Your summer is incomplete without backyard BBQ parties and cookouts filled with chilled drinks, where easy to cook food definitely tastes better with big laughs. For a true trouble-free backyard party, you wish to keep the guests and pests from creating a buzz in your ear.
Your dream backyard party must include fun activities for the participants along with plenty of delicious food to serve and stunning outdoor décor to create a magnificent ambiance. Let’s get to know how you may create an oasis for your backyard party to gratify the partygoers without getting someone eaten alive.
Here, you will get a checklist of essentials to plan your backyard party while having some fun, too.
Get off the ground
Around three to four weeks before your backyard party is supposed to be hosted, you need to get the ball rolling.
Start sending invitations
Make a list of all your guests that you intend to invite for your backyard party. This is the right time to send invites so that everyone should be mentally prepared and must be able to easily make appropriate adjustments in their schedule to be a part of this fun-filled event.
Prepare an inventory list
It’s best to take the inventory of your utensils, napkins, bowls, plates, tables, chairs, and other essential items that you need to arrange the backyard party.
Your plan of action
Planning summer backyard parties can be fun and challenging at the same time. There is always a way to cheer up the night with budget-friendly essential items that you can add to your checklist and you may conveniently find at any Dollar Store in your area.
Create your menu
Estimating how much food you need to prepare is crucial. Typically, you should expect each person to have around six appetisers. However, if you intend to arrange a cocktail-style event, then this number may increase.
Regardless of how hearty the meal you intend to offer, there is always room for dessert. When it comes to drinks, twenty-five bottles of wine, one hundred and fifty bottles of beer, and twenty-five bottles of champagne are sufficient for fifty guests.
In addition to that, you have to prepare the following:
- The list of grocery items that you need for the backyard party
- Prepare the food labels
- Rent or buy the extra cups, glasses, napkins, plates, and other utensils
Finalise your planning to throw a great backyard party
If you are left with just one week, this is the time to finalise your preparations. A pro tip for a successful backyard party is to involve your guests in the preparation process. Asking them for help will definitely increase their level of interest since they are now an active part of the event. Hence, you should:
- Borrow the utensils, tables, and chairs if you need some extra ones
- Ask someone near and dear to help you find the best manufacturer who is offering large marquees for sale that can accommodate all your guests easily
- Get your house thoroughly cleaned
- Contact the guests who have not responded to your invitation yet to be aware of their intention to attend the backyard party
- Plan how you will clean and remove the party trash
- Have a plan dealing with the left-overs
- Arrange some uninterrupted power supply
Go grocery shopping!
A day or two before the event, once you have finished cleaning the yard as well as washing the dishes you will be using to serve, this is the time to go grocery shopping. Carefully check the grocery list you have prepared and ask some of your family members to double-check in case you have missed anything important.
While you go to the supermarket, don’t forget to purchase all the ingredients for your backyard party menu.
Nothing else but prep
On the last day of your preparation for the backyard party, review everything you have prepared so far. This is the time for spot-cleaning. Pile away the mail, bills, and other items sitting on your counter. Put all your unopened mail and envelopes in a clean stack to make your house cleaner.
Flip the cushions and put things orderly in the living and drawing room as some of the guests may have to sit there for a while. Wipe down the tables, counters, and chairs to make it smell like a clean home.
Set up the marquee with the help of your loved ones around while arranging the tables, chairs, etc., so you are left with nothing much to do on the day of the event.
Don’t forget to buy extra bags of ice. Prepare as many main courses, desserts, and side dishes as you can the night before the event. Get help from family and friends to cut the vegetables and fruits. Make sure that the beverages are placed in the fridge to chill.
Final touches before the arrival of guests
You’re left with a couple of hours, so make sure you have already prepared the raw food to be grilled. This is the time to re-heat the hot foods you have prepared. Put the ice-boxes and coolers in the right place.
Get the buffet tables ready–with corresponding labels for the foods that you are serving. Pre-heat the grill when you are left with around half an hour.
Stay calm
Staying calm will help you handle some unforeseen incidents during the backyard party. So, relax and take a deep breath. Instruct your family and friends who are working as your teammates to make it happen and serve the guests with a smile on their faces. This is the best way for you and all your teammates to enjoy this wonderful backyard party to its fullest.
Live in the moment
You have planned well so it should definitely end well. Use these incredible ideas to throw a backyard party and enjoy the unforgettable moments you’ll have with your friends and family.
Whether you follow the given checklist to plan your party or you add something to this list, just make sure that the list you have fit the needs of your backyard party.
