summer-783345_1920

With the prospect of a sunshine filled summer just around the corner, garden parties are a great way to bring friends and family together. On the day of the gathering, you’ll need a relaxed setting, plenty of time, and guaranteed sunshine. Your loved ones can enjoy wonderful food, drink, and decorations with these handy tips to make your garden party one to remember.

Food It is not truly a garden party until the word ‘barbeque’ has been thrown around. A barbeque is a British garden party staple. Premium burgers, hotdogs drizzled with delicious french mustard, and tasty chicken drumsticks glazed with chinese sauce coupled with a tossed mediterranean salad is an assured garden party winner. If you’re looking to try something a little different, picnic food such as mini sausage rolls or quiche are a fuss-free way of providing food that most will enjoy. Tiger bread sausage rolls served with sweet chilli sauce is a great example of how to vary the spread of picnic food on offer.

Drinks For a relaxed gathering, offering drinks such as a jug of Pimms or mocktails are crowd pleasers. Mocktails are essentially cocktails without the alcohol, making the refreshing drinks available to all participants of the party. You can create mocktails such as virgin Mojitos which taste just as good as its alcoholic counterpart. For a fresh personalised twist, serve the mocktails in painted mason jars adorned with a colourful straws. Click here for mocktail recipes.

Decorations Stringing bunting around the garden is a really simple way of dressing up the garden and making it party-ready. Light, bright colours or floral bunting are perfect to create an enchanting atmosphere. As the sun begins to set, fairy lights are a lovely way to continue the party into the evening. If you have a conservatory or similar construction in the garden, fixing them to the roof creates twinkling surroundings that children and adults alike will appreciate. Alternatively, hooking the lights along trellis’ or weaving them along drainpipes can work too, although you’ll have to make sure the lights are specifically made for the outdoors.

Games and Activities If your party is child-friendly, starting the gathering by decorating transparent mason jars with quick-drying paint can get children feeling creative. When dry, the jars can then be used to display colourful flowers or battery powered fairy lights, and placed around the garden. Washaway chalk is another great distraction that will entertain the children in the lull between food courses. The chalk can be used on brick and pavement, allowing the children to play fun games such as hopscotch with little worry about permanence. Presenting an activity such as Croquet during the garden party is a sure fire way to delight all ages and to add a friendly competitive element to the party.