Throwing a Great St. Patrick’s Day party
Nothing sets the spirit of refreshing spring like the St. Patrick’s Day holiday! All you need to celebrate St. Patrick's Day is a bit ‘o green and an Irish sense of fun and humor! Bring home the lunacy that’s always down at the pubs by inviting friends and family over for some heavy Irish beers, old Irish pop music, and robust meaty Irish meals! Let’s get started with the basics of throwing a St. Patrick’s Day party.
Invitations to the biggest St. Patrick’s Day bash in town
Use plenty of Irish clip art images such as shamrocks, leprechauns, and pots of gold on your invitation cards. Make sure you announce the St. Patrick’s Day party theme to be green so that your guests can decide on their attires well in advance. If your party is a spur-of-the-moment decision, then send out email invites with a small shamrock or leprechaun clip art next to your signature.
Decorations at your St. Patrick’s Day party
"St Patricks Day sign with shamrock" by Enokson is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Paper shamrocks, pots of gold, four leaf clovers, leprechaun balloons, and green streamers are some of the traditional St. Patrick’s Day decorations and are typically found in houses that are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Use green construction paper to cut out shamrocks large enough for a cup to sit on. Laminate them to make them sturdy and waterproof. Place the shamrock coasters on tabletops for your guests to use during the party. Put together a green bouquet of flowers such as green carnations, ferns, and zinnias. Cut out small shamrocks from green lamination sheets and stick them into your flower arrangement.
Food and Drinks at your St. Patrick’s Day party
Drinks - Deciding on drinks for your St. Patrick’s Day party is not rocket science – keep it simple yet delicious! Good ol’ Irish whiskeys, rich cream liqueurs, heavy stouts, and classic ales are some of the musts at a St. Patrick’s Day party.
Shots - Guests are sure to have shots at your party, so it’s best to be prepared for it. Keep plenty of shot glasses for the guests. Make the classic shamrock shooter with Midori melon liqueur, Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey, and Irish cream liqueur. Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well, strain into shot glasses and serve.
Beers - If you ever had a poll on “Which holiday do people closely associate with beer?” St. Patrick’s Day would win hands down! Besides the traditional stout Guinness, try other stouts such as the Obsidian Stout, Mean Old Tom, Donnybrook Stout, or the Milk Stout Nitro.
Whiskeys - Needless to say, serve heavy Irish whiskeys at your St. Patrick’s Day party. The rich aftertaste of Irish whiskeys will leave guests asking for more!
Food
Well, even food at your St. Patrick’s Day party has to be heavily Irish. Here is a typical Irish fare that you can serve.
Corned beef spread - In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, dill, and corned beef, and season with salt. Cover and refrigerate till you serve. Serve alongside wedges of onion bagels.
Colcannon potatoes - This St. Patrick’s Day side dish is a classic combination of boiled cabbage, potatoes, milk, onions, and some wholesome bacon, and is a popular favorite. Drizzle with melted butter parsley. Serve it alongside lamb chops, carrots and soda bread.
Irish stew - Use beef instead of lamb if you want your stew to be light and creamy. Make it in your slow cooker so that you can proceed to making some light soda bread to go with it.
Irish soda bread - This moist and dense bread is easy to modify to suit different palates. Use raisins instead of currants, and more orange zest to get a wonderful texture and a pronounced orange taste. In no time, you’ll have neighbors asking you what that delectable thing is cooking in your oven!
Irish pie - Add in frozen peas, corn, ground beef and pork to get the heartiest St. Patrick’s Day meal! The heavy meaty pie will complement the celebratory mood just perfectly!
Wearing O' Green Cake - One bite of this moist, colorful cake and you'll think you've found the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow! It's the perfect dessert to go with your rich and decadent Irish cream chocolate trifle.
Music at your St. Patrick’s Day party to light it all up!
It’s the music that brings in the food, the drinks, and the mood together! Here are some popular tracks that you can play at your St. Patrick’s Day party –
- Bully in the Alley, by Paddy and the Rats
- An Irish Pub Song, by The Rumjacks
- Wild Rover, by The Dubliners
- Drink Up Ya Sinners, by Sir Reg
- The Mahones, by One Last Shot
- Get Drunk Tonight, by Bloody Irish Boys
- Irish Rover, by Happy Ol' Mc Weasel
- Irish Pub Song, by Flogging Molly
- Irish Drinking Songs, OST of The Boondock Saints
- I'm Shipping Up To Boston, by Dropkick Murphys
- Loud 'n' Proud 'n' Bold, by Neck
- The Saints Are Up!, by The Kilmaine Saints
