Throwing A Summer Garden Party To Impress Your Friends


We’re all in a bit of a shock in the UK right now. Not just a heatwave that’s lasted a day or two, but a few solid weeks – and it just doesn’t seem to be going away! Instead of sitting indoors online shopping for fans why don’t you let your social sideshow and host a brilliant outdoor BBQ for all your friends and family?

Here are some stellar tips for throwing your own garden party that’ll have your friends talking about it for weeks afterwards!

Blast some midsummer melodies 



A party ain’t nothin’ without a killer playlist to go with it. If nobody at your party is dancing then can you really say anyone is having as good a time as they should be?

Luckily, services like Spotify have plenty of pre-built playlists to relieve you of the chore of building a playlist from scratch. If you want to really give your guests a great experience then give the responsibility of choosing the music – make sure every guest gets their turn to choose the next song so everyone is kept happy!

You can also utilise your guest's talents - if they play the guitar ask them to bring it along to play for their supper. Be sure to head over to sites like Guitaarr to brush-up on your guitar knowledge, and really bring the wow factor to the conversation.


Cook up a storm


An outdoor garden party is nothing without a great selection of BBQ foods. Try to veer away from boring your guests with the same old burgers and hot dogs on selection and try to pick out some fancy recipes beforehand.

The BBC Good Food website has plenty of mouth-watering and easy-to-follow recipes for the BBQ that you can fall back on if you don’t want to go exploring through all your old cookbooks.

Put on a show

They say that outdoor theatre is the best kind – so why not take a stab at it in your own backyard? Okay, you might not be west end trained, but what better excuse is there for a hot day than to use your garden decking as an impromptu stage?

Get everyone to grab a drink and a script and do their own artsy version of karaoke, great for the kids and the oldies alike! If you’re stuck for ideas on what kind of plays to do and you don’t fancy dusting off the Shakespeare – take a look at some great ideas for staging your own play outdoors!

Lighten up

When the sun goes down and your party starts rolling over into the small hours, you are going to want some mood lighting, so everyone can still see what’s in front of them!

Everyone has seen a garden party littered with fairy lights, and while they look pretty and all that, do we not think they’re a little overdone? Some of the industrial outdoor lighting from Urban Cottage Industries can really make your garden party stand out from the crowd with their cool selection of quality wall lights and sconces.

Throw some shade




The heat is great and all, but we have certainly had a lot of it lately and frankly not all of us are as happy to see Mr Sun as others…

Providing a bit of shade in your garden with a parasol or something more makeshift like a sheet and you’ll be probably thanked a thousand times over by all your guests with a fairer skin and you will DEFINITELY be thanked by the gingers amongst your party!

*In collaboration with Urban Cottage Industries

6 comments

  1. We are still shock how great the weather has been lately, perfect for a summer garden party! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. We love garden parties and these are great tips. I love the idea of adding lights to the garden as well as putting on a show which would be super fun, as our kids always love performing for us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wish I could put on a party... but living in a flat in the middle of Manchester means we have very little room to entertain friends :( Great tips though - will definitely keep them in mind!

    Oliver x

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love garden parties and these are great tips! A definite shout for entertainment too. That always makes the best parties x

    ReplyDelete