Costume Contest Trophies

Awards for Halloween and themed-party contests at offices, schools, bars and community events

Short answer

A costume contest needs one award per category, and the categories do most of the work: best overall, scariest, funniest, best group and best homemade cover almost any party. We design the awards as a matching set in full-color acrylic, cut to any shape, with your event or company name on each one. Order them without winners’ names so they are ready on the night. There is no minimum order, and you approve a design proof before anything is produced.

Layered acrylic award with a clear mountain-profile backing plate and a red and black cut-out X

Start with who is competing

The right awards depend on the room. Three common kinds of contest need three different lists.

  • Office contest. Small, judged by vote, with group costumes from whole departments. Three to five awards.
  • School or family event. Split by age so a six-year-old is not judged against a teenager. More awards, smaller pieces.
  • Public event or venue. A stage, an audience and a sponsor. Fewer awards, larger, with the event’s branding prominent.

We design all three as custom awards. For a long list at a school or community event, medallion awards on neck ribbons are a practical way to cover every age group.

Core categories

Custom acrylic award icon

Best Overall

The grand prize, and the largest award in the set.

Layered award icon

Scariest

For the costume that made someone step back.

Pin and commemorative award icon

Funniest

Judged by the laugh it got when it walked in.

Fully custom award icon

Best Homemade

Rewards time and ingenuity over a store-bought kit.

Medallion award icon

Best Group or Duo

One award per person, so count the group before you order.

Wall plaque icon

Most Creative

For the idea nobody else thought of, including the pun costume.

Extra categories by type of event

Categories to add
EventCategories worth adding
OfficeBest Department Theme; Best Desk or Door Decoration; Best Costume on a Video Call
School or familyAn award in each age group; Best Storybook Character; Best Family Costume
Public eventCrowd Favorite; Best Pet Costume; Best Costume Built Around a Wheelchair or Stroller
Themed partyBest Use of Theme; Most Accurate; Best Low-Effort Costume

A group category creates a counting problem. Decide in advance whether the group shares one award or each member receives one, and say which when you request a quote.

Judging without hurt feelings

  1. Publish the categories and the rules beforehand, including what is not appropriate for the setting. An office and a late-night venue have different lines.
  2. Use a vote or a small panel. For a public event, crowd applause is fun but favors whoever brought the most friends; a panel plus one crowd-favorite award balances it.
  3. One prize per person. Spread the awards around.
  4. Keep entry optional. At work especially, not everyone wants to dress up, and nobody should be singled out for sitting it out.

For an office party with a lighter awards segment, funny award ideas and work superlatives have lists that stay good-natured.

Presenting the awards

The presentation is most of the fun, and it takes very little planning. Line the finalists up where everyone can see them, announce the categories from the smallest to the largest, and finish with best overall. Have each winner step forward for a photograph in costume with the award; those pictures are what gets shared afterward and what sells next year’s contest.

For a school or family event, call every child in an age group forward before naming the winner, so that each one has a moment in front of the room. For an office, keep the whole segment short and hold it while most people are still there, not at the end of the day.

If someone has to act as host, the award ceremony script has a short version for an office presentation.

What goes on each award

The winners are chosen on the night, so the awards carry the category and no name.

Halloween Costume Contest
Best Overall
2026

Fall Festival
Best Family Costume
2026

An annual contest can add a grand-prize perpetual that returns each year, in the same way as an ugly sweater trophy. Perpetual trophies explains how to plan one. For a public event with a sponsor, see sponsor plaques.

What to send us

  • The event name and logo or artwork.
  • The categories, and how many awards each one needs.
  • The date of the contest.
  • Whether it is annual, so the design can be reordered.

You approve a design proof of the full set before anything is produced. Request a quote with the contest date and we will answer against it. The Recognition Library has pages for other company and community events.

Costume Contest Trophies FAQs

What categories should a costume contest have?

Best overall, scariest, funniest, best homemade and best group cover most parties. Add age groups for a family event and a department category for an office.

How many trophies do I need for a group costume category?

Decide whether the group shares one award or each member gets one. If each gets one, estimate the largest likely group and order to that.

Should the awards have names on them?

No. Winners are decided on the night, so awards carry the event, the category and the year.

Can the awards be shaped like a pumpkin or a ghost?

Yes. Our acrylic is cut to shape and printed in full color, so the set can follow any theme you send as artwork.

How do you judge a costume contest fairly?

Publish the categories first, use a vote or a small panel, and limit each person to one prize.

Is a small order for an office party all right?

Yes. Three awards for an office contest is a typical order.

Racer in a helmet raising both arms as gold confetti falls under stage lights
CONTEST PLANNED?

Send the categories and the count

Send the event name, your artwork and the category list. We design a matching set and send a proof before anything is made.

Tell us the date of the contest and we will quote against it.

Request a Quote