The hospitality veteran and co-founder of Casamigos Tequila and Mezcal (casamigos.com) reflects on the costumes, cocktails and traditions that have made Casamigos’ annual Halloween party one of the hottest tickets in town.
Casamigos Halloween party guests have included Harry Styles PHOTO BY KEVIN MAZUR/MICHAEL KOVAC GETTY IMAGES FOR CASAMIGOS
How did you first come up with the idea for Casamigos to throw a Halloween party? Just like our tequila, we wanted to do annual Casamigos Halloween parties to enjoy and celebrate good times and fun with our house of friends.
Casamigos co-founder Rande Gerber and wife Cindy Crawford PHOTO BY KEVIN MAZUR/MICHAEL KOVAC GETTY IMAGES FOR CASAMIGOS
What makes this event so special and unique? We like to create somewhat of an interactive environment for our guests when they first enter the party. The moment you walk in, everyone is greeted with Casamigos ice shots. You take a shot of Casamigos from an ice mold and throw it at a Casamigos bell.
Amal Clooney PHOTO BY KEVIN MAZUR/MICHAEL KOVAC GETTY IMAGES FOR CASAMIGOS
What are some of the best costumes you’ve worn and seen? Cindy [Crawford] and I go all out for Halloween. It’s the one night you can transform into someone else—at least on the outside. The rock star theme is the easiest. The year I was Axl Rose and Cindy was Slash was fun. I also did Kid Rock and Cindy did Pamela Anderson, which was great. The year I did Marilyn Manson and Cindy was Courtney Love was wild. I had extensions and contact lenses, so people thought I was actually him. Getting the extensions out was a pain, literally, since I didn’t have enough glue remover.
Jonathan Cheban and Kim Kardashian PHOTO BY KEVIN MAZUR/MICHAEL KOVAC GETTY IMAGES FOR CASAMIGOS
Which cocktails are crowd-pleasers? We like to keep it simple with our own Casamigos recipes even for the classics, like the Casamigos Margarita or Paloma, which we always serve at our parties. Most people drink Casamigos on the rocks, the way it was intended to be drunk.
Gerber and Casamigos co-founder George Clooney. GERBER AND CLOONEY PHOTO BY DENISE TRUSCELLO
What tips do you have for readers looking to throw their own Halloween parties? The key to an amazing party is to curate a great guest list. My guest list is an eclectic group of people— some who come from out of town, family members, old friends, new friends. … [For] each party, I curate a special Casamigos playlist as well as [get] a friend to DJ. It usually starts off pretty mellow earlier in the night, so the music is conducive for socializing. As the night goes on and the party picks up, the DJ takes over and we turn it up and play an eclectic mix of dance and R&B. Lighting should be sultry and sexy, cool and lively. It changes throughout the night. It’s extremely important our DJs and lighting engineers read the crowd. This is the one party our guests come [to] early and leave late.
Gwen Stefani PHOTO BY KEVIN MAZUR/MICHAEL KOVAC GETTY IMAGES FOR CASAMIGOS
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake PHOTO BY KEVIN MAZUR/MICHAEL KOVAC GETTY IMAGES FOR CASAMIGOS
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