Category: Family Time

Written for ColorCopiesUSA.com by Steve Wright, experienced sports and travel writer.

Super Bowl parties are fun and everyone should make a point of going to one. It is the only game of the NFL season that everyone wants to watch. To that end maybe you want to throw a Super Bowl party but are unsure of how to go about making yours the best on the block. If so, follow this handy guide to party greatness!

1 – Do – Decorate the house

Decorating for other types of party (birthday, Christmas, etc.) comes as standard, so why not go all the way and do the same for your Super Bowl party. Get some banners printed out. Or better yet, get some removable wall coverings with your pictures! Cover the table in the logo of the NFL or the team you want to win the game. Maybe even find some lights or light bulbs in team colors to really set the atmosphere. The limits here are only what your mind allows and a great set up in terms of decoration will really set your party apart from the crowd. #decorate-for-super-bowl-party

2 – Don’t – Try to provide all the food

If you have 30 or 40 people coming over and you are trying to be the sole provider of food then you are crazy. This is one of those occasions where it just doesn’t matter if all the courses on the menu are perfect compliments for one another. Get the word out and get those friends to bring snack food, sides, and (obviously) drinks, so that it takes a little of the burden (and cost) off of hosting.

Alternatively cater in Chipotle. Then everyone wins.

3 – Do – Create some friendly competition

One of the few issues with the Super Bowl is that people are not necessarily invested in the two teams involved. If you are a Kansas City Chiefs fan for example the matchup between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons means nothing. Maybe change that by printing out some t-shirts for your guests to wear and have a little prize in mind for those wearing the winning team’s colors at the end of the game.

4 – Don’t – Run out of ice

Seriously, this happens at every single Super Bowl party. The theory that I am running with is that because it is always so cold outside people just assume ice will not be needed. If you have a lot of people over then they will make lots of drinks. It is an indisputable fact. If you think you have enough ice then walk away from the computer, get in the car, and go and buy a couple more bags. Now you are good.

5 – Do – Invite the right amount of people

There is literally nothing worse than going to a party like this and one of things happening. Firstly, there are too many people for the space involved and there is nowhere to sit and watch the game. Secondly, the only people there are you and the host. Neither is good. Hit the middle ground and base it on house size and number of TVs available.

6 – Don’t – Talk over the half-time show/commercials

I get it. Lady Gaga is just not your thing. This is understandable (though it must be said that the girl has proven to be money on the biggest stages). You also don’t care about the dumb commercials. You are all about the football.

While this is fine, there are literally going to be people at the party that only care about what Lady Gaga sings and what the cute puppies are doing on the Doritos TV spot. Let those people have their Super Bowl moments, though if you and the other football nuts at the party need to create a drinking game around these parts of the broadcasts then that’s ok too.

7 – Do – Make people change if they come in a rival jersey

We get it, you hate the Patriots. That though does not mean it is ok to show up to a Super Bowl party wearing a Bills/Jets/Colts/Steelers shirt. Nor is it ok to turn up in the jersey of a neutral team, such as the Cleveland Browns (there is no one more neutral than the Browns). As host you can deal with this how you like, but a good way is to have a few newly printed T-shirts on hand with a few words of your choice showing just what a bad decision it was to turn up in other NFL gear. Let your imagination run with this one…

8 – Don’t – Forget to clean your house

This is supposed to be a party. There will be people coming to your crib that have never been there before. The first impression you want to give to those people is not that you are living the life of a college frat boy. Obviously there likelihood is that the house is going to get a little messy as the party proceeded (fix that with table covers), but the initially impression must be great.

Just try not to think about the post-party cleanup as you get ready to host.

9 – Do – Confiscate all cell phones

This serves a couple of important purposes:

1 – It stops people from ruining the flow of conversation by texting people at other parties all night long.

2 – It stops guests posting on social media for the duration of the game. Given how many Americans take the Monday following the Super Bowl off work for “medical reasons” then plausible deniability about their actions from the night before is important. This is less possible if you are checking in on Facebook every 20 minutes in growing states on intoxication.

10 – Don’t – Let anyone with face paint into the house

unless they are under the age of 16. Just send them home and remind them that an adult with a face covered in corn starch and food coloring is not ok.
Ever.

So there we have the keys to throwing a great Super Bowl Party. Yes, making all this happen takes a little bit of planning, but as you see your guests enjoying your fully decorated house and you realize you didn.t have to pay for all the chips and salsa being eaten, then it will all be worth it.