For this Little Mermaid party, an elegant seafood menu is served with Disney magic under the sea!
I could not be more excited to share this party with you! For my twenty-first Disney Dinner, I am proud to present The Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid has by far been the most requested theme since I started my Disney Dinners series in January 2018.
It took me a long time to decide how I wanted to design this party and I’m so glad I waited because this just might be my favorite Disney Dinner to date! This party really has it all: gorgeous decor, a delicious and easy menu that’s perfectly on theme, and a killer cocktail. Here’s how I hosted my Little Mermaid dinner party, recipes and all!
The Ambiance
I hung aquatic artwork around the dining room, including a beach print that pays tribute to when Eric finds Ariel after she gets legs. Adorable bubble garlands adorned the doorway. They were so inexpensive and added so much! I also added starfish and sea shells to my china cabinet, and wrote Life is the Bubbles on my chalkboard with a little Flounder and Sebastian cameo.
I styled my side table with coral, seashells, and the most fabulous Under the Sea sign. Back in December, I found out that one of my Rose Table readers is a talented artist who makes magical Disney signs on Etsy! The owner designed this Little Mermaid sign for me for this party but I’m delighted to say that it’s now available on her Etsy shop.
Now, I told you we were dining under the sea tonight, didn’t I? As soon as the sun went down, I used my flood lights to wash the dining room walls in aqua so that we could truly dine Under the Sea. I figured we’d start the night near the surface where Ariel likes to hang out with Scuttle.
Later in the night, I changed the flood lights to dark blue so we could have dessert at the bottom of the ocean, perhaps with King Triton after one of Sebastian’s symphonies.
Last but definitely not least, I projected a water effect on the ceiling to really make it feel like we were in the ocean dreaming about being Part of Your World. Could you not look at this all day? I think I received more messages on Instagram about this effect than every other Disney Dinners effect combined and, trust me, I get it.
When I first plugged in this projector, I stood in my dining room for twenty minutes just staring at the ceiling. It’s mesmerizing, particularly with the darker ocean floor lights.
I really cannot say enough good things about this projector! It’s inexpensive, it looks gorgeous, and it has a bunch of awesome settings and light modes. You will definitely be seeing it again on The Rose Table!
The Table
I styled the table with a teal tablecloth the color of Ariel’s tail. If you look close, it has a fabulous wave detail that’s perfect for this party. For the flowers, I chose purple alstroemeria and red roses, the roses of course paying an homage to Ariel’s hair. I styled the center of the table with coral candles and sea shells.
I am just obsessed with these colors and textures. This table really does remind me of the musical number Under the Sea, which has so many beautiful colors and sea creatures.
The Place Setting
To really get that vibrant, busy look from the Under the Sea musical number, each place setting had a different ocean creature plate, a different sea creature napkin ring, and different colored blue, teal, and purple water glasses and martini glasses. I’ve never used mismatched plates, glasses, OR napkin rings at a Disney Dinner but it felt so right for this particular Disney dinner party.
I used my purple satin napkins last seen at my Midsummer Night’s Dream party as a nod to Ariel’s signature shell top and used culinary shells on the plates to use for the first course.
I have to give a special shoutout to my sister-in-law Heather for gifting me most – yes most – of the decor seen at this party. Not to mention my ring light and microphone. You can thank her for making The Rose Table much more professional!
The Fashion
I wore a teal maxi dress, sheer purple shawl (which my friend Rebecca described as “floaty, like it’s underwater”), and my favorite red hair flower from Thai’s Flowers, since Ariel has a flower in her red hair for part of the movie.
My friends looked so marvelous! Caitlin even channeled Ursula after she goes after Prince Eric. I wish I had gotten a closer pic of her necklace – it’s a seashell with music notes!
You saw Jason and Rebecca are the first SIX Disney Dinners before they moved out of state. They’ve been to 10 out of 21 of the dinners. I was so happy that they came to Texas for this party! And my talented friend Kenya MADE her seashell crown and earrings. Can you believe it? So much talent!
The Drink: Mermaid Martini
This is one of the best cocktails I’ve ever come up with for a Disney Dinner. If you’re looking for the perfect drink to serve at your Little Mermaid party, this is it.
My Mermaid Martini got rave reviews from my friends. I made multiple pitchers and there wasn’t a drop left by the end of the night. Don’t let the (fabulous!) color turn you off; the teal color might be crazy but the taste is fantastic.
The color comes from a combination of Midori (Japanese melon liquor) and Blue Curacao (an orange liquor from the Caribbean). This Mermaid cocktail is basically a fruity lemon drop that tastes a bit like kiwi, dragonfruit, or sour grapes. Get the recipe here.
Loving this Disney party? Check out all of my Disney Dinners and shop my Fairytale Collection!
The Food
I am extremely proud of this menu because it’s so perfectly on theme but it’s also an entertainer’s dream because much of it is made ahead of time.
Little Mermaid Dinner Menu
Marinated shrimp served with seaweed salad
Under the Sea Pasta
Mermaid cheesecake
Marinated Shrimp with seaweed salad
My friend Rebecca pointed out that Ursula actually eats shrimp out of a shell in the movie so I decided that would be the perfect way to pay tribute to one of Disney’s best villains.
This literally takes five minutes to make the night before a party. So easy! And if there’s one thing I learned from Ina Garten, it’s that you don’t have to make every single thing, which is why I picked up seaweed salad at Central Market to serve with the shrimp. Get the recipe for marinated shrimp here.
“The seaweed is always greener in somebody else’s lake”
Under the Sea Pasta
I struggled with the menu for The Little Mermaid because you have to serve seafood but also you can’t serve seafood! I mean, I love crab and all kinds of fish but I wasn’t about to serve a beloved Little Mermaid character to my guests, even if they do eat crab for dinner in the movie! It finally hit me that mussels and clams would be perfect for the theme.
This pasta only takes about twenty minutes to make and tastes like a five-star restaurant dish. Shallots, butter, lemon juice and zest, white wine, shellfish…those are some of my all-time favorite ingredients!
If you love mussels and clams like me, I highly recommend giving this recipe a try. Not a noodle nor shellfish was left behind at my Little Mermaid dinner party! Speaking of noodles, I chose these because they reminded me of Octopus tentacles, another nod to Ursula. Get the recipe here.
Mermaid Cheesecake
I am so proud of this cheesecake. Not only is it an amazing classic cheesecake recipe on its own (without the fancy color swirl) but also a beautiful dessert for any mermaid party.
I topped each slice with an edible mermaid tail, made with teal Wilton candy melts, a silicone mermaid tail mold, and edible pearl dust. I made the tails a week before the party and the cheesecake the day before the party. All I had to do day-of was pipe on the whipped cream in the morning and slice it after dinner. Get the recipe here.
Want to see more? Watch The Little Mermaid episode of The Rose Table here:
Thanks for joining me under the sea! Binge watch all of my Disney Dinners here. Get excited because next month I’m doing a Jurassic Park dinner party. See you there!
P.S. I used seven pounds of lemons for this party. SEVEN POUNDS OF LEMONS! You’d think it was an Amalfi coast themed party. If you love lemon like me, this is the Little Mermaid dinner party menu for you!
P.P.S. I now have a cookbook! Dreams really do come true. Order The Rose Table cookbook here.
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