How to Host a St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast Without Breaking the Bank (+ Printables)

It’s the time of year when you and your family are on the lookout for leprechauns and chasing every rainbow to find a pot of gold. Ever since the 19th century, we’ve been breaking out our green wardrobe to avoid being pinched on St. Patrick’s Day. Many families celebrate over a festive breakfast with green pancakes and eggs to ring in this holiday with those closest to them. Hosting a party, no matter the occasion, doesn’t always have to rob your wallet of all it’s gold. We’ve compiled seven steps (with free printables) to help you and your family stick to your budget this St. Patty’s Day.

Step 1: Protect Your Pot O’ Gold

It’s easy to get ahead of yourself when shopping for a fun-filled event, especially when your family’s the host. The first thing to do when party planning is to list everything your family may need and create a realistic budget based on your needs. If you aren’t sure how much something may cost you, it’s better to shoot high rather than low, to avoid paying any unexpectedly high expenses. Don’t forget to account for your green food coloring and pitchers for your pinch-proof punch.

We created a festive, go-to party planning checklist for your family who may just be getting started. List out the groceries and any other supplies you may need to reference when shopping.

Money-saving hack: Use our app while shopping to easily keep track of how much you have left to spend after each pit stop. Once you’re done, keep tabs of the actual cost. If there are certain things you weren’t able to budget enough for, ask your guests to bring that along with them!

Step 2: Invite All Your Leprechauns

Don’t forget to invite your family’s guests! Make sure every lucky leprechaun can make your breakfast celebration by sending out invites in advance. This allows your guests to add your green breakfast to their calendar and give you an idea of how many of your friends will be coming. Adjust your budget once receiving all your RSVPs to ensure you don’t overspend on groceries.

Don’t have any invites on hand? Don’t fret, we have easy downloadable invites customizable for each of your guests. Start planning out your party and invite all your closest friends and family!

Money-saving hack: Have your family print, cut out, and customize each invite. Write out the name of each guest you’re inviting and what you would like them to bring to free up your budget. Hand deliver each invite or send them through the mail to each guest!

Step 3: Take the Party Outside

Depending on where you live, it may be the perfect temperature outside to have a backyard celebration. If you live near greenery or have your own backyard, this may just be the right amount of decoration without much effort. Not to mention, going outside can boost your family’s mood, avoid a higher energy bill, and minimize any expenses from unexpected party damages (like a pinch-proof punch spill).

Make this day even more special for your guests and hand out “Gold Tickets” for each guest to hand over when entering the Leprechaun-exclusive party. Even let them keep their ticket as a cute keepsake from this St. Patrick’s Day with your friends and family.

Money-saving hack: Avoid using unnecessary electricity and host your brunch outside. Keep calm and stay lucky!

Step 4: Plan a Luck of the Irish Brunch

Now to the exciting part: food planning. There’s no doubt catering can get a little expensive. Be budget savvy and cook your own high-volume, low-cost breakfast favorites. From extravagant pancakes to orange juice turned green, these can be made simple! As your food table fills up with green-loving leprechauns, brainstorm which entrees your family can turn green with the inexpensive cost of food die, like pancakes, orange juice, and eggs.

Get extra festive and add Lucky Charms cereal to your food table for guests to top their pancakes with. Ensure you and your guests have a shamrockin’ good time by labeling all your entrees with festive green labels.

Money-saving hack: Decorate your brunch table without having to leave your house or spend an extra penny. Start by printing out our downloadable below. Then, cut along each shape’s dotted line. Cut out as many as you’d like to decorate with. Punch a circle in the middle at the top of each label and loop a string through to tie around your condiment bottles. For things like pancakes and other items you can’t tie labels to, tape your label to a toothpick and stick it in the center of your dish.

Step 5: Play Festive Games

Put your tall green thinking cap on and play some festive games. While your breakfast is cooking, test your guests’ knowledge on this holiday’s history to win your pot o’ gold. Leave some room in your budget for a couple small prizes or surprise the winner with green pancakes topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and some Lucky Charms.

Instead of brainstorming your own questions to ask your guests, we created a printable trivia sheet (along with an answer sheet) so you won’t be left guessing. See who may be luckier than a four leaf clover.

Money-saving hack: Print out our St. Patrick’s Day Trivia to have your guests guessing. Even ask your guests to bring their favorite board game to keep the guessing going after trivia.

Step 6: Create Your Own Festive Photo Booth

Even though the brunch table will be covered in green, it’s time to start thinking about the festive decorations to decorate your party with. You could hang punny signs up on the walls of your party or create your own photo booth to spot each leprechaun seen at your party.

Download our printables, cut out each prop, and tab (or glue) to a stick for your guests to hold up for each photo. See who’s Irish, who’s hiding their pot of gold, and who likes to arrive in style.

Money-saving hack: Decorations can rack up your family budget, save a couple pennies by printing out our photo booth props for pictures to look back on. Along with that, keep a close eye on the festive decorations at your local dollar store.

Step 7: Hand Out Pots O’ Gold as Favors

While your family and guests are feasting, sneak away to hide small pots of gold. This “gold” could be in the form of gold covered chocolates or coins that may have been left behind by leprechauns. Once everything has come to a close, surprise each breakfast attendee with a Pot O’ Gold. Have your guests check each location on our printable to see where a leprechaun may have scattered their pot o’ gold around the house.

Money-saving hack: Looking for some spare change you may have laying around your place, or buy some extra sweet treats, to hand out to your lucky charms at the end of your event.

No matter what, you have to protect your family’s pot o’ gold, even when it comes to throwing an unforgettable party. Have a stress-free holiday celebration with your closest friends and family for a luck of the Irish time. Don’t forget to wear green and download our app to avoid getting pinched for money this holiday season.

Resources: AARP | Irish Central | Lifehacker | Country Living |