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How to host a Super
Bowl party
By Lillian Vernon
When Super Bowl XXXVIII is
broadcast live from Houston’s Reliant Stadium Sunday, Feb. 1, millions
of football fans worldwide will eagerly tune in for an afternoon of exciting
pre-game fun followed by an evening of great football, revelry, refreshments,
and friendly rivalry. For those not lucky enough to have a ticket to America’s
favorite sporting event, it’s a premier Couch Potato day.
To maximize the fun, I’ve
collected practical tips to make your Super Bowl party memorable.
Kicking off the preparations
- Decide on a guest list.
Do you want a small or large crowd? Do you want to include children?
- Keep a list ready for when
guests ask what they can bring.
- Plan invitations with a
football theme. If you use e-mail, be sure to tell the guests they must
“complete the pass” by RSVPing; E-vite.com is a convenient
way to send invitations. If you make your own invitations, cut out football-shaped
ones from construction paper. Or bake edible cookie invitations.
Creating a stadium atmosphere
- Decorate your house with
a football theme and team colors. Make your tablecloth a playing field.
Set a festive welcome at the front door with an oversized football on
the door that you can make from foam board. A football-themed rug right
inside the door will help keep dirt out of the house. Make felt pennants
to hang around the house.
- Ask guests to dress in
team jerseys and colors. Wear a referee-style shirt.
- Put themed props around
the room, such as megaphones, miniature footballs, and whistles for
calling penalties.
- Settle in for a long day
of television with comfortable, football-themed beanbag chairs. Have
plenty of cushions, footrests, and a cozy afghan or blanket for the
couch potatoes.
- Make sure everyone can
see the TV. You don’t want anyone squinting or straining to see
the action. If there’s not enough seating, set up TVs elsewhere
to handle the overflow.
- Play Super Bowl trivia
and award football-themed prizes.
- Enjoy a game of touch football
before kickoff and during halftime.
- Don’t leave anyone
on the sidelines. If children are attending, make sure there are lots
of toys and activities to keep them busy. Set up an area for them to
decorate their own T-shirts during the pre-game, with iron-on transfers
or tube paints.
Tackling food and drink
- Plan the menu in advance.
This is one party where you do not want to have to get up and down to
serve guests or prepare and warm food. Select a menu that allows for
lots of couch time.
- Use paper or plastic serving
pieces and utensils. Have lots of napkins personalized with a Super
Bowl-related slogan or the teams’ names.
- Serving trays are useful
for shuttling food between the kitchen and TV room.
- Place food far enough away
from the TV to avoid blocking anyone’s view.
- For chips and dips, get
bowls that combine the two, so there are fewer items to refill, knock
over, and carry.
- Serve other snack foods,
like pretzels, in a football helmet. Be sure to line it with foil and
a napkin.
- Popcorn in individual,
movie-style popcorn servers is a great idea. If you choose to make it
plain with butter on the side, serve interesting spices and condiments
to sprinkle over it, especially for those who are salt or diet-conscious.
- Let younger partygoers
make their own popcorn or get a cotton-candy maker.
- Stock plenty of ice and
keep an ice crusher handy. Fill an ice chest or a large metal bucket
with your drinks and keep it within guests’ reach.
- Get everyone a personalized
can or glass holder/cooler. These containers have insulated foam liners
that keep beverages cool for hours. Their solid bases also help prevent
spills.
- If you are serving hard
liquor, use a vodka set that keeps individual shot glasses chilled in
ice with the vodka carafe in the center. Also, buy large beer steins
or handsome Pilsner glasses.
- Prepare pots of food that
can feed an army of visitors. Chili is an all-time favorite — one
cauldron can gently simmer all night. Or, get a warming tray for finger
foods, like Swedish meatballs. Make football-style pennants to use as
grabbers, using construction paper glued to toothpicks. Hot dogs on
buns, in a help-yourself tray, are also a good choice.
- Get out the ever-popular
fondue set to dip bread into cheese or fruits into chocolate, or make
s’mores, roasting the marshmallows over the flame.
Post-game wrap-up
- At the end of the festivities,
serve coffee so everyone can drive home refreshed.
- Make clean-up easy with
a supply of large trash bags.
By following these Super Bowl
party tips, you can rest assured that long after the final football has
been snapped, everyone will remember not only the touchdown that clinched
the game, but also the fabulous job you did hosting the party.
For more information, visit
www.lillianvernonproducts.com.
Editor’s Note: Lillian
Vernon is the founder of Lillian Vernon Corporation, a 52-year-old national
catalog and online retailer that markets gift, housewares, gardening,
Christmas and children’s products in seven catalogs titles, two Web
sites and in 14 outlet stores.
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