When summer rolls around and friends with gardens decide to start having outdoor socials, it can almost feel like coming home after a long trip. However, why settle for a rehash of what you’ve done before? Why not think about new additions to make them better than they’ve ever been before?
It doesn’t matter if you’re a guest or the host, as in either case fantastic new additions will simply stand to be appreciated by all the guests who are in attendance, and perhaps even become garden party staples from that point forward. If you’re a guest, just make sure that the host is ok with you bringing whatever you are thinking of taking.
A Variety of Foods
Of course, you might be used to garden parties having a culinary center-piece such as a barbecue, but this often puts pressure on the host or whoever is manning the grill. Instead you could add a variety of other snacks and food to make a change. If everyone brings something, there will be less pressure on the one cook too. Baked goods, chips and dip, ordering some pizza, there are no rules here, and it’s just about what you think would suit the event – so long as everyone has enough to eat.
It might even get to the point where you can take the pressure off the barbecue entirely, in which case the person who usually has to stay by the grill might be grateful for the time off.
Fun and Games
While some people will be happy to lounge around in the sun and simply chat the day away, others will want to do different things with their day. Accommodating for different tastes can help to ensure that everyone has as much fun as possible. Therefore, you might find that having some games available can help to provide people with options.
It could be that you just have a football, a baseball, a bat, a glove, or some combination of them available for a quick throw-around. However, it might be that you want to introduce something more long-term that can make repeat appearances, like custom cornhole boards, which can get everyone involved through a simple game which still has the laid-back tone the day is trying to create.
Drinks to Go Around
Of course, how you incorporate alcohol or if you do at all is going to be something that’s dependent on the tastes of the people attending. However, it’s important to take all tastes into consideration, and offer an array of soft drinks as well as alcoholic ones in case people aren’t so inclined towards the latter. Furthermore, if this garden party is taking place on a particularly hot day, drinking alcohol will make people more susceptible to illness from the heat, so water is good to have on-hand too, as always.
However, if you do opt for alcoholic drinks, looking into the different kinds of cocktails that you can make might add a bit more pizazz to the occasion – you can do mocktails too!
Meg is an author at Cinnamon Hollow. She writes on a variety of topics sharing tips and ideas for daily life.