St. Patty's Day Party Ideas

Whether you're Irish or not, St. Patrick's Day is one of the most highly anticipated party holidays of the year. So, if you want to throw a party your guests will be talking about for years to come, take some tips from an event professional who's spent many a St. Patty's Day in Boston - where they know how to do it up right. Here, my top 5 party ideas for March 17th:

1.) Your St. Patty’s Day celebration should start as early as possible (the Irish don’t mess around), so throw a “Kegs & Eggs” party in the morning hours, featuring bottomless cups of Guinness and Green Eggs & Ham (Dr. Seuss was Irish too, you know).

2.) If you have a big enough backyard, throw an “Irish-Fest” at your very own house! Like the official one in Dublin, but on a smaller scale, your party should feature the following:

**Beer, beer and more beer (Murphy’s, Guinness, Smithwick’s, Harp, etc)

**Upbeat, Irish band music (think Dropkick Murphy’s)

**Traditional cuisine (corned beef, potatoes, stew, soda bread, shellfish)

**GAMES: Set up a horseshoe pit, rent a moon-bounce for the kids, play pin the top hat on the leprechaun, water balloon tosses, corn hole, and more. The possibilities are endless, and how many games you have depend on how much space is available. If you want to go a step further, develop a point system and make score-cards for guests to tally their totals throughout the day. Then, at the end announce a winner, who gets the “pot ‘o’ gold”, or a grand prize. What the prize is will be completely based on your budget, but should include items that are green, Irish-centric and lucky (ideas include shamrock party favors, Irish music CD, DVD of Boondock Saints,scratch-off lotto tickets)

3.) Reserve a table or rent out a room at your favorite local Irish Pub, and let the shenanigans ensue.

4.) Host a Scavenger Hunt Irish Pub Crawl. Choose 5 or 6 of our favorite local bars (preferably in the same general area) and create a schedule for the day. DO NOT tell your guests where they will be going; instead, send them a clue to the first bar in the invitation. You may want to note on the invite that a requirement to get the second clue is to wear green. This is an “Audience Participation Required” event! Those who are clever enough to make it to the first bar and ARE wearing green, will be given the clue to the next locale. At each location, create another task for your guests to complete before they get the next clue (i.e. drink an Irish Car Bomb). At the last bar, hide some kind of prize (see “Pot ‘o’ Gold ideas, above, for examples) – whoever finds the prize first is the winner! This sparks a sense of competition and mystery to the day and makes it fun for everyone involved. FYI, I HIGHLY recommend contacting all the bars before St. Patrick’s Day and giving them a heads up – If they know you’re coming with a large group, they may let you bypass the lines.

5.) Attend your local parade or festival, and dress up with pride. Gather your group and make hand-made matching t-shirts (break out the puffy paint!). Use face paint, temporary tattoos, green beads, top hats and more to show your support of all things Irish!


Happy Frolicking!


-Stephanie