How to Throw an Inexpensive Mardi Gras Party

Mardi Gras is coming soon, so read on for a few tips on how to have a fun, festive party fit for a king on a pauper's budget!

Invitations~

Send out Evites instead of traditional paper invitations. There is no cost to send these out and it is a great way to tell everyone about the party and to keep track of responses!

Running Total: $0.00

Decor can be as easy as you want it to be. I suggest creating a circus tent like atmosphere with gold, purple and green streamers hung from the walls up to a central spot in the ceiling ($3.00), bright metallic balloons (30 for 4.00) and maybe some light strands in purple, green or gold (14 feet of lights for $6.00) And definately beads (48 strands of beads for $8.00)! A great website for Mardi Gras decorations is http://www.mardigrasoutlet.com/ (which is where these prices are coming from). Also, scout out the Dollar Stores in your area, you can always find streamers, balloons and beads there.

Running Total: $21.00 Table Decorations~ Festive Confetti in the essential Mardi Gras colors!

Throw some gold, green and purple colored cofetti (1 package for $1.00) on the table along with some plastic gold coins (Doubloons 100 for $4.00). Encourage your guests to take home the beads and coins as souveniers!

Running Total: $26.00 Party Favors~ Festive Mardi Gras Masks on sticks for the Women!

From the same website I mentioned above you can get some really great Mask's (5 for an average of $3.00 each) for the women and hats (5 for $2.50 each) for the men and personalize them with the party date and a thank you using simple gold puffy paint (2.00).

Running Total: $53.50 Drinks~ Hurricane! Yummy

The most inexpensive way to go about this is to make one signature drink (think Hurricane http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Hurricane-I/Detail.aspx) and tell everyone that is what you will be serving and they are welcome to drink it or bring their own.

Running Total: $103.50 Food~ Mmmm! Shrimp Gumbo!

What you server will be the most memorable part of your party. That said, you don't have to break the bank to make it good! Server traditional Mardi Gras favorites for the main dishes like Gumbo, Jumbalaya, King Cake, then supplement with inexpensive traditional southern favorites like rice and red beans. And dont forget the pie...Praline Pie that is. Your guests will dive in!!

Total Party Price Approximation: $200.00