Ideas for Hosting a Memorable Memorial Day Party

Memorial Day is more than a long weekend. For many people, it’s the time when they launch their summer life. Put the boat in the water, hit the beach, or get together with friends for a good, old-fashioned cookout. If you need ideas for hosting a memorable Memorial Day party, Cothran Homes can share some tips from our team of creative people.Feel the red, white, and blueMemorial Day is a patriotic celebration that was established to honor the men and women who gave their lives serving our country. You just can’t plan a Memorial Day party without including stars, stripes, and red, white, and blue. No matter your decorating style—Rustic, Contemporary, Traditional, Coastal, to name a few—this color palette and theme can fit perfectly into your home.Your Memorial Day decor can be as subtle or dramatic as you like. Use flags of various sizes, from small picks that you can stick in a planter, a serving dish, or a flower arrangement, to large flags that adorn your home’s exterior. Regardless of the number of flags you use, the variety of sizes will provide balance.Here in the Greenville, SC, area, many of our homeowners combine Southern with Coastal and Farmhouse decor. The patriotic theme is a perfect complement for these styles. Use mason jars for small bouquets (carnations and roses are easy to find in red and white), or some of your unique containers, like a watering can, ceramic pitcher, or baskets. Add patriotic ribbons and picks to your existing decor, like wreaths and wall accents, to seamlessly blend your party decorations. If you lean toward a more elegant celebration of Memorial Day, tone down the red, white, and blue. Use more white, with hints of the other 2 colors. Incorporate more silver (like the stars). Drape strings of white star lights in your outside living area as well as inside your home, and accent them by hanging blue or red stars or lanterns for a splash of color where you want it.With 4th of July coming right behind Memorial Day, save your decorations for the next patriotic party.It’s all fun and gamesWhat’s a party without games? Cothran Homes has some ideas for our townhome owners to treat their guests to games. Separate your teams into Stars versus Stripes. Start with charades using names, places, and events that relate to Memorial Day, or play patriotic trivia. Print out a themed word scramble for people of all ages. You can also bring in some outdoor games with tabletop versions of corn hole, or use your open floor plan to make room for the real thing.How about a popcorn and a movie when the festivities wind down? You have a long list of movies that fit your theme: Flags of Our Fathers, Saving Private Ryan, Glory, Lone Survivor, Good Morning Vietnam, The Hurt Locker, Hacksaw Ridge, Black Hawk Down, War Horse, and classics, like Where Eagles Dare, Kelly’s Heroes, The Great Escape, From Here to Eternity, The Dirty Dozen, and MASH. What’s on the menu?The patriotic theme makes it easy to create a Memorial Day party menu, from appetizers through desserts and beverages. Add strawberries and blueberries to a pitcher of water or lemonade. Also, serve the fruit on skewers. You can make a tasty fruit dip to go with it: mix half a cup of vanilla yogurt with half a cup of sour cream, and a teaspoon of cinnamon, with serve with a side dish of shredded coconut. Carve out a watermelon and fill it with red and blue fruit, with mini-marshmallows to mix in the all-important white. A fruit pizza also makes a great accompaniment to a Memorial Day buffet. Roll out sugar cookie dough into a large round, bake it as directed, then spread on softened cream cheese (stir in a little vanilla extract), and top it with blueberries and sliced strawberries or raspberries.For the main course, if you’re planning on hot dogs and hamburgers, get creative with the toppings. In addition to the usual, kick it up a notch with a buffet of condiments and toppings: cheeses (crumbled, sliced, and shredded), bacon, avocado slices, salsa, roasted red peppers, sauteed mushrooms, and sauces (sweet, hot, smoky, and mild).Is your home not quite what you envision for entertaining? It’s time to make a move to a home that better fits your lifestyle. Look at Cothran Homes’ communities of new construction townhomes and single-family homes near Greenville, SC. We have a great selection that are move-in ready, so contact Cothran Homes to really get your party started.