Simple Ideas for Hosting a Garden Party

Learn about great simple ways, tips, resources and ideas on how to host a garden party including, invitations, food, and activities.

This is a great time of year to have your friends and family over to enjoy the outdoors in the garden. My friends and I have done this for many years and I wanted to share with you some of my ideas that may inspire you for your next get together.

Host A Garden Party

Invitations

Evite.com

There are many free designs at evite.com, and it's a fun and easy way to invite your friends through email. The site even keeps track of who is coming and will send out a reminder as you get close to the date of the party. 

DIY Paper Invitations

You can also make your own paper invitations. I have made them by creating four-to-a-page on my printer, using white card stock. This size fits perfectly in an A4 envelope, which you can find at any office supply store.

There are many places on the internet that offer free graphics. A good one for floral graphics is www.thegraphicsfairy.com.

Beverages

I usually offer bottled water, iced tea, wine and a signature cocktail. If your party is not too large try using canning jars with straws instead of plastic cups, for a fun and casual presentation.

Signature Cocktail Ideas

Food

Finger food is best unless you are having a very small group. I usually like to have a mix of sweet and savory. An herb cheese roll with crackers, Caprese skewers, lavender sugar cookies, cupcakes with edible flowers and baby lettuce greens served in cups are just a few ideas.

Decorations

I like to place different vases of flowers everywhere. Even if you don't have a lot of flowers to pick from, you can purchase them or ask a neighbor if you can have a few. Even wild daisies that grow on the side of the road are good choices. Small vases, like this milk bottle, can look really nice and require only a few flowers. I even like to place some flowers in the bathroom for guests to enjoy.

Depending on the time of day you may not need much in the way of lighting but I love this idea I found on Pinterest.

Activities

Plant swap - Everyone brings a plant, or more than one, to share. This is great to do in the spring when everyone is dividing their perennials. Of course, everyone should feel free to purchase a plant to swap as well. For a nice presentation use your leftover 4-inch nursery pots to pot up one of your plants and cover it with a brown paper lunch bag and a bow. It’s an easy and cheap way to dress it up, don’t you think?

Favors

When you are having a plant swap you really don't need favors but here's an easy and inexpensive one.

Seed packets of a favorite flower that's easy to grow. Place them in a jiffy or terra-cotta pot with a pretty bow. Here are a few good options

I hope this inspires you to host your own garden party soon. Whether it’s a girl’s night out, a family get-together or a neighborhood gathering, entertaining with items from the garden, in the garden is guaranteed to make for a very enjoyable evening. Do you like to entertain in the garden? What other outdoor entertaining ideas do you have?