St. Patrick’s Day is a popular Irish holiday celebrated not only in Ireland, but in many places around the world. To plan the perfect St. Patrick’s Day party, start by drafting a list of guests you’d like to invite. Next, make a list of the foods you might want to include at the party. Finally, come up with a few activities and decorations you want at the party.
EditSteps
EditMaking Invitations
- Make an invitation list. Before you can plan the finer details of your St. Patrick’s Day part, you’ll need to decide who you want to invite. You might want to invite friends, family, neighbors, and/or coworkers.[1]
- Plan on inviting about 20% more people than you can accommodate, since many people might not be able to attend.
- Create your invitations. Your St. Patrick’s Day invitation should include some sort of appropriate graphic. For instance, you might choose an invitation bearing a four-leaf clover or a leprechaun (a mythical creature associated with the holiday).[2]
- You could buy invitations or make them at home if you have appropriate software and a color printer.
- Place the invites into green envelopes and add some green confetti inside for a fun surprise when they’re opened.
- Send the invites out at least two weeks prior to the party.
- If your party is more spontaneous, just send out email invitations to everyone, and try to include a green graphic in the email body like a shamrock or leprechaun design.
- Include relevant information. Let your guests know where the party will be held, what time they should arrive, and what sort of activities will be at the party. Encourage party guests to wear green and to RSVP.[3]
EditDecorating the Party Space
- Set the table with an Irish-themed color palette. Cover the table with a green tablecloth. Serve food on white dishes, and use orange napkins. This palette of three colors corresponds to those used in the flag of Ireland.[4] Before guests arrive, set the table with the number of places that corresponds to the number of people you expect to attend.[5]
- Roll the napkins from corner to corner and tie them with a golden cord.
- Provide green drinking straws, too.
- Scatter some green sequins over the table to give it a finishing touch.
- Hang some streamers and balloons. Balloons and streamers are crucial elements of any well-decorated party. Plan on filling a number of orange and green balloons just prior to your party beginning and let them float about the party space. Hang streamers from one wall to another, or just drape them from one end of the wall to the other.[6]
- Make a centerpiece of gold chocolate coins. Place some chocolate coins in little pots. You might be able to get plastic or cardboard imitation pots at your local novelty store. Place these “pots o’ gold” at regular intervals along the length of your dining tables.[8]
- Alternately, you could use foliage to make a centerpiece featuring shamrocks, calla lilies, or white flowers in small vases or pots.
- Place a stone at the entrance. In traditional Irish lore, the Blarney Stone is a magical rock that people can kiss to gain exceptional oratory skill. You could evoke this legendary rock by placing a small (baseball-sized) stone on a small pedestal or table at the entrance to the party. Encourage party guests to kiss it.[9]
- Use an orange ribbon bow or lengths for splashes of contrasting color.
- Decorate the party space with appropriate plants. The Bells of Ireland and calla lilies are two plants native to Ireland. The Bells are said to bring good luck and the lilies represent beauty. Place them in pots and situate them throughout the party space.[10]
- Cut out some paper shamrocks. Using green paper or poster board and a shamrock-shaped template, you can produce easily produce a series of paper shamrocks. Hang them around the room, or wait until your guests arrive and invite them to write their name or a holiday message on the shamrock, and permit them to hang the shamrock somewhere around the party space.[11]
- You can easily obtain a shamrock-shaped template online. Just print it out, cut around the shape, and use it to trace shamrocks onto your green construction paper or poster board.
EditSelecting Foods and Beverages
- Provide green foods and snacks. There are many ways to serve green foods and snacks. You might provide key lime pie, sliced kiwi, green-frosted cookies, pistachio muffins, avocado ice cream, lime gelatin, or guacamole and nacho chips. Invite your guests to make suggestions prior to the party so that you will provide something for everyone.[12]
- Bake some Lucky Charms treats. Lucky Charms is an Irish-themed cereal that features small marshmallows shaped like horseshoes, clovers, and stars. If you can obtain some of this cereal, you could make a tasty snack for your party guests. To get started, place two tablespoons of butter with seven ounces (198 grams) of marshmallows in a microwave-safe bowl.[13]
- Microwave the butter and marshmallows for two minutes.
- Remove the bowl and add four cups (100 grams) of the Lucky Charms cereal.
- Spoon the mixture into a cake pan and smooth it over with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Wait for the mixture to cool slightly, then cut it into small square pieces. Serve to your guests as a snack.
- Provide a green smoothie station. You could set up a smoothie station where guests could make their own green smoothies. You might include frozen banana slices, ice cubes, kale, spinach, and milk. Encourage your guests to add their ingredients into the blender, affix the lid, then blend the contents for about 30 seconds.[14]
- Offer a mug of green ale. If your party is for guests of drinking age, you could serve beer at your party. Try to buy some green beer for the holiday, or make your own green beer.[15]
- Other green alcohol options include the mixing a bit of crème de menthe with whisky or vodka to give your booze a minty flavor.
- Prepare a “pot o’ gold.” There are many main courses you could make with a golden tint to them. Baked macaroni and cheese, cheesy cauliflower, Yukon gold potato and mushroom gratin, or golden colcannon pie, for instance, are all delicious options.
- Pair your “pot o’ gold” with a green veggie like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green beans, or peas.
EditPlanning Activities
- Play the ladder lingo game. In this simple mind teaser game, the party guests must sit in a circle. Each person must think of a St. Patrick’s Day-themed word within five seconds, then the person next to them must think of one that begins with the last letter of the word the person before them offered.[16]
- For instance, if the first person said “clover,” the next person might say “rainbow.”
- The game keeps going until no one can think of another appropriately themed word within the time limit.
- Play pin the shamrock on the leprechaun. Draw an image of a leprechaun holding a pot of gold onto a poster board. Cut out several small shamrocks from construction paper. Place a piece of inverted tape on the back of each shamrock. Blindfold party guests and invite them to try to attach the paper shamrock to the leprechaun’s pot of gold.[17]
- Award players who attach the shamrock accurately with a small party favor like a chocolate coin.
- Obtain t-shirt decorating materials. Another simple holiday activity involves painting white or green t-shirts with t-shirt markers or paints. These materials are readily available at most arts and crafts stores. Encourage partygoers to paint a shamrock, leprechaun, or similar St. Patrick Day-themed image on their shirt.[18]
- Choose your musical playlist. Find some Irish music you can play during the party. Look in the Celtic music section of your favorite music store (online or in-store), and stock up on some Irish favorites. Play this music in the background during the party.[19]
- Popular Irish artists include The Pogues and Enya.
- If someone can play instruments, enlist them to play some tunes.
EditSample Flyer and Invitation
EditTips
- Give your house a once-over cleaning before the guests arrive. Make space in your closet for coats.
- Remove any personal medications or items that you don’t want guests seeing from your medicine cabinet.[20]
- If you have a large number of guests and expect your party might get loud or spill over into the yard, let your neighbors know in advance.[21]
- Young kids might enjoy creating leprechauns, coloring in St. Patrick’s Day-themed coloring books, sticking shamrock stickers onto paper, and so on.
- Put together a party favors bag. If your party is for children, you might want to offer a parting gift. You could include a small book containing trivia about Ireland, golden chocolate coins, or school supplies (pencils, erasers, bookmarks, and so on) that are green or decorated with shamrocks.[22]
EditWarnings
- As with any festive occasion, drink in moderation and get a sober driver to take home anyone who has had too much.[23]
EditThings You'll Need
- Party venue
- Irish food
- Beer, preferably an Irish and/or green beer
- Party decorations
- Tablecloth, napkins, cutlery, plates, etc.
- Irish music and music player; instruments (optional)
- Craft gear and computer software/printer for making invitations
- Green clothes/costumes
EditRelated wikiHows
- Celebrate St. Patrick's Day
- Make Colcannon
- Make a Baby Guinness
- Make Irish Coffee for St. Patrick's Day
EditSources and Citations
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