Warm days and balmy evenings make Summer the ideal time to take dinner or cocktail parties outdoors. When it comes to hosting a fabulous garden party, it pays to get creative.
From staving off the evening chill in style to stopping bugs from landing in drinks, here are our top 10 tips for the ultimate garden party plus five recipes:
•Pick a stable place for your party table: if you are serving dinner, choose a stable place to position the table and chairs for minimal wobbling and fewer spills. Perhaps invest in some wide wooden planks to lay over the lawn for a solid base, or temporary decking.
•Provide shade from the sun: offer guests both sun and shade options so everyone can take a break from the heat if required. Erecting a canopy, cabana or small marquee which you can decorate with greenery or flowers is a great idea.
•Match decorations to your garden plants: choose a simple décor theme for the party – a shade that matches the colour in your garden works well and carry this through to your table settings, chair covers and candles.
•Create a magical party garden: light your garden with solar party lights and as evening draws in, make use of strategically placed candles to create a magical mood. Scattering tea lights around the law and along paths creates a beautiful vibe.
•Protect your guests from pests: bugs can be a problem, who wants a mosquito or fly in their bubbles? Try serving drinks in quirky glass jars instead of glasses. Drill a small hole in the lid so a straw can fit in and match them to your colour theme. Lighting a few mosquito candles and placing them around the garden is also a great idea, along with having bug repellant on hand.
•Don’t forget the music: providing party music creates the right atmosphere – make two different playlists ahead of the party, one for during the day and another for night-time party fun.
•Harness nature’s scents: the beauty of a garden party is you can use nature to help create the ambience. Emphasise the scents in your flowerbeds, or from native plants, by placing scented candles that share the same fragrance around the garden.
•Use decorative party glassware: decorative glass tableware can really set off a garden party by sparkling in the sunshine, or night-time fairy lights. Display desserts on a glass stand, have large jugs of ice water and juice around the table to catch the light.
•Serve Summer fruit with edible flowers: have an impressive statement dessert on display. Fruit in Champagne jelly always works well, or a delicious Summer tart decorated with fresh berries and edible flowers.
•Serve easy-to-eat food: opt for a meal that is tasty but easy to eat. If you are hosting a sit-down dinner this is less of an issue, however when guests are mingling around a buffet, the food needs to be easy to enjoy.
Try these five recipes for the ultimate garden party:
