Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, will be celebrated on November 1. In honor of the Mexican holiday, which traditionally employs tropes such as marigolds and sugar skulls, here's a look at nine ideas to use at a festive gathering.
Target staged Skeletown Square, a bicultural Dia de los Muertos and Halloween celebration, in Los Angeles last year. The event featured a miniature replica of a graveyard strewn with bright marigold decorations.
For Day of the Dead parties, Brooklyn-based caterer Naturally Delicious prepares tequila-based cocktails. Drinks may include watermelon margaritas and mango margaritas made with Domaine de Canton and a chili-salt rim.
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In addition to cocktails, Naturally Delicious serves shots of Mexican-inspired items such as chilled gazpacho.
To evoke an otherworldly dimension, Naturally Delicious uses tarot cards at place settings for Day of the Dead dinners.
In Chicago, D'Noche serves Cuban, Mexican, and South American fare. At its Day of the Dead party this year, the restaurant will provide guests with papier-mâché skulls to paint.
In 2014, BMF Media hosted a Day of the Dead party at New York's Renaissance Hotel. Servers with traditional Day of the Dead face paint ladled an ancho-watermelon punch from a silver bowl.
Boston's Emerald Lounge at the Revere Hotel hosted a zombie-theme fashion show in October 2012. Spooky swag included skull-shaped shot glasses from Crystal Head vodka.
Billed as a "skeletal spectacle," Redmoon Theater's 2012 Halloween party in Chicago featured dozens of the bony Halloween icons. At a s'mores station, two performers dressed in lingerie and face makeup prepared the snacks in a bathroom vignette. They warmed the chocolates over candles in the bathtub and used blowtorches to melt the marshmallows.
In 2013, Chicago firm A Perfect Event created a tabletop with Mexican-inspired decor for a private event. Tabletop tropes included images of cacti displayed in miniature cake stands.
