but we intentionally didn't try to fit everything in.
We're getting together again for Halloween, so we're saving some of those for then.
I actually think that made the brunch better.
Having a printable package full of options doesn't mean you have to do every single one. Pick what works for your group and save the rest for another night.
Then We Made Magical Cauldrons
We usually like to add some kind of craft when we get together.
We've made witch balls in the past, so this year we decided to try something completely different: magical stirring cauldrons.
We used black cauldrons that were about six inches across and added battery-operated green fairy lights that blinked inside them.
Then we added cotton to create the look of smoke and bubbling potion, along with a few little skeletons.
But the best part was the spoon.
We used small battery-operated turntables and attached a wooden spoon so that it actually moved around the cauldron as though an invisible witch were stirring the potion.
It looked ridiculously fun when it was finished.
We did have one minor magical malfunction.
My sister was in charge of the craft supplies and had very responsibly brought batteries for all of the turntables.
Unfortunately, she brought AA batteries.
The turntables needed AAA.
So there was a quick emergency run to the store before our cauldrons could officially come to life.
Sometimes even witches have battery problems.
What I Would Do Again
Pretty much all of it.
Everyone stayed for about three and a half hours, and the afternoon felt incredibly relaxed.
I printed all of the Witches’ Brunch Club pages the day before and waited until the morning of the brunch to cut apart the cards, fortunes and activities.
Even doing that the morning of, I never felt rushed.
The table was the main decorating moment. The food was simple. Some things were homemade and one was store-bought. We chose only a few of the activities instead of trying to work our way through every game.
And it was plenty.
That's probably my biggest takeaway from hosting this.
You don't have to make hosting complicated for it to feel special.
Sometimes we see beautiful parties online and assume we need an enormous food spread, decorations covering every room and a perfectly scheduled afternoon.
You really don't.
Give people something good to eat, put a few fun things on the table, plan one or two things that get everyone talking—and let the rest happen.
“We Needed This”
My favorite part of the entire brunch wasn't the table or the food or even our magical moving cauldrons.
It was the laughing.
We had a few of those real belly laughs where everyone gets going and then nobody can stop.
At some point during the afternoon, someone said:
“This was fun. We needed this.”
That stayed with me.
It was just my mom, my sisters and me sitting around my house wearing witch hats and pumpkin necklaces, drinking cranberry mimosas and finding out what kind of witches we apparently are.
Nothing particularly extravagant.
But it felt like an occasion.
And when it was over, my first thought was that we should absolutely do something like this with our friend group too.
That's really what I want The Little Escape to be about.
You don't always need a vacation, an expensive dinner out or a huge celebration to escape normal life for a few hours.
Sometimes you can create one right at your own kitchen table.
Want to Host Your Own Witches’ Brunch?
If you'd rather skip the planning and get straight to the fun part, I put everything I used—and a whole lot more—into my Witches Brunch Club printable party package
It includes the signs, games, activities, hosting pieces and little extras that let you choose exactly what works for your group.
You don't have to use everything.
Print what you love, pour something bubbly, put on your witch hat and invite your favorite people over.
Because apparently, sometimes what everyone really needs is an afternoon of good food, ridiculous witch powers and a little edible glitter.
And maybe some AAA batteries.
Want to check out what I purchased for the Brunch? Check it out!
A couple things I would like to buy:
