The joys of Spring - nothing brings them to life more than Easter. But what’s the history of this chocolate rich festival and how can we best celebrate it?

Easter was named for Eostre, who was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring, or so St Bede claims. He wasn’t very reliable though, so we don’t know how accurate this claim is.  What we do know is that the Christian church took over an old pagan festival, held every spring, and linked it to the resurrection of Christ, which bore many similar themes to the older festival, relating to life triumphing over death and the return of growth, health and strength to the agricultural world.

Easter traditions

Because the medieval world forbade eggs during Lent (the period preceding Easter) eggs have become a major feature of the Easter celebrations. So the chocolate egg is a development of the hard boiled egg, often painted brilliant colours, that was a traditional Easter feast. Yes, we’re delighted that we’ve moved on from that too - we’d be pretty disappointed if our Easter consisted of a boiled egg and soldiers! Still, decorating hard boiled eggs is a lot of fun, and lots of kids will be painting their breakfast eggs. A quick way to really impress your loved ones over the breakfast table is to buy some temporary tattoos and stick them on your eggs - instant street cred!

Easter bunny - well, we have a shock for you. It’s not a bunny - even though all our costumes are for bunnies, the Easter Bunny is not a bunny! It’s a hare. The origin of the Easter Bunny comes from Germany where stories were told of an Easter hare that laid eggs for children to find. No, we don’t know how hares lay eggs either - and we’ve done our research thoroughly - so you’ll just have to use your imagination. The first German immigrants to America took this story with them, and at some point the hare became a rabbit, and it began to carry a basket full of chocolate eggs. We can’t help feeling this was a relief to the hare/rabbit!

So the hare became a rabbit, the eggs became chocolate and the festival became universal. Now Easter is celebrated not just as a Christian event but all over the world, and people enjoy Easter Bonnet competitions, Easter parades, and, of course Easter parties. Some of our favourite Easter celebrations include children’s costume parties with rabbit ears and carrot cupcakes (for the rabbit obviously), Easter Egg hunts with clues and prizes for the best costume and grown up Easter parties.

Easter parties for adults

Send your invitation in a cardboard Easter egg to set the tone and insist that people wear Easter costumes. For yourself, consider our stunning Deluxe Bunny costumes which are brilliant for couples as they come in white with pink details and in pink with white details, to create a contrasting pair.

Have a picnic - lay out simple, tasty food in little picnic baskets for your guests. But get grown up with the drinks - there are some fab chocolate themed cocktails that will guarantee your party goes with a swing!