This Masquerade Invitation from Carlson Craft will invite your guests to join in the festivities of Fat Tuesday without being on Bourbon Street. An authentic mask decorated with feathers, stars, and beads fills this themed invitation. Mardi Gras Madness Personalized Vertical Invitation Each Beads Of Love Invitation Each

As an alternative, mail out  inexpensive masks with a hand written or computer generated tag attached with all the details of the party as your invitation.  Request that each guest customize their mask to match their party attire, and wear the mask to the party.  Suggest that they can embellish them with feathers, tulle, rhinestones, paint, sequins, etc. Award prizes for different categories "biggest", "most creative", "best match with attire", etc.

Inexpensive Mardi Gras Masks can be attached to a Mardi Gras theme invitation with curling ribbon.

Mardi Gras Party Ideas

It's the greatest party of the year! Mardi Gras signifies the last time to really let loose and enjoy ourselves before the lean Lent season begins. A Mardi Gras theme is perfect for any celebration that calls for extravagance, elegance and opulence! Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, milestone birthdays, weddings, proms, and black tie fund-raising events all lend themselves perfectly to choosing this theme. Have a Bourbon Street Party, Mardi Gras Mania Party ,"Peacock Masquerade Ball" or Masquerade Ball.

If you've got a family or group of friends who love costumes, you're in luck! A fancy dress theme party provides an opportunity to pull out all the stops! Mardi Gras is the perfect occasion for a colorful costume party, so tell your guests to get creative if they dare. You can even have a miniature parade, with contests for the most original and elaborate costumes. Don't forget to crown a King and Queen for your Parade.

The key to pulling off a coordinated event: Evoke your theme throughout the affair. Whether that theme is as general as a season or a feeling, or as specific as a special flower, it should be the subtle thread that ties everything together. Your location, invitations, flowers, menu, cake, and favors should all cleverly reflect one common concept. Then, get as creative as you can!

Colors:

What do the colors of Mardi Gras (purple, green and gold) symbolize? Purple represents Justice, Green represents Faith and Gold represents Power. Accent your event with purple, green and gold.

Mardi Gras Slogans:

After selecting a theme for your party, choose a slogan to use in your invitations, and to use in tying in decorations, favors and etc. to your theme. Here are a few ideas:

• "Mardi Gras Mania"
• "Masquerade Magic" 
• "Midwinter Masquerade" 
• "Mardi Gras Peacock Masquerade"
• "Masked Magic" 
• "Mardi Gras Mambo" 
• "Fat Tuesday Festivities" 
• "Mardi Gras Madness" 
• "Have Beads - Will Party!" 
• "Bourbon Street Bash"

Attire

For the most dramatic effect, ask guests to dress in Black-tie Formal Wear or Mardi Gras Costumes and have a "Midwinter Masquerade"  Ball or a "Peacock Masquerade Ball".  If you choose  black-tie formal and you suspect that some people will be reluctant, make the party "Black-tie Optional".  That way, most people will come dressed up, and those who are reluctant won't avoid the party.

Everyone attending a Mardi Gras party should definitely have a Mardi Gras Mask and Mardi Gras Beads! Be sure to have them on hand to pass out to your guests when they arrive. Masks and beads are an easy and affordable way to dress up your guests and get them in the spirit. If you have some reluctant guests, have a few simple style masks available so that all may participate in the fun. Again, masks are a great way to add some decorating flair to the whole party scene and not just the partygoers themselves!

The enchantment of kings and queens can be yours this Mardi Gras! So honor the royal tradition of Mardi Gras and crown your own party king and queen!  

Just right for that particular jester in your life. Accent your Mardi Gras theme with a purple, green and gold Mardi Gras Jester Hat.

Use a clear cylinder vase. Place Mardi Gras beads inside the vase (purple, gold & green) in parfait fashion. Add masks on a stick, large gold, green & purple Ostrich plume feathers and gold ting ting (available at craft and floral supply stores). Set on a round mirror with green, gold & purple beads.

Place purple, green, gold feathers into a Styrofoam base, add gold ting ting or onion grass (available at craft and floral supply stores) between the feathers. Place assorted colored masks on a stick into the center along with a small gold saxophone.

Turn assorted Mardi Gras Sequin Hat upside down, place Styrofoam down in hat and cover with shred. Add masks on a stick and gold & green ting ting (available at craft and floral supply stores). Lay Mardi Gras beads around the base of the hat.

Place a square green satin pillow in the center of the table. Place a Purple Kings Crown  on top of the pillow and drape with Mardi Gras beads.

Bring color to the table via cloth napkins. Give each person two napkins slipped into one napkin ring (Mardi Gras beads make excellent napkin rings). Use two different colors, two coordinating patterns or one patterned and one solid-colored napkin. A colorful setting can be achieved with little effort this way.

Another alternative is to order personalized napkins to match your color theme, and have them imprinted with a special message and design. You can delight guests with a message that lets them know how much you care. You can choose from a wide range of napkins, ink colors, and designs to match your theme. The napkins will serve several purposes: great decorating in disguise, and a delightful memento for the guests. Carlson Craft offers Personalized Napkins, in their Party Accessories section and designs to fit all occasions, we like the Masquerade Party (BMK) and Mask (MSK) designs for Mardi Gras.

Being surrounded by flickering candles is a sure "fire" way to boost the mood. A room in any condition will look great illuminated by the glow of candles. Candles are a great way to pull together a sophisticated color theme. They add mood lighting.....Use candles, candles, and more candles in shades of purple, green and gold to match your theme.

Guests will be thrilled to be taking home Mardi Gras favors as keepsakes. Fat Tuesday favors are also great for your office's Mardi Gras theme party -- they will keep your staff laughing and smiling for days on end! Mardi Gras party favors don't have to be used at Mardi Gras themed parties only -- they make great classroom rewards, too!

When it comes to entertainment, Mardi Gras has it all. Your selections of music should reflect just that, a wide variety to please all. Of course, most likely you won't find an authentic swamp band, or a seasoned New Orleans musician, so make sure your DJ or MC knows how to keep the party going. A string quartet or harpist would be the perfect musical accompaniment for a fancy affair, especially during the cocktail hour and dinner.

For additional entertainment, hire a voodoo priestess or fortune-teller to provide some delightful readings.

Mardi Gras Foods

Sheer glitz and glamour, this party will shine and sparkle in the memories of your guests. At the entry to the area where guests will be dining, place a large ornate, gilded mirror on a standing easel. On the mirror, in a removable paint marker, write the menu for the evening in a calligraphic hand.

Mardi Gras parties require delectable foods.

For a formal sit down meal, complete with place cards, a Venetian "flavored" meal works perfectly with this theme.

Louisiana crab cakes and steamed crawfish are excellent appetizers.

Serve jambalaya and other dishes on Mardi Gras tableware.

Garnish food with edible loose-leaf gold, and cover dessert in tiny edible silver and gold balls.

Whatever your main course happens to be, offer your guests the option of spicing it up with cayenne pepper and New Orleans hot sauce.

Don't forget the frozen Hurricanes and perhaps make some Swamp Punch for the kids, complete with gummy worms and floating toy boats.

Warm beignet donuts are excellent for dessert, especially when accompanied by a nice cup of Chicory coffee. 

For a casual buffet serve Jalapeno poppers and nachos for appetizers and have a "make your own taco & fajitas" bar. Include chafing trays with seasoned beef and marinated grilled chicken. Along with the tortillas & hard tacos, the fixings include: guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheddar & Monterey Jack cheese, grilled onions & peppers, olives, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, salsa, taco sauce, chopped chilies. As side dishes have refried beans, yellow rice with black beans & salad.

King Cake

King Cakes are like cinnamon rolls but twisted into a large oval. The tops are covered with white icing and then sprinkled with sugar dyed purple, green, and gold (yellow). Hidden inside the king cake is a plastic King Cake Baby about the size of an almond. Tradition has it that the person who finds the baby in the king cake is the next queen or king and must host the next king cake party. 

To make a simple King Cake

Ingredients:

1 can of cinnamon rolls, with icing 
3/4 cup of sugar, separated into 3 parts of 1/4 each 
food coloring 

Separate the cinnamon rolls and roll them out by hand so that they look like a hot dog. Shape the roll into an oval, pinch the ends together, and place on a cookie sheet. Cook as directed. 

While they are cooking, use food coloring to dye sugar. Make one part purple using blue and red, one part green, and one part gold using yellow. When they are finished cooking, ice the tops with the white icing. Sprinkle the different colors of sugars alternating as you go around the oval. Enjoy!

Mardi Gras Decorations, Fat Tuesday Decorations

Mardi Gras Props, Fat Tuesday Props

Peacock Party Supplies & Peacock Masquerade Party

Mardi Gras Party Favors, Fat Tuesday Favors

Mardi Gras Tableware, Fat Tuesday Tableware

Mardi Gras Beads, Fat Tuesday Beads

Mardi Gras Masks, Fat Tuesday Masks

Mardi Gras Party Supplies by Shindigz

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 Theme Parties N More is a wedding & event planning company located in Cypress, TX. Our party & wedding planners have put this website together to provide our visitors with ideas for planning their events, this includes links to products that can help you to make your event extra special. In accordance with the FTC Guidelines we are disclosing that some of the vendors that we link you to, pay us a commission when you purchase products from them, but some of the vendors do not provide us with any compensation.