Modern Take On A St Patty's Day Party

We're just about a week away from St Patrick's Day & it got me thinking about how people celebrate the Irish holiday.  The most obvious way is to head out to the bar for some green beer & Jameson (if you dare) dressed in as much green as possible.  The holiday falls on a Thursday this year and it will fall on a workday most years.  So what if you can't afford to get crazy when you have to work the next day or if you are like me and afraid to indulge since there will definitely be alcohol checkpoints set up across the country?  I have a solution for you.  I was inspired to create a modern take on SPD by Hostess with the Mostess blog's post on a SPD beer tasting happy hour.  My twist is to make it less of a happy hour tasting and more of a full-fledged party. 

The idea of a beer tasting is a great concept, but can get very pricey both with beer costs and based on the amount of guests.  Since the weekend is directly after SPD this year, why not have friends over to celebrate that Friday or Saturday?  For hosts looking to do a potluck, ask everyone to bring their favorite Irish food or drink.  There are so many great options; Irish soda bread, beer bread, cornbeef and cabbage, a mashed potato bar just to name a few and I would definitely have some Guinness & Jameson available.  Maybe even include Irish coffee.  The type of beer is up to you and don't feel obligated to dye all the beer green if you have a lot of light carpeting in the house.  Be sure to ask your guests to dress up in their Irish best and decorate your house in tons of green too.  The final touch is to put out tons of sweet treats with an Irish flair (shamrock cookies, cupcakes, etc).  Here are some pictures for inspiration.  Enjoy!

Source

Source

Source

Source