The Kentucky Derby was this past weekend, so hopefully you have recovered enough to be reading this clearly. There are big hats, gambled dollars, fancy clothes, and racing horses. That is great and all, but the real event here is the party itself. The Kentucky Derby is one of those unofficial drinking holidays, but a drinking holiday nonetheless. Sure, it isn’t July 4th, or St. Patrick’s Day, but it holds it’s own against those powerhouses because it is so unique. Not to mention it falls during the epitome of day drinking season in early May, as well as right at the end of the school year so you can rage with zero worries. Hopefully you attended some kind of Derby Party, and raged your face off. You were probably thinking you should throw a bash next year, and that is a great thought. We are here to help you look back at some ideas from this past weekend, to throw the best Kentucky Derby party imaginable next year.
Make a dress code
One of the best parts of the Kentucky Derby each year, is seeing how people dress. It’s a pretty classy event, but let’s be honest, not everyone wants to get sloshed in their Sunday best. Make sure you set a dress code though, so everyone plays up to the theme. People don’t have to wear their nicest clothes, but you want people dressing to the theme of the Derby. As you probably noticed at past Derby parties, the girls LOVE to get decked out for this, and they are usually smoking hot. Enforcing this dress code and making it well known before the event will only help keep out the Debbie Downers, and bring in the smokeshows. Everyone loves getting dressed up and hammered.
Set up TVs outside
This is a no brainer. The entire premise of the event is a horse race. Sure, you may not be at the actual Derby, and may not actually care about the race. But those 5 minutes that surround the race are electric, and people are going to want to watch it. As long as it’s a perfect day drinking day, find a way to run the TVs outside so people can watch it in all their glory. The race happens at the perfect time where everyone has been pounding booze for a couple of hours, so they are ripe to go nuts for some steeds. Day drinking and sports outside is the ultimate combination for any party.
Have premium liquor
We aren’t sitting here telling you to spend thousands of dollars on booze for other people only looking to blackout, but make it a bit classier than your typical nine dollar handle of rubbing alcohol you pass off as vodka. Letting people think they are important by drinking something a bit nicer will cause them to get into the theme a bit more, and who knows, maybe even hold them back from smashing a hole in a wall by accident. Champagne is always a great cheap “fancy” option as well. You can buy a ton of cheap plastic champagne glasses and bottles to pass around. If you are tight on cash, don’t be afraid to ask each person to chip in $5. If you tell them it’s going toward premium booze, most people do not have an issue bringing a five spot along.
Have a betting system
Gambling on the race is a great way to get more people to hit your party, and potentially leave happy. Whether it is a square system, straight up bets, or auctioning off horses, people want to put money on these bad boys. Add in all the booze that’s flying left and right, and it’s even more enticing. Trust us when we say, people are going to want to risk something on this race. Even if it’s not money that people win, they just want to win. Set up a system where people win jello shots if their horse wins the race. This is always a fan favorite.
