This year’s Super Bowl should be a great game and a fabulous opportunity to invite friends over to enjoy the day. The Super Bowl (or any college bowl) game lends itself to a casual gathering with a purpose, and the host’s job is merely to pull the elements together to facilitate this mission. Follow the guidelines below for ideas and recipes to help anyone host a great Super Bowl party.
Super Bowl Party Ideas
- Invitations: Easy, simple and fun are three adjectives to describe the type of invitations that are most appropriate for a Super Bowl party. Consider using an e-vite such as sendomatic.com, a kitschy email invitation or a simple printed invite. Include a start time that is 60 – 90 minutes prior to kick off. With this earlier start time, guests will be able to mingle, snack on a few appetizers and grab a beer before the game officially starts. If desired, indicate that the end time is following the Trophy Presentation.
- Set Up: For obvious reasons, the television is the focal point of this party. However, it is wise to include several stations throughout the party space.
- Football Viewing Area: make sure that there is ample seating around the television. It may be necessary to temporarily remove some unneeded pieces of furniture and replace them with additional seating. Include some horizontal surfaces, enabling the guests to set down their drinks while cheering.
- Beverage Area: follow the guidelines in Setting Up a Beverage Station to create an effective drink area
- Food Area: this area should be easily accessible to both the television viewing area and the beverage center. A kitchen table or countertop work very well to display, serve from and refresh the menu items for any Super Bowl Party. A double-sided buffet set up may be employed to serve many guests, but generally a single-sided or circular set up are most effective.
Super Bowl Party Menu Suggestions - Team-Specific Foods
Offer foods that are representative of the two teams. For instance, a game between the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots could be represented by the following food and beverage selections:
- New Orleans: Cajun-Style Popcorn Shrimp & Hurricanes
- New England Patriots: New England Clambake & Cape Codder cocktails
A game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals could be represented by the following food and beverage selections:
- Dallas: Tex-Mex Buffet & Margaritas
- Cincinnati: Cincinnati Chili & cold Beer
Make it fun! If the game becomes a blowout and is no longer a good diversion during the party, take advantage of the funny commercials and halftime entertainment that accompanies the bowl game. These broadcasts can add life to an otherwise sleepy or dull game!
Janice Benoit - I'm Janice Benoit and I live in suburban Chicago. I have worked in most facets of the hospitality industry -- from hotel front desk to ...
