Mardi Gras Party

Mardi gras is a celebration of life. Also known as "Fat Tuesday," it is celebrated with parades and balls until Ash Wednesday which is the start of the fasting season of Lent. The most famous Mardi gras celebration is the one held in New Orleans each year.

A Mardi gras party is about the food and the music. It is also about costumes and masks. If you like costume parties, this is a great party theme. You can have an intimate party in your home for a few friends or throw a huge event at a local hotel or other venue. A Mardi gras party is loud, a room filled with laughter and people having a good time. You want to keep that in mind when selecting the day and the venue for your party.

You will want to have creative invitations for this party. The invitation could be a mask or it could be a mask attached to a written or engraved invitation. Make it imaginative. This will set the tone for your party.

The decorations for the party should be in the Mardi gras colors of purple, gold, and green. You can use streamers, balloons, and masks. You can sprinkle confetti in the Mardi gras colors on your tables for a great accent.

Costumes are the dress for the party. Your guests can dress in costumes that are lavish or bizarre and your guests must wear a mask. The ladies can wear lots of jewelry. You should also have some of the plastic beads and coins that are thrown at the Mardi gras parades.

Cajun food is the menu for a Mardi gras celebration: red beans and rice, jambalaya, bread pudding, gumbo, rice, pecan pie, shrimp in Creole sauce, and oyster po-boys. It is a tradition to bake the figurine of a baby in a cake. The cake is usually white with a colored glaze. If you get the slice of cake with the figurine, it means good luck.

Do not forget the music. Jazz and Dixieland Jazz have their origins in New Orleans.

You should serve both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages at your party. Be a responsible host and make sure that guests who have had too much to drink go home with a designated driver. You can also call a cab or offer to drive the person home.

If you adapt a Mardi gras party as a birthday party for someone who is celebrating their 40th birthday, an "over-the-hill" birthday, you may want to add a CD of the funeral march music that is played in New Orleans.

A Mardi gras party is a joyful celebration of life.