Celebrate Spring with a Garden Party

Welcome the arrival of the season of renewal with a chic, stylish garden party.  Garden parties are a fun way to enjoy the newly blooming flowers and greenery in your backyard, show off your host/hostess skills and savor a delectable meal in the company of your nearest and dearest.  You may not have the party planning talents of Martha Stewart, but you’ll be surprised at how easy it can be to create a menu and décor scheme that looks fresh and pulled together. 

Location - If you don’t have a backyard or feel that yours won’t work, ask a friend or neighbor to co-host the party with you (this will also save you money!) or hold your garden party at a public park, botanical gardens or other inspiring setting that will give you permission. 

Colors - For your color scheme, take a cue from nature.  Various shades of green, blue, yellow and pink can work beautifully and don’t have to be sickly-pastel to work.  Vivid leaf green against a bright cheerful deep reddish-pink or robin’s egg blue evokes spring without looking too ‘Easter egg’.  Bring your chosen color scheme into most of your decorative elements including the table linens and centerpieces. 

Décor - Keep the décor fresh and modern by not going overboard with cutesy accents.  Use a colored solid or patterned tablecloth as an eye-catching backdrop.  You can simply roll up white cloth napkins and tie them with some ribbon for easy elegance and contrast against the tablecloth.  For centerpieces, you could use simple accents such as floating votive candles in clear glass bowls, blue robin’s egg Easter candies in grapevine birds nests (purchase at your local craft store) or cut some blooming branches from your yard and place them in tall narrow vases.  Hang a few paper lanterns from shepherd’s hooks, and perhaps place a garden fountain nearby for relaxing ambiance.

Tableware – Depending on whether you’d like your garden party to be more formal or a relaxed, casual affair, you could either use all white plates and bowls for a uniform look or intentionally mismatched dishes in cheerful colors.  Check thrift stores if you decide to go with the latter option – you may luck out with a few great finds.

Menu – Your choice of food should mesh well with the overall level of formality you’d like to achieve for your party.  Go all out and serve a five course feast, recreate royal English afternoon tea or have a relaxed BBQ – it’s up to you.  Take some cues from Oprah, Bon Appetit Magazine and Sunset for creative meal ideas that will really impress your guests.

For a wide selection of beautiful, high quality picnic and outdoor entertaining products, check out PicnicFun.com.