It’s the middle of winter.  You’re tired of the snow, the cold, and the gray, dreary days.  All you want is an excuse to celebrate and have a good time with your friends.  Which makes Mardi Gras the perfect time for a party!  Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler! Use these Mardi Gras party tips to prepare for a spectacular Mardi Gras party! 

Pick out some Mardi Gras Party Invitations

Start out by sending your friends a unique invitation.  You can use a Mardi Gras mask with all the party information written on the back; or, use our personalized, fully customizable Mardi Gras mask invitations.  Just fill in all your party details and let us do the rest of the work!  And if you want to add a little flair with the invitation, attach some Mardi Gras beads as a border.

Once you’ve gotten your invitations in the mail, it’s time to get down to the serious party planning business.  With so many Mardi Gras party supplies to choose from, it may seem overwhelming, but with a little forethought, you’ll be able to narrow down your choices.

Before you get overwhelmed, ask yourself some basic questions. 

- How many guests will you have?  This will help you determine how many Mardi Gras accessories and party supplies you will need. 

- Will this be a costume party?  Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans are known for their elaborate costumes.  If you’d like your guests to dress in appropriate Mardi Gras attire, be sure to include that information on your invitations so they can come prepared with fancy dresses, or maybe a spooky skeleton or comical court jester costume!

- Will there be any other theme besides Mardi Gras?  You could choose to decorate your home to look like one of the historic bars on Bourbon Street.  Or, for a Mardi Gras party with a macabre twist, go for an Anne Rice theme and celebrate the books of one of New Orleans’ most famous residents!  Simple decorations are also fine if you think Mardi Gras is enough of a theme for the evening.  Just choose Mardi Gras accessories in the traditional colors of purple, green, and gold when buying your paper goods, streamers, balloons, and other decorations. 

- What will your menu be?  Are you going to be serving traditional Louisiana cuisine?  Some tasty ideas are shrimp and crab dishes, gumbo, a crawfish boil, jambalaya, and the traditional King cake.  Keep in mind the type of food you’ll be serving will also determine the Mardi Gras items, paper goods and serving pieces you will need. 

Once you’ve answered those basic questions you can move on with the party planning process.  You’ll need to stock up on all the Mardi Gras paper goods you’ll need, including plates, cups, silverware, and napkins.  Mix and match these Mardi Gras items in the traditional colors of purple, green, and gold to add to the festive atmosphere and don’t forget about the centerpieces!

Mardi Gras Party Decorating Tips 

With a little creativity, you can create beautiful centerpieces to match your Mardi Gras theme.  Blow up a couple balloons in the traditional Mardi Gras colors, attach them to coordinating ribbons, and tie them to a beautiful Mardi Gras mask for a festive yet simple centerpiece.  For a fun surprise for your guests, tape a gold coin to the bottom of one chair at each table.  The lucky winner gets to take the centerpiece home as a party favor at the end of the evening! 

Other fun decorating ideas include draping Mardi Gras beads over chairs, tables, lights, and any other surface that can hold them!  These colorful Mardi Gras beads are the currency of New Orleans, tossed out by the bucketful at the parades that mark the holiday, and should be an integral part of your décor.  With many styles and sizes to choose from, you can mix and match to create unique decorations and party favors to delight your guests.  The Mardi Gras beads can be knotted together to form garlands or handed out with Mardi Gras masks or hats as guests arrive to help them get into a celebratory mood.

Plan a fun Mardi Gras Costume

If you’ve decided your guests need to come properly dressed in Mardi Gras costumes, you’ll want to make sure your own costume is up to snuff!  After all, no one can outshine the host at his or her own party!  Whether you want to dress as a comical court jester, a jaunty buccaneer, a sexy Harlequin Madame, or the carnival king or queen, you’ll want to have your costume planned out well in advance so that you can be sure you have all the makeup and accessories you need on hand.  Choose a fun prize to award the guests with the best costumes.  If you’ve got a competitive group of friends, you can even break them into categories and award prizes for the most creative, scariest, sexiest, and funniest costumes. 

Additional Mardi Gras Accessories

Additional Mardi Gras items and accessories that you should consider stocking up on include noisemakers, stadium horns, and some of our LED accessories.  LED necklaces, fedoras, glasses, glow sticks, and bracelets can be used as prizes, gag gifts, and party favors.  Adding a little extra illumination to your nighttime celebration will help get your guests into the Mardi Gras spirit!  Or go the extra mile and plan a Mardi Gras parade through the neighborhood.  Decorate bikes, wagons, and strollers to look like parade floats with streamers and balloons.  Toss out Mardi Gras beads and coins to passersby and pretend you’re all partying your way down Bourbon Street! 

However you plan to celebrate Mardi Gras, with a little bit of planning, you will wow your friends with creative decorations, lavish costumes, and delicious foods!

At Windy City Novelties, it’s our hope that this article inspires you to create a fun and unique party for your loved ones. For more helpful tips on organizing your event, email our dedicated party planning experts at [email protected]. You may also subscribe to our emails for weekly party planning ideas, featured products and more at https://www.windycitynovelties.com/customer/account/create/