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Even if you’re not Irish, you might be thinking about having a St Patrick’s Day celebration this year. But what sort of things do you need to consider? We’ve explored the main things to think about, such as food, drink, decorations, and entertainment, below!
St Patrick’s Day, normally celebrated on 17 March, is a holiday that celebrates the patron saint of Ireland, St Patrick. While much of his life remains a mystery, we do know that, while in Ireland, he converted to Christianity, and became a missionary there.
Due to the era he lived in, St Patrick was never formally canonised by the Catholic Church, but his visions and miracles would undoubtedly have qualified him for sainthood! Though the story of him banishing all the snakes from Ireland does seem to be a myth.
On St Patrick’s Day, believed to be the anniversary of St Patrick’s death, it was traditional to attend a mass, religious service, or feast. These days though, a party or a pub crawl seem to be more typical activities!
Want to throw a party this St Patrick’s Day? There are a few things to think about, once you’ve come up with your guest list! From the food and drink to the party games, we’ve come up with a couple of ideas below, to help you get started:
One of the most important considerations for any party is the food and drink! And on St Patrick’s Day, the fare tends to be Irish. And what can be more Irish than stout? Guinness is probably the most well known producer of stout. Did you know that around ten million glasses of Guinness are drunk a day around the world? It’s a very popular drink! But there are other manufacturers too, such as Murphy’s, and smaller craft breweries.
Irish whiskey is another popular drink, though you might not want to serve your best whiskey at your party – it can be expensive to buy a good bottle! However, as with the stout, whiskey can be a great thing to incorporate into food. Stout recipes include black velvet cupcakes, beef and stout stew, as well as Guinness, treacle and ginger pudding. Recipes using whiskey include Irish apple tart, and whiskey and nut baked camembert.
In addition to this, you could try using Irish cream in your desserts – Bailey’s is most likely the one you’ve heard of, but there are lots of others on the market. You can even make your own Irish cream, using Irish whiskey and a few other ingredients.
There are loads of options when it comes to decorating your home for St Patrick’s Day. Perhaps you could turn your living room into an Irish tavern – you’d simply need to get some brick wall wallpaper and safely stick it up on your walls. You can buy self-adhesive wallpaper online, which promises to be easily removable, with no residue left behind.
Alternatively, you could create your own decorations, on an Irish theme. As much green as possible is a typical approach! Or you could make your very own pot of gold – just spray paint a cauldron (hopefully you’ll have one left over from Halloween) gold, and fill it with chocolate coins. Then, make a rainbow leading up to this centrepiece!
You don’t need to go all out when it comes to the entertainment of your party. Good food and good company will go a long way! But if you do decide to provide some form of entertainment, you’ll first need to consider the vibe you’re going for. Are you looking to concentrate on the drinking element of St Patrick’s Day? Or is the party aimed at families, with lots of exciting activities for the kids?
Something that should appeal to guests of all ages is a photobooth. You can simply set up a backdrop using a green sheet, or put all your houseplants in a corner of the room! Shamrock balloons are usually easy to get hold of at this time of year, and you can make your own photo booth props, as well as buying some.
Another activity that may prove to be popular amongst your party goers is getting creative! You could provide the materials and instructions for all sorts of Irish themed crafts, from making a crochet four-leaf clover, to decorating biscuits or cupcakes with shamrocks.