- Eid serves as one of the most festive occasions for Muslims around the world. New clothes, bangles, henna, all added to the charm and excitement for this celebration. However,times have surely changed, kids find excitement through different means, most being digitial. It can be quite a challenge to involve your family to make Eid a memorable holiday. The most dreadful sight to me personally, and perhaps you can relate, is a room filled with teens each on their gadgets while elders are busy talking in the next room. Does this sound familiar to you?
Over the years, we have tried hard to cultivate some traditions at our own home. We try our best to make eid aesthetic and fun filled. That also means, we have been missing the chand raat ( night before eid) fun and shopping because we stay at home to plan for the celebration. But to be honest it’s worth it! The whole family sitting together and brainstorming creates such a comfratable and homely feel. Also, we left our home town many moons ago ,so we feel free from the clutches of new eid dresses. We just wear whatever is available easily and spend more time focusing on the decor and activities that bring genuine happiness and togetherness.
This blog will cover both eids and different decor, we have thrown:
- Chaand raat gala
We arranged a henna person which was a hit with both the adults and children. We had arts and crafts suited for children. We also had a family bingo. With a lot of our gatehrings and parties in general we have themed bingo. It’s always an enjoybale expereince no matter what the event is! Both children and adults get involved and be competitive. You can even choose to hand out prizes. So if you want to add a more interactve and enegaing element to your parties, bingo is the way to go. Check our blog on malood al nabwi to look at more islamic games suitable for any islamic celebration.
- Eid breakfast
Eid breakfast is my favorite part of Eid. Its challneging especially since we stay up late preparing for it but the feeling it brings in the morning right after namaz is truly fulfilling. Last year’s eid breakfast was focused on aesthetics. My eledest was torn between making a floral studio and maintaining the traditional feel of eid as well , so had two different setups. One setup was in the patio area and we called it the eid floral studio! The indoor setup had a more traditional feel.
Outdoor floral studio for teenage aesthetics. We took letters and adorn them woth flowers. We also tried to bring side tables, study table and baskets and decorated these by placing flowers. All these flowers are bought from dollar stores and I am sure every place has shops that sell cheap stuff, you just need to have an eye to choose and use them smartly to bring the effect.
Indoor traditional set up
For breakfast we chose: Shakshuka Chapli kebab Shami kebab Aloo paratha Aloo kachori
Mini pizza Traditional vermicelli Pistachio falooda Gulab jaman Doodh dulari ( traditional dessert) Kunafa Baklava cheese cake Chocolate cup cake Macarons
A box of traditonal items like ramadan lantern with a wreath and plants serves as a good item of decor in Islamic parties.
Kunafa and baklava cheescake, my new recipe :)
Macaroons are always fun to decorate with :)
Oreo pops with traditional crescent and star.
- Eid lunch
A box with one traditonal item and some flowers is always fun for decor. For this backdrop we took help from
Hawaiian and Mexican decor available at party city.
Henna is the vital part of Eid and if the host can arrange a mehndi expert in non desi places ( cairo, Orange county and Abu Dhabi for us) for their eid parties then it’s surely a hit.
It's always a day of big laughs when you and your friends get together to find out who's secretly an artist (and who really isn't!) Pictionary, the beloved game of quick sketches and hilarious guesses is one of the popular eid games for us too. We opted for eid related words.
The next game was one where you test the memory of your audience. Guests are divided in two groups and they are shown the tray full of eid related articles like prayer scarf, beads, cooking masala, dates etc They are to watch it for 30 seconds and then guess all the items. The one with the sharper memory is going to be the winner.
This is the starter table with sweet and savory paksitani traditional eid dishes.
For starters and sweets we chose:
Falooda
Gulab jaman
Mango dessert
Pav bhaji Hawaiian rolls
Laddoo
Aloo kachori
Aloo paratha
For main buffet, we chose:
Noodle salad
Spiced pilaf
Chicken wings
Haleem
Sajji
Chicken tikka
Desi style photo booth was a big hit.
- eid brunch
this Eid brunch brings back some wonderful memories from our abu dhabi home. Our focus was to involve families in games and we tried to divide teams accordingly to create more enthusiasm among competitors.
We came up with these secret mixed food and drinks that each family had to guess. The drinks and food were unlabelled and familys had to guess the flavors. What fun 😀
Menu :
Egg fried rice
Haleem
Chicken shashlik
Paya
Mutton leg roast
Beef roast
Egg benedict
Dessert ( no picture)
Tiramisu
Strawberry cheese dessert
Vanilla crunch cake
I really hope this blog inspires you! You can use these ideas in your home too, and if you do leave a prayer for our family !
P:S: Most of these recipes are on the blog.