Shamrock And Roll!St Patricks day celebrations Ideas
Written By Ryan Barrett
What’re the popular st patricks day celebrations? You walk into your favorite bar. But is it your favorite bar? Metallic green garlands and flags scream from every corner and wall. The patrons all scream traditional Irish songs as well. You turn to someone you know to ask what’s going on. As you open your mouth to ask, they stick a cup of Guinness to your lips. Except the Guinness is green. You can’t compute it all. The same green as the walls and your friend’s leprechaun top hat. It all starts to make sense when you finally swallow that room-temperature green drink and realize it’s Guinness. It’s just that jolly lucky holiday that comes every mid-March: St. Patrick’s Day.
Since St. Patrick’s Day is approaching you probably have some green-tinted St. Patrick’s day party ideas to come up with. And if you’re feeling lost, we have a few suggestions on how to make your party as tastefully Irish as possible. Although you might not find any 4-leaf clovers this St. Patty’s day, we offer a site-wide coupon to keep your luck high and your spending low!
History Before Green Beer
There are two things you might be surprised to find out about when asking ‘What is St. Patrick’s Day?’: its roots are religious and the man himself St. Patrick, was British. ‘British!? But it’s an Irish holiday!’ You might not be too surprised that the feast of St. Patrick’s is religious, but the fact that old St. Patrick’s is British is a real shocker! This patron Saint of Ireland, St. Patrick was English. Ironically, it was some Irish thieves in 400 AD who kidnapped St. Patrick and held him prisoner for 6 years. When he finally escaped his kidnappers he was on a mission: to bring his newfound Christian faith to the whole of Ireland.
And now we get to the shamrock. Though 4-leaf clovers are known for being lucky it is the 3-leaf clover that has more significance. St. Patrick used the 3 leaf clover to explain the holy trinity of the father, son, and holy spirit to the Irish masses. Fast forward a millennium later and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are still honoring this Irish saint! Although maybe with a little more drinking than ol’, Patty would approve of.
When Is St. Patrick’s Day?
Have you ever freaked out? Freaked out because you forgot the date of someone’s birthday? With the question ‘When is St. Patrick’s Day’, there is no need to freak out. It falls on March 17th each year. Like Halloween, Christmas, or any other major holiday the date stays the same but the day of the week changes each year. The only thing it would be worth paying attention to is the day of the week St. Patty’s falls on. If it’s on a weekday most of the parties and parades will be held on the weekend before or after. Likewise, if you’re throwing a party, best to have it on a weekend. Do you remember the last time you attended a party on a Wednesday? Yeah, you never have because they don’t exist!
Symbology of St. Patrick’s Day
When you hear St. Patrick’s Day what comes to mind? Rainbows and little men wearing green? There are some major symbols you might be familiar with but either doesn’t know the names of or have no idea of the reason little green men are a part of the traditions. Or even, why do we wear green on St. Patrick’s Day? Let’s take a further look to better understand these somewhat funky symbols.
La La Leprechauns And a Wee Pot of Gold
The first, and obvious reason leprechauns are synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day is that they’re Irish. Besides being Irish, why do these little green humanoid creatures have anything to do with St. Patrick’s day you ask? Why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? The folklore of these creatures goes back to the 8th century. Back then it was believed there were little creatures living by the water. Eventually, these tiny man tots became known for being shoemakers. From this job, they earned pots of gold. And this is how pots of gold have also become a symbol of everything St. Patrick’s day and Irish.
Sha Sha Shamrocks
As mentioned above shamrocks, or clovers, are a symbol due to St. Patrick using the three-leaf clover to explain Christianity. But why then are 4 leaf clovers such a big deal? So lucky? Because they are extremely rare. Like the three leaf clover, the four-leaf also represents virtues- hope, good fortune, faith, and love. But unlike the 3-leaf shamrocks, the 4-leaf is all about luck and has much ado about nothing!
Go for Green
So why do we wear green on St. Patrick’s Day? Though green isn’t a physical symbol per se, it does represent everything Irish. Green hats, green pots of gold, green Shamrocks. Even green beer for shamrock’s sake! But why this color? Ireland’s nickname is the Emerald Isle, and emeralds being green there you go! It’s also in the flag, and if you’ve ever been to Ireland it seems like a country of infinite rolling green hills.
5 st patricks day celebrations ideas
What good are the history and symbols if you don’t know how to use them, you ask? You’re planning a St. Patrick’s get-together and you don’t want a repeat of last year. Your guests arrived at a house with a few green streamers. They were also bugging you about why they were eating hot dogs, and not traditional St. Patrick’s food. Or why you were giving out Mardi Gras beads? The truth is you don’t know what the Patty St. Patricks’s day foods or decorations are. For that, worry not! Below are 5 st patricks day celebrations on how to celebrate it that will please even the most grumpy of leprechauns!
Cook Irish Food And Beer Happy
Your guests arrive. They’re shuffling around aimlessly. The groan of their stomachs becomes louder. The sun begins to set and their full transmission into brain-hungry zombies is almost complete. Better get them some food! You frantically run around passing out weenies and burgers. The groans subside and you feel relieved. Until you notice the look of confusion spread across the crowd. You hear someone whisper ‘This is St. Patrick’s food?!’ The food? You were so busy making sure every element of your St. Patrick’s party was perfect that you looked over the most essential: St. Patrick’s day food ideas.
There are plenty of traditional Irish foods that you can serve- from black pudding to Irish stew to Irish soda bread. However, these take time. The time you might not have if you’re planning a big party. There are a few simple St. Patrick’s day food ideas that will save you time and money. For example, add green food coloring to everything your serve. Green chip dip, green frosting, and of course green beer. Additionally, to go with all this green food(or if you don’t have time to green food color everything), our store has a plethora of green St. Patrick’s Day-themed cups and tableware. Your guests will instead say how Irish this food and party is when they’re just eating a green American hotdog served on a green plate!
Send Ecards
Don’t forget the digital ideas for St Patrick’s day! Sending out e-cards is an easy way to remind friends and family that St. Patrick’s day is approaching. Ecards are great because they can be used as an invitation or just a jolly greeting! They’re incredibly easy to make, as in you don’t have to make them. Simply go to any website with St. Patrick’s-themed ecards and enter the name and email of your loved one and press send!
Send Out Cards-one of the popular St Patricks Day Celebrations Ideas
If ecards sound nice, but you want something a little more tangible, try sending a real card. Though this takes more time your friends and family will surely appreciate something you took the time and effort to make. And it’s this kind of effort that will make them want to go to your party! Make a card by hand or buy them premade, your friends will warm with appreciation either way. Whether you make or buy cards sticking small St. Patrick’s Party favors or necklaces in the card is a great way to take it up a notch. Our store has a wonderful selection of St. Patrick’s necklaces or green St. Patrick’s coins that would fit perfectly on a card.
Wear Traditional Clothes
The leprechauns have gotten large. Large! There are leprechauns taller than you and massive floating leprechauns. Has everyone turned into a raving mad Irish folk creature and now you’re living in a movie called ‘Attack of the Killer Shamrocks’? Not quite! You’re just at a St. Patty’s party or parade. Recreating this vibe for your party is quite simple: just wear green. The beauty of dressing up for a St. Patrick’s party is you can get as simple or complex with it and still devise a successful St. Patty’s look.
And whether you just want to throw on a green t-shirt or don a detailed leprechaun costume our shop has plenty of St. Patrick’s day outfit ideas that will elevate your look. From shamrock glasses to green top hats, our different accessories are made to be worn with anything. All of our St. Patrick’s accessories come in large sets so they’re perfect if you’re throwing a party. So there will be no shamrock-lover left behind!
DIY Crafts and Decor-the best St Patricks Day Celebrations Ideas you can’t miss
There’s probably a lot of green paper laying in wait for St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe it’s even left over from last year but you just don’t have the energy to come up with st patricks day celebrations. Instead of taping off bland pieces of green paper around your house, making it look like a green construction paper section of Office Max, turn it into a craft. If you have kids or little ones around you can make a fun St. Patrick’s day craft for them to do and save yourself the energy of doing it yourself. Have them cut shamrocks out of the green paper. They can then decorate it with glue, glitter, and markers. This is a great way for them to learn about the different symbols of St. Patrick’s day as well!
And if you need decor that is a little less DIY and more festive check, the selection of decor on our online store. We have a 25-piece st patricks day celebrations set that is perfect for any office or house party. Coming with a multitude of paper shamrocks, leprechauns, and a garland that spells ‘lucky’ any house will get the luck of the Irish treatment!
Irish You A Happy St. Patty’s Day!
St patricks day celebrations are synonymous with fun. It’s understandable then that you want to fill green paper top hats with plastic gold coins as soon as February turns to March. But have you ever stopped to wonder why? Why do we decorate the walls of our house with paper clovers and our lawns with giant inflatable rainbows? If you don’t know already this year it might be good to catch up on the history of St. Patrick’s day. To give all those fun St Patrick’s day party decorations and activities more of a meaning than just ‘luck of the Irish’. And with a head full of St. Patty’s knowledge now you’re ready to decorate! Although there may not be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow there is a sweet discount code at the top of this page. So check it out, and find all your four-leaf accessories on our site!
