St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner and it’s a great day to chill out and relax with friends and family. As my husband is Irish, Scottish and Italian, we celebrate this festive and cheerful day every year. Wine tastings are done so often, I thought a beer tasting happy hour was the way to go and so befitting for doing on St. Patrick’s Day. I wanted to design a party that was still keeping with the traditional colors associated with St. Patrick’s day and the Irish flag. Tasting parties are so much fun because you serve small servings of delicious foods and everyone gets to experience a bunch of different foods at one sitting. A yummy idea and a hot trend that isn’t going anywhere. Pier 1 Imports has the cutest tasting party serving pieces and I find them to be reasonably priced and you can pick and choose the pieces you want or you can buy a set. This is where I got the supplies I used for this party. I collaborated with the talented Katie of Green Apple Paperie for the design of the invitations, rating cards and all the paperie. She did a wonderful job bringing both of our ideas together. I designed this party for my husband and 5 of his closest friends to get together after work…they are really going to have a fun time!
I want to give a big thank you to Jennifer of J. Fiereck Photography for the beautiful pictures! If you live in anywhere in New England, and need some beautiful images taken, she is the sweetest person to work with.
PARTY TIP: When hosting a tasting party, offer at least 4-8 different items depending on the number of guests you are going to be having over. Offer a variety as well to suit the taste of people who may be vegetarian or watching their weight.
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When deciding on the food, I tried to pick food that you would find at a happy hour at a restaurant or bar. So I decided on trail mix (goes well with beer), sliders, loaded mashed potatoes and shrimp cocktail.
The beer rating cards are given to guests once they arrive and is used to rate the taste of the beer with 1- 4 stars.
5 different beers were purchased that offered varying tastes. Labels were then removed (with a little help from goof off for some of the bottles) and then re-labeled with numbers 1-5 that coincided with the rating cards and mini clear tasting cups. The tasting cups each received a little bit of each beer for guest to taste and rate.
Hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!
VENDOR CREDITS:
Party & Food Styling: Sandra Downie Event Designs
Photography: J. Fiereck Photography
Party Printables: Green Apple Paperie
Below is our FREE download with St. Patrick day circles and flags. You can print on sticker paper or use as toppers and the flags are the perfect drink accessory for the day…just a sneak peak of what’s to come when we launch the Sandra Downie Paperie Studio-COMING SOON!
CLICK HERE to get your FREE St. Patrick’s Day Download
Category: Adult Parties, Our Parties & Events, Parties, Saint Patrick's Day
Tags: party ideas, st patrick's day
March 3, 2011
Wow this is awesome Sandra!!!!
March 3, 2011
thank you so much Naomi!
March 3, 2011
I LOVE this! What a fun idea! I think I might have to try something similar!
March 3, 2011
It’s a fun idea Alice…you should definitely try it! XO
March 3, 2011
Sandra, your adress is on my favorites! I see every day. This party is a good idea for us, who live in Brasil. This weekend, we gonna have our Carnival and a beer tasting is a good choice. I have just post it on my Blog. Thanks for sharing!
March 3, 2011
Oh this is PERFECT for Carnival Maja! I so want to one day come to Brasil…I hear the food and drink are amazing
XO
March 3, 2011
oh i love this so much!!!
March 4, 2011
Thank you Jacin! It was fun to design! xo
March 4, 2011
How cute is this idea! I would love to be at one of your parties, the food always look sooo good!
Ok wait.. Sandra Downie Paperie? Get’em girl! That’s great, can’t wait to see your designs!!
March 4, 2011
Natasha you are to funny! We are excited about launching the studio! You can come to my party April 16th I’m hosting at my home for some DID girls and other creative women. I will send you an invite! XO
March 4, 2011
Congrats on Sandra Downie Paperie – very excited to see what is to come! I love the downloads and will definitely be using the little flags!
March 4, 2011
Thank you Laura…glad you will use the flags…they are to cute! We are excited about the Paperie Studio! XO
March 5, 2011
Sandra,
So creative! I LOVE IT! Nice job.
March 8, 2011
This is such a fun idea! Love it! TFS
March 16, 2011
This is so great! I love the way you lined the platters with the theme sheets! And now I see that I DO absolutely need the long dishes to go under the small square ones, LOL! Your designs are all so beautiful and what a sweet and thoughtful thing to do for your hubby and his friends! Cheers!
March 17, 2011
Thank you so much Seana! It will be fun to do tonight! XO
March 21, 2011
Oh yes Seana! The craft papers are a must for lining the plates! It really helps to bring the “chicness” You can find lots of patterns at Michael’s and Jo-Ann’s
March 7, 2012
Wow Sandra gorgeous! Love