For Everybody Who Loves St. Patrick’s Day
If you love St. Patrick’s Day but can’t find any fun St. Patrick’s Day events to attend, you are going to make your own and here we will cover how. There are several festive ideas for St. Patrick’s Day that we can embrace to happily celebrate at home, whether alone or with family. But the best way to gather extra friends to celebrate this holiday together is to host a St. Patrick’s Day themed party! Never mind trying to crowd into overpacked pubs and struggling to have a conversation at shouting volumes while waiting twenty minutes for a subpar drink. Serve the libations from the comfort of your own kitchen and have the real party in your home!
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How to Throw a St. Patrick’s Day Themed Party
1. Create the Scene with St. Patrick’s Day Party Decorations
St. Patrick’s Day is, of course, all about green. Green is a fun colour that’s full of life and happy energy. It represents the green landscape of Ireland and the lush season of spring. Decorate your space with plenty of green by hanging green streamers everywhere, putting up a green foil backdrop curtain, or incorporating plenty of natural green with plants picked from outside. If you live near a lot of ivy, gather as much as you can and hang it along a mantel, tables, the couch, doorways, and anywhere appropriate. You can also pick bunches of clover, too (picking clover is a little more painstaking timewise and it wilts quickly, so wait until right before your party if you have the time). Maybe you’ll get lucky and find a four-leaf clover!
Decorating can get pricy if you let it, but you can usually find inexpensive party supplies if you know where to look. And, with a little time and motivation, you can almost always DIY your party decorations. Cut shamrocks out of green construction paper and hang them from the ceiling. Or pin a string through them to make a paper shamrock garland. If you worry that you just can’t afford to host a party, consider your disposable income budget and spending habits. Think about how much you might spend during a night out. While that can be a lot of fun, hosting a party is often less expensive when you plan carefully. It just boils down to how you most enjoy spending your leisure time and how you rearrange your spending to prioritize that!
Here are some fun St. Patrick’s Day-themed decorations:
- St. Patrick’s Day confetti
- Lucky Charms marshmallow banner (to delight everyone’s inner child)
- St. Patrick’s Day decorative mini signs
- ‘Happy St. Patrick’s Day’ banner
- Disposable green cups/plates/napkins
- Various creative St. Patrick’s Day banners and garlands
- Various creative St. Patrick’s Day door covers
2. Prepare Green (or Irish) Food and Beverages
Time to get green with your menu! Whether you provide all refreshments or whether you request that guests bring a dish or drink potluck-style, food is one of the most fun ways to engage your guests in a theme. Let them experience St. Patrick’s Day through their sense of taste!
You have plenty of options for green food: peas, leafy green salad, avocado, broccoli, green olives, green peppers, green apples, kiwi, and plenty more. While produce plates may not sound like exciting party food, your guests will thank you come beach season. Balance the healthy green bites with some heavier fare and, of course, green treats and drinks:
- Irish soda bread
- Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes)
- Shepherd’s pie
- Corned beef and cabbage rolls
- St. Patrick’s Day cookies
- St. Patrick’s Day green trifle
- St. Patrick’s Day mint milkshakes
- St. Patrick’s Day mint Schnapps milkshakes
- St Patrick’s Day green Dublin cocktail
- Irish coffee
A note on drinks (and fun fact, at that): many people indulge in copious amounts of beer (or any libation) for St. Patrick’s Day. But up until only several decades ago, everything in Ireland – including pubs – remained closed by law on this holiday which was originally created to commemorate Saint Patrick. When that law was repealed, a mass-produced/low-cost beer manufacturer took the opportunity to advertise heavy beer consumption to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (and that trend clearly caught on).
So while enjoying a delicious drink remains a cheery way to celebrate, the binge drinking culture that more recently evolved is not necessarily a direct product of St. Patrick’s Day itself. While we’re all free to responsibly celebrate however we choose, don’t feel like you’re doing it wrong if you and your guests opt to drink tea instead!
3. Queue Your Irish Party Mix
Background music is key for a party’s vibe. Since St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday, a St. Patrick’s Day party calls for cheerful, festive Irish music! Some fitting tunes include upbeat traditional Irish music or Irish pub songs. But if you are lucky enough to know a musician who can play traditional Irish music (such as a singer, fiddler, or bagpiper), invite them to share their skill with live music! That would make your party especially memorable.
4. Plan St. Patrick’s Day Themed Party Games or Activities
Check out dozens of printable digital St. Patrick’s Day games and activities such as pictionary, Irish slang, trivia, drunk dice, scattergories, ‘drink if’, ‘riddle me this’, and more great options to get everyone laughing and competing. While games aren’t necessarily required to make a great party, they can definitely make it more interesting and entertaining!
5. Establish Guest Participation
Guest participation involves how you’d like your guests to participate or contribute to your party. Maybe you request that guests bring a dish to share, and/or BYOB. Whatever you decide, just make that information clear in the initial invitation. The most festive and traditional way guests can participate in your St. Patrick’s Day themed party is, naturally, to wear green! So invite them to come wearing as much green as possible.
Of course, always choose your guests mindfully and with their interests in mind. Prioritize friends who would most love a St. Patrick’s Day party. But don’t shy away from others who may not typically celebrate this holiday. You never know, you may turn someone Irish!
Checklist of Items You Need
These are the things you need for a St. Patrick’s Day themed party:
- St. Patrick’s Day party decorations
- St. Patrick’s Day themed party foods/drinks
- Irish music
- St. Patrick’s Day party games
Preparation Checklist for Your St. Patrick’s Day Themed Party
1. First, confirm that people can come on any chosen date:
- Choose party date/time, and preferably alternative date(s) as well. The most popular date would typically be a Friday or Saturday night before (or on) March 17th. But if you and your friends’ work schedule favors weeknight parties instead, plan accordingly!
- Choose guest list and establish minimum number of guests you’d like (to make it worth your effort)
- Six weeks out, confirm guests’ interest in the party and availability on chosen party date(s)
- If your preferred minimum number of guests confirm interest and availability, have them secure calendar date for your awesome St. Patrick’s Day party!
2. Then, proceed with the fun planning:
- Schedule time on your calendar for each step of party prep (securing and/or making food/drinks, etc.)
- Create invitations with all the details and send them out 4 weeks before the party
- Order any party supplies and decorations 3 weeks out (so they arrive in time to prepare and set up)
- Shop for any party supplies/decorations you don’t order online, as well as non-perishable food/drinks
- In your planned time slots, DIY any party supplies and decorations
- In your planned time slots, acquire perishable food/drinks early enough in advance to prepare in time
- In your planned time slots, set up decorations
- In your planned time slots, prepare food/drinks (depending on how long things keep)
3. Day of Party (in your amply planned time slot):
- Prepare any foods/drinks that are too fresh to do any earlier
- Set up any quick/easy last-minute supplies and decorations (if not up already)
- Prepare music
- Get dressed in your favourite St. Patrick’s Day party outfit (or just plenty of green)
- Once everything’s ready, meditate or do any preferred self-care to get in a good head space if you aren’t already. You want to be a relaxed, energized, and happy host – both for yourself and for your guests, who will pick up on your contagiously good vibe and automatically be happier as well!
All the best of luck to you and your St. Patrick’s Day party!
If you were unlucky (maybe forgot to wear green) and couldn’t host a St. Patrick’s Day party this year, consider having a Spring Equinox party which occurs just a couple of days later! You also have Easter right around the corner – as early as March 22nd some years (or as late as April 25th) – for another springtime party occasion.