Tips for a Fantastic Mardi Gras Party

Mardi Gras translates to “Fat Tuesday” and is always the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, making this the last day to indulge before Lent; For many Christians, Lent is the beginning of fasting or sacrifice. Although New Orleans may be the largest and most well-known city for this annual celebration, you can easily bring Bourbon Street to your Mardi Gras party wherever you live.

Planning and preparing for the Mardi Gras party can be a big part of the fun. Keep in mind that the goal is to create a colorful and flashy carnival atmosphere. Focus on the excesses when considering the menu, the decorations and the music. From the moment your guests approach the party entrance, they will be transported to Bourbon Street.

1) Decorations: Make sure the decorations boldly announce “party time.” The official colors of Mardi Gras are purple, gold, and green, with each color serving as a symbol: purple represents justice, gold represents power, and green represents faith. Beads, banners, streamers, masks and balloons in traditional colors are inexpensive and set the tone.

2) Invitations – Tell your guests that there will be prizes for the best, funniest, most original, etc. suits. To start the party tone, put some confetti inside each invitation.

3) Masks and Costumes: Masks are a must to create the Bourbon Street vibe. Costumes and masks allow guests to be someone else for the night; a king, a queen, a jester or some other character. The masks add to the mystery of this unique celebration. Remember to have some cheap prizes for the costume contest.

4) Food – Lots of delicious Cajun or Creole food will be the highlight of a successful party. Most of the dishes are cheap and easy to make. Big pots of Spicy Cajun Jambalaya, Gumbo, Creole Shrimp and King Cake will delight your guests; They’ll be talking about the amazing food until next Mardi Gras.

5) Music – Find some good Zydeco or jazz and play it all night long. If you’re not familiar with Zydeco, search iTunes for music by Rockin’ Sidney, Boozoo Chavis, or Buckwheat Zydeco; this will help you get started.

For anyone interested in arts and crafts, you can make some of your own decorations and masks to add that personal touch. It’s also fun, not to mention useful, to have a pre-party. Enlist the help of some friends to decorate; Serve up some snacks and get to work. The combination of great decorations, lots of tasty Cajun food, Zydeco music, masks and costumes will create a memorable Mardi Gras party.