7 Must-Haves for an Elegant Garden Party
There is nothing quite like a fabulous outdoor party, especially if you have a garden as your venue! So if you are looking to host an elegant garden party there are some must-haves to consider. Read on to discover the essentials you will need to entertain your guests with grace and style!
7 Must-Haves for an Elegant Outdoor Garden Party
Rattan Furniture
Rattan a plant native to parts of Africa, Asia, and Australia, though Indonesia’s dense jungles account for approximately 70% of the rattan supply. It has more to do with bamboo than it does trees, and once peeled it can be woven into furniture. The practice can be traced back to 3000 BC in ancient Egypt. (1) (2)
Seating your guests in rattan furniture and having this historical context on hand will demonstrate some sophistication to your guests. While they enjoy your Rattan Cube Set, you can serenade your guests with the origins of your furniture, all while resting assured that it is in fact more sustainable than alternative synthetic materials. (3) And it is so boho-chic!
Create a Beautiful Buffet
Whether you make this from scratch or acquire the contents from your nearest artisan store, a beautiful-looking spread will inspire a similar kind of behavior in your guests. The first step to this is to lay down an eye-catching table cloth and then decorate with a variety of shapes, colors, and heights.
Garden party food ideas include:
- A cheeseboard: Cheese, crackers, and wine in an outdoor setting is a match made in heaven. Include brie, camembert, fruit paste, and water crackers.
- Bite-sized pastries and tartlets: Small pastries work wonders on a platter. They withstand outdoor conditions and are a slightly more substantial snack than other platter staples.
- Fruit: Grapes, strawberries, and cantaloupe add balance to your platter.
An Outdoor Table
People like to wander and mingle, but having a designated dining table is also an essential place of refuge, both for sit-down meals and those who need a seat. This is 100% a garden party must-have! FurnitureMaxi dining sets and outdoor tables can do exactly that.
For a truly elegant party, decorate your table and assign places to your guests. Use a bold table cloth, set the cutlery and crockery, and decorate with in-season flowers. When assigning places to your guests, it’s a good idea to seat people based on which personalities you believe will get along best. This can also be a sneaky strategy to pair single friends together to test their compatibility.
Have a Signature Drink
Your preferred drink can say a lot about you, and when you’re hosting people, you want to put your best self out there. Importantly, it’s not your drink alone that does the talking, but how exactly you construct it. (4)
Whether it’s a whisky sour, an apple martini, or a sangria, demonstrate that you know what you’re doing. Have the ingredients laid out and a simple, laminated step-by-step instruction card on hand. Or if pre-mixed, decorate the serving bowls or jugs with the drink’s ingredients. For example, with sangria, surround the serving bowl with citrus, red wine, and anything Spanish-themed to give it a look of authenticity.
Decorate Your Garden
Before your garden party, it’s a good idea to seek inspiration from public gardens or other displays of public greenery. Visit your nearest botanical gardens, rooftop gardens, or well-kept parks and take in the scenery. Think about color arrangements, plant species, use of walkways and grass, and try to stylize your own outdoor space to your personal preference.
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How to Design Your Own Garden Room Retreat
3 Tips for Hosting an Elegant Dinner Party at Home
Use Crockery, Not Disposable Plates
Disposable plates look cheap, lazy, and don’t do you any favors in terms of your reputation. They tell your guests that you’re holding back, don’t trust them with your nicer possessions, and that you’re a cheapskate. Considering how devastating disposable cutlery and plates are for the environment, they may also present you as being tone-deaf to the environmental struggles of our time. (5) So while you may hesitate to bring nice tableware to your outdoor party setting, don’t!
Use Insect Deterrents
As enjoyable as outdoor dining is, the experience can be seriously hindered by an insect invasion. Use insect coils and insect repellents to deter insects from disrupting the comfort of your guests. You could choose an option that doesn’t kill insects outright as this might reflect poorly on you with some guests, considering how fundamental insects are to our existence.
By following these ideas for the ultimate elegant outdoor garden party, your guests are sure not only to thoroughly enjoy your party but will also be in awe of your hosting skills.
References
- General Introduction To Rattan – The Biological Background To Exploitation And The History Of Rattan Research
- The Development and Effects of the Twentieth-Century Wicker Revival
- Sustainable and free of plastic: the revival of rattan furniture and why it’s here to stay
- Bartenders reveal all the ways they’re secretly judging you for your drink
- Plastic Cutlery Is Terrible for the Environment and We Don’t Need to Have It Delivered
