St. Patrick's Day Ideas

Wear Your Green!

When it comes to planning a St. Patrick’s Day party, the location makes a big difference in how you celebrate. An event at your home will be more low key than an event at the local Irish pub. At a home event, you will want to make sure to have enough food, beverage, and for it to be decorated properly. For an event at a pub, you will want to be sure to hire entertainment, stock up on Guinness, and possibly hire some security in case things get rowdy.

When it come to decorating your party or pub, there will be a lot of green for sure! Adorn the walls with Irish flags and images of shamrocks. Many party supply stores have various sized shamrocks that you can hang from your ceiling or light fixtures. You can also find some posters that have traditional Irish limericks or sayings. If you can’t find any posters, make them yourself! Make sure any items you get for the food and drinks, like cups, napkins, plates, etc., go along with the Irish colors of green, orange, and white. If you have a green thumb, you can plant some Oxalis plants and put them around the house. What is an Oxalis plant, you ask? Most of you will know it by the name of a shamrock. You could also go to your local florist if you are not very plant savvy. Most importantly make sure everyone wears their green, unless they want to get pinched!

Let the Celtic Music Ring

It wouldn’t be a party without music. St. Paddy’s Day has some especially fun, traditional music options. For a more formal party, you could have a Celtic harpist serenading your guests. Other Celtic musicians are fiddlers, flutists, and bagpipers. Speaking of bagpipers, these musicians are some of the most popular and requested entertainment options on St. Patrick’s Day. If you want a bagpiper to perform at your pub or party, be sure to book him or her well in advance.

In addition to or in place of music, you can have performers entertain your guests at your party. A common request is to have little people dressed as leprechauns strolling throughout the event. Another form of strolling entertainment is a magician. Hire a magician to wander the room and perform periodically for your guests. If you have a performance stage, you could have a full magic show or other entertainment like an Irish dance performance.

Mmm..Corned Beef and Guinness Time!

Nothing says St. Patrick’s Day like corned beef and cabbage! This is the traditional meal for any St. Paddy’s day celebration. Even though it is tradition for corned beef and cabbage to be served on St. Patrick’s Day, it is not a traditional Irish food. It became tradition for Irish Americans to eat this meal on St. Patrick’s day mainly for economical reasons. In the early 1900’s, the Irish American immigrants were in the lower class and because the meat was cheaper here than over in Ireland and cabbage was also relatively cheap these became the staple foods for the holiday. Enough with history, back to your event. Depending on the size of your event and your cooking abilities, you can prepare the meal yourself or hire a caterer to do it for you. For desert, make some St. Paddy’s treats. You can use cookie cutters to make shamrock shaped cookies, decorate with green icing and you’re set! You could also make cupcakes and use icing to make shamrock shapes on top.

For those of age to celebrate it this way, many view St. Patrick’s Day as a drinking holiday. Irish pubs around the country are always bursting with business every March 17. If you are hosting your own party, be sure to hire a bartender to keep the Guinness and Irish Car Bombs flowing. If you’d rather go the less expensive route, get some green food dye and put it in your regular domestic beer. Just be sure not to put too much in or you will turn your guests teeth green! It is still festive and allows all of your guests to enjoy their drink because not all like Guinness. Another fun option, if you are having some drinks to cheers to, is to teach your guests some traditional Irish drinking songs.

St. Patrick’s Day is a time to celebrate whether or not you have any Irish heritage. So get yourself some corned beef and cabbage, put on your green, and party the day away!