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The summer is here and what is summer good for but spending time outdoors with friends and family. With the long days, the warm weather and the light nights, the summer is all about having picnics, garden parties, barbecues, generally celebrating and enjoying yourself. There are loads of ideas for things you can do if you want to throw a party this summer, whether it’s for a birthday, christening, wedding, anniversary or you just want to have a party and see some friends and family, here’s a few ideas that can help you get summer party ready:
A Garden Party
If you have a beautiful big garden, then make the most of it. If you have enough room you could hire a marquee for shelter or even buy one, get some lovely garden furniture and if you’re having loads of guests, then you can hire chairs, or get everyone to bring one.
Party food for a garden party can be whatever you want it to be, a barbecue, a picnic, an afternoon tea or just a buffet. You could have a theme and such as Hawaiian themed with cocktails in pineapples and coconuts. It could be ‘English Country Garden’ with sandwiches, cakes, and tea, bunting for decoration and a string quartet or just a glamorous garden with have beautiful tables and chairs beautifully decorated. Get some cute napkins, elegant glassware, cake stands. You could make name places and table candles to add to the ambience.
A Picnic
A picnic is a lovely thing to organize, it’s fun for family and friends of all ages, and you can go to a beach or a park, as long as you have space it doesn’t matter how many people turn up and even better is that everyone can bring some food for everyone to share.
Get yourself a beautiful large picnic blanket, a picnic basket, and some chairs. You can either make the food yourself or these days it’s readily available from supermarkets.
It might be an idea to pack two containers—a picnic basket for tableware and nonperishable items and a cooler for cold food and beverages and if you’re feeding a lot of people, bring two coolers as you can use one for drinks and the other for perishable foods like meats and salads.
If you know you have a picnic coming up, then think ahead and save extra condiment packets from fast-food restaurants to bring along as they are ideal for leisurely outdoor meals. Remember to bring along plastic bags for any dirty dishes and silverware you need to bring home and for rubbish in case there are no trash barrels at the picnic site.
A Barbecue
Barbecues are what summer is all about, standing over the sausages with a beer, life couldn’t get much better. But how do you throw the most awesome BBQ this summer?
There are two crucial things that you need if you want to make great barbecue food, the first is a charcoal barbecue to give extra smoky flavour so that it’s different than just cooking in the oven. The second thing you need is a lid to lock in flavour and to keep the temperature constant.
Then for the food, homemade is always best -, especially burgers. You can make amazing burgers from just salt and pepper and good-quality meat, make sure you buy mince with plenty of fat, or get your butcher to give you some minced flank or chuck for juicy, flavorful burgers.
Don’t forget about fish, either! Get a whole trout or side of salmon, slice it open and stuff it with lemon, dill, and pepper.
Always remember to marinade – ideally overnight and then brush your meat or fish with the marinade every 10 minutes as it cooks to add moisture, trap the smokey flavor and caramelize gently.
Pool Party
Throwing a pool party doesn’t have to only be open to those fortunate to have a pool in their back garden. You could do this on holiday, or you could hire a pool out to throw your party.
The great thing about a pool party is that there’s no need to think of any other theme. A pool party is a theme on its own, but you can always add colourful décor, beach towels, and tableware to make it feel even more fun.
One thing to consider is that because you’re by a pool, you’ll want to refrain from using glass for serving food or drinks in case someone accidentally drops one and your barefoot step on broken glass. You can get some cute paper plates and cups, or if you want to go that bit further, there’s some beautiful plasticware available now too.
Keep the food simple and fuss-free with finger food. Lots of ripe, fresh fruits and vegetables will keep people feeling hydrated for the whole day. People will be on the go all day, so crudités and a creamy dip, a fruit platter little bites like mozzarella stuffed cherry tomatoes, exotic salads or anything that can be put on skewers instead of served in bowls. Chicken wings and different types of meat skewers are also great ideas.
Music Festival
Get your mates to grab their tents, don’t feel glum that you can’t get to Coachella because you don’t need to. Bring the music festival to you!
You might need to get a bit creative and have some time to dedicate to this one, but it will be worth it. Creating a DIY teepee will be the talk of the party if you can pull it off. It will serve as an excellent place for your friends to hang out in, and it will also look amazing as the backdrop for your pictures. Make or buy some flower crowns for everyone; you can do this with an assortment of fake flowers or use fresh ones to look the part. Hang string lights everywhere, get neon decorations and body paint, glow sticks and temporary tattoos and you’ll feel like you’re there. All that’s left is to make sure you have some cool tunes playing and create a playlist beforehand so that you do not have to play DJ (unless you have a friend who’s good at that) and finally, serve up some refreshing and exciting cocktails for your guests!
Finally, if you’re spending all this time outside enjoying yourself, don’t forget your sunscreen, hats and make sure you’re drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated!