How to Plan the Perfect Garden Party

Hello World!  Welcome Friends!  With spring just around the corner, most of us can’t wait to shake off that winter feeling and head outdoors. What better way to celebrate the arrival of longer, brighter, warmer days than with a garden party with your nearest and dearest. If you want to host the perfect al fresco get-together this year, check out these tips.

1. Theme

Decide on your theme and the rest will follow. Perhaps you want to create a relaxed picnic ambiance, an elegant tea party atmosphere or a fun country fair vibe. Whatever your style, be sure to weave this concept into all elements of your celebration.

2. Lighting

If your gathering will go on into the evening or the early hours of the morning even, lighting will be key. This aspect can be the difference between a congenial mood and awkward conversations with people that can’t really see each other because of glaring bulbs or near-complete darkness. Thankfully, there are many fun options to choose from. You could set a playful scene with light up furniture, add a touch of chic by dotting pretty tea lights around in mason jars or make your party enchanting by wrapping fairy lights around trees. You’ll probably end up using a combination of different styles to create the right atmosphere. And there’s no need to worry about open flames as you can always get battery led candles.

3. Decor

You really don’t need to spend a lot to create a big impact when decorating your garden party. You could make your own bunting to create a vintage look, add balloons to keep things festive, put cute windmills in bottles for a touch of quirkiness or arrange seasonal flowers in vases or watering cans for a fresh, natural finish. If you want to get kids involved in some crafting, why not get them to make pretty paper chains to hang from tree to tree? All you need is paper in the colors and patterns of your choice, some glue, staples or tape and a pair scissors. If you want to try something a little more sophisticated, you could make tissue paper poms poms for a dash of cheer.

4. Seating

You can’t really have too many seating options at a garden party. Include a range of choices to keep your guest comfortable. From benches, deck chairs and sunloungers to bistro sets, swing seats and outdoor sofas, to bean bags, rugs and hammocks, there’s no end of practical, cozy and fun styles to choose from. And whatever you do, make sure you have plenty of blankets available to keep everyone toasty when the sun goes down.

5. Food and drinks

There are lots of ways to give ordinary food and drinks an outdoorsy makeover. For example, you could cut sandwiches into leaf shapes and decorate them with ribbons of cucumber skin to create ‘veins’, you could add edible flowers to punch bowls, ice cubes and cakes or you could make a self-serve bar by filling a wheelbarrow with ice and bottles of beer. Be as creative as you want to be and have fun with your recipes to create food and refreshments that not only taste good but look the part too.

Whatever you style, there are plenty of fun ways to make your next outdoor social fun and inventive. You are really only limited by your own imagination, and if you’re stuck for ideas, you’ll find inspiration online. Start planning now for a garden party to remember in 2017.

Dreaming of Spring!  Thank you for stopping by!  Have a gorgeous day/night depending on where you are in the world!  Go with God and remember to be kind to one another!

Toodles,

   

 

Sharing this at these lovely parties:

Between Naps on the Porch, Stone Gable, Home Stories A to Z, Cozy Little House, A Stroll Thru Life, Savvy Southern Style, Just a Girl and Her Blog, DIY by Design, No Minimalist Here, From my Front Porch to Yours, Christman’s Creations, The Charm of Home, French Country Cottage, DesignThusiasm, Bygone Vintage, Bluesky Kitchen, Poofing the Pillows, Celebrate & Decorate, LouLou Girls, My Thrift Store Addiction, Remodelaholic, Suburban Simplicity, The Chronicles of Home, 21 Rosemary Lane.