How to host the ultimate garden party

Thea Everett

Deputy editor (audiences) Thea loves to be in the kitchen and has a particular interest in cooking on a budget and deep frying. She thinks Sri Lankan and Indian food is the food of the gods. Discover her recipes and tune in to our Instagram feed, which she runs on a daily basis.

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Now that we can begin to think about having friends over and entertaining at an appropriate distance, we can feel the allure of the garden party calling. Throwing your friends or family a get-together over a delicious al fresco meal is a brilliant way to reconnect after such a long time apart. Whether it’s a good old fashioned barbecue, summer cocktails and canapés, or quiche and a fruit tart, we have plenty of ideas up our sleeves for you. With a bit of planning and preparation, the ultimate summer garden party might just be around the corner.

So, if your idea of heaven is a weekend of chopping, slurping and having a laugh with friends, check out our guide and top tips below. And you don’t have to miss out if you don’t have a garden – just grab a few blankets, a picnic basket and some beakers and make the park your own for an afternoon. These strange lockdown limbo days just got a lot more fun!

How to set the scene

Hosting a garden party should feel like fun so it’s worth going the extra mile to make the experience as joyous as possible – especially under the current circumstances.

Choose a cosy corner of your garden where you can comfortably sit for at least a couple of hours.
Next, decorate! A garden party is an opportunity to dress up and use your finest wares, as well as some party adornments if you want to go all-out. Flowers, bunting, balloons and pom-poms are bound to get people in the mood.
Make sure you use a table big enough to seat friends and family comfortably (with social distancing in place!) and that easily holds the spread of food.

Garden party activities

If you want to make your garden party as memorable as possible, it’s nice to break up the nibbles with some activities. We suggest:

Games! Croquet, giant Jenga, or hoopla and skittles are a great bit of garden entertainment. The more traditional bat-and-ball and football also go down a treat, too, of course, if your garden is big enough.
A photobooth is a fun addition to an outdoor party, and will ensure you and your guests will remember the occasion for years to come. All you need is a homemade booth (nothing some cardboard and scissors can’t help with), a camera (or smartphone), and some props (such as hats, silly moustaches or feather boas) to encourage people to get snapping. All the more reason to get your glad-rags on too, eh?
A piñata is another way to amp up the excitement – and who doesn’t love a shower of sweets or treats raining down on them? Get creative with the design. The kids especially are bound to thank you.

What’s on the menu?

To ensure a stress-free event, it’s a good idea to plan your menu well in advance.

The cocktails
A cocktail is the perfect warm welcome, and you can make it all even more fun with your own outdoor makeshift bar. We have lots of suggestions for summer cocktail recipes. If you are catering for a fairly large group, and don’t want to be designated mixologist all day, we recommend cocktails that can be mixed in advance. Think boozy peach iced tea or a negroni punch. Or the classic mojito can be scaled up and is always a firm favourite.

Mix up a jug of gin fizz and let guests help themselves

The canapés
If you want to get serious in the role of host, our canapé recipes are the best place to look. You could go for crowdpleasing sausage rolls, or if you are looking to go a little fancier, our crayfish and crab brioches are impressive to look at and delicious to eat. If you’d prefer a nibble with some spice, these paneer bites are the new cheese and pineapple! And who doesn’t love food on a stick?

crayfish canapes — Go cray for these crayfish canapés

The meat barbecue
When it comes to the barbecue, traditional favourites will always include sausages, whether its a classic hot dog, or a chorizo sub. We’ve all kinds of burgers as well as chicken wings to choose from, which are sure to go down a treat. For a centrepiece with a bit of a wow factor, consider these slow roast barbecue ribs or a spatchcocked chilli chicken which can be marinated in advance. Find plenty of other barbecue ideas here.

Imagine their faces when you bring out these chorizo sub rolls

The vegetarian barbecue
For the non-meat eaters in the gang, we’ve got plenty of vegetarian barbecue recipes to keep your troupes well fed. You can’t get much better than a barbecued corn on the cob with cheese, though these halloumi sweet potato burgers come close. Barbecue courgettes with lemon and dukkah are a real seasonal treat too.

It’s hard to imagine anything better than hot melted cheese on your corn on the cob

Sweet and savoury tart ideas:

For a garden party made simple, encase things in pastry! Tarts are easily transported outdoors, and always pleasing to the eye. Below are a few of our current favourites:

Gin and lime custard tart
Tomato thyme and ricotta
Baba ganoush tarts
Peach and pistachio galette
Rhubarb and coconut meringue tart

Check out more quiches or sweet tarts here.

The dessert
If you’re planning on making a pudding, consider our mini desserts a practical post-Covid option. These mini cosmopolitan cheesecakes or gin and tonic ice lollies are fun to look at and deliciously refreshing to eat.

mini cheesecakes — Avoid the awkward serving of food with individual portions!

Store-bought vs homemade

A garden party is all about having fun, so don’t agonise over having to make every element of the meal from scratch – it’s supposed to be a relaxing day! Serve up a mix of homemade and ready-made treats to keep things simple; you might want to buy ice lollies and burgers, and save the simpler elements such as the cocktails and salads to make yourself. Chin chin.