Your garden can act as an extra room if you don’t have much space in your house. If you’ve spent a lot of time working on your garden and making it look beautiful, hosting guests in the garden can also be a perfect excuse to show off your hard work. If you want to host a party in the garden, here are some ideas.
Dinner Party
If you have room for a large table, you can host a dinner party in the garden. Set up a table in the shade if you’re hosting during the day, or put it under a tree draped with beautiful fairy lights if you’re hosting at night.
Dress the table with natural decor from the garden, such as vases of flowers you’ve grown, or painted pine cones. Citronella candles can help to discourage any bugs, as well as looking pretty and smelling good.
You can cook in the kitchen and bring food outside, or fire up the barbecue. Ask guests to bring a dish, like a salad, for a potluck party.
Firepit
Hosting guests in the garden might not seem like the obvious choice in the winter, but it can actually make for a really fun evening. Tell your guests to wrap up warm and gather everyone around the firepit.
The firepit will keep everyone cozy, and you can also provide plenty of blankets to wrap up in to make sure everyone stays warm enough. Toast marshmallows, make smores, or make other classic camping snacks in the firepit, for a fun, wintery evening in the garden.
Movie Night
For something really different, host a backyard movie night. You can buy pop-up screens, or if you have a projector, you can just hang a white sheet and use that as a screen. Put out lots of seating, such as outdoor floor cushions, and screen a favorite movie.
Don’t forget the snacks! Popcorn, ice cream, and other cinema classics will all go down well with your guests. An evening like this is sure to be memorable.
Lawn Games
If you’re having guests round to the garden during the day, you could play some lawn games. There are lots of options for games you can play in the garden, depending on how much room you have.
If you already have sports equipment out for the kids, such as a soccer goal or a basketball hoop, you could all play with these. For something more low-key and relaxed, you could play classic lawn games like boules, horseshoes, or croquet. Large versions of board games like Jenga are also a lot of fun in the garden.
If you have a lot of friends coming, making it a competition and host your own garden sporting contest.
Picnic
A picnic is a classic summer activity, and it’s beloved for a reason. Lay some blankets out on the grass or get out some folding chairs to give people places to sit.
Make or buy some picnic food, like sandwiches and salads. Like with the dinner party, you could ask everyone to bring a dish so you get plenty of variety. Finger food works best for picnics.
If you’re worried about your dishware, buy some plastic or melamine tableware instead. That way, if anything does get dropped, it’s unlikely to be broken. Mix up some summery cocktails and mocktails, and you have an excellent picnic ready to go.
Tea Party
Go for a refined atmosphere and throw a quintessentially English tea party. This could really wow your guests. Set up your table with a pretty table cloth, nice tableware, and some napkins.
Serve the sort of food you’d expect at afternoon tea, such as sandwiches with fillings like egg, cucumber, or smoked salmon. Add some small cakes and pastries, as well as scones. You could bake a Victoria Sponge. Fruit like strawberries also works well for a tea party, especially served with plenty of fresh cream.
Of course, for a tea party, you need to serve tea. Serve English breakfast tea, and perhaps make up a batch of iced tea as well if the weather is warm. You could serve a variety of different teas, including black, white, and fruit teas, for a really fancy experience.
Your garden can be an excellent spot for entertaining, whether for a few friends for drinks or for a larger-scale garden party. Enjoy your garden, share it with your loved ones, and impress your friends both with your gardening skills and your hosting skills as well.
