If you have a garden, there’s one enjoyable thing you absolutely must try—hosting a garden party. With a lush setting, friends, and delectable dishes, nothing can be more entertaining. It’s also an excellent opportunity to usher in a refreshing season and bond with your loved ones.
But despite the many rewards, hosting a successful party can call for a lot of effort. From planning to decoration and cooking, it can present a bunch of challenges.
Want to have a grand garden party at home? This guide on outdoor party planning will outline various helpful tips to help you do it right.
How to Plan an Outdoor Party
Most of the people will prefer to throw a garden party in the yard or patio. But sometimes you may want an expansive and distinct natural scenery than your home. Or you may not have the luxury of a garden, but you desire to host a party. If so, your first task on how to plan a garden party is to find an appropriate location.
You can hire a rooftop, historic terraces, a garden, or host it at the beach or park. Sometimes, a friend can share their space or join the party preparations. Your neighborhood may also have a reservation for outdoor events. Above all, look for a location that can accommodate all your guests and suit the garden party’s theme.
After finding a perfect place to throw the party, then plan for the actual event. Here are the garden party tips for throwing a memorable party.
Make a Guestlist for the Outdoor Party
It would help make a list of the expected tasks and the likely guests. That way you can always know what is pending or complete and the number of people to budget for.
Think of what you need for the garden party. Make sure the list is comprised of the number of guests and whether they have any special needs such as allergies. Include music, groceries, games, decorations, beverages, food, and service people.
As you take on the planned tasks, you can check off the complete tasks and note any challenges. You can use the list to confirm guests’ attendance and mark out those who cancel their invitation.
Prepare Your Garden or Yard
Your location or garden may not be completely ready for the party. Before decorating, you must declutter the space and clean away any trash. You may also need to spruce it up by clearing away unwanted plants and pruning for a neat outlook.
Make sure your patio is clean and hide any trash or random items that take up space. Clean the pathways and remove any debris lying around. Paint around the fence and walls and set up an outdoor fire pit if you can.
Also, you probably won’t want many visitors to use your indoor bathrooms. Luckily, you can rent portable toilets for your visitors. Visit this page for more information about portable potties.
Budget for the Garden Party
For most expenses, you always have a fixed amount of money set aside. Use the same rule when planning a garden party. You don’t want to overspend or run out of cash before settling all the rising bills.
The number of your guests can guide you on what to budget for food, drinks, and seating. It would also be best to budget for unexpected guests. Sometimes your friend may invite their fiancee. Or you may forget to invite an important friend.
Choose a Party Theme
Another simple but profoundly important thing on how to plan a garden party is choosing a theme. A theme guides your vision on colors, music, games, dress codes, and decorations.
Here are some garden party tips for picking a theme.
Make the theme personal if you’re throwing a birthday, wedding, or engagement party. If you’re celebrating a birthday, you can pick a theme that brings out your personality. It could be what you love such as a film or a book.
You can select a basic concept if you’re hosting a random party. Base your theme on events such as Christmas, Earth day, Diwali, Halloween, and so forth.
You may also look at the trending events to come up with your garden party theme. It could be the latest movie or a new catwalk scheme.
The quickest way to pick a theme is to choose a color. You can go with a color you love, or that shows off a particular meaning.
Pick a theme that resonates well with your guests’ list. It would also help to pick it early on for it to guide other activities.
Send Invitations
Invitations may be the last thing in your mind when pondering how to plan a garden party. An Invitation card or email can update your guests on dates, themes, and locations. It can also inform them what to bring as gifts and what time to arrive.
Emails are useful for sending invitations unless you prefer cards. You can also save time and confirm receipt faster by using emails. Besides, emails are more eco-friendly because they can save paper and cut your costs.
Get Music Playlist Right
Most people tend to over-focus on meals and drinks and forget about their music playlist. Do you have a relevant playlist to entertain your guests?
The secret to rocking your guests is to plan for the music as you would meals or drinks. Check if the music you have fits your entire guest list. If you want to get all the music right, you can hire a DJ.
Keep Your Guests Comfortable
Any pleasant host will want to make their guests feel at home. Sometimes, the weather may abruptly change and at night the outdoors can get chilly.
Make sure you’re warming up the entertainment areas. Gather enough fuel early on and ensure the fire pit is on. If some guests can’t access the fireplace, consider renting patio heaters.
You can also serve hot tea or coffee to keep your guests warm. If the location is prone to unpredictable rainfall, use tents to protect your guests. Also, plan casual activities such as games to keep your guests busy.
Planning and Hosting a Garden Party
Planning an outdoor party can drain your energy because of the many tasks involved. You can use the garden party tips in this article to host an organized grand garden party without so massive a hassle.
The most important thing is to make the event fun for your guests. If you can see them laughing, jovial, and mingling around, you’ve done well! For more tips and advice on throwing great events, check out our blog.
