How to plan the perfect summer party..

Ah, the English summer… A mix of bright golden days and sudden chills, dull and wet. While we love the sunshine, of course, it’s those days of rain that make our summers so glorious – vivid greens against blue skies, the lush smell of newly mown grass and the bright colours of bedding plants. Sunshine, as we have experienced during this glorious May, always makes me want to spend time with my friends, clutching a chilled glass of something delicious, living in the moment.

Planning the perfect party takes a little thought of course. We’re not talking spontaneous Saturday night BBQ here, we’re talking the type of party that people remember, that doesn’t just slide into the blur of every other summer gathering, soon to be forgotten.

Here’s our quick guide to everything you need to consider when planning the perfect summer party:

Guest list

If, like most people, you have different friendship groups you’re a part of, but there’s not much crossover otherwise, this is the perfect time to bring them together. Invite people you know will mingle and happily get to know your other friends, but also the friends who like to stay in their comfort zone and chat only to those they already know. Don’t worry about getting everybody to mix, you’ll find that as the evening progresses groups will merge, unmerge and merge again, with everybody maintaining their personal comfort zones while still enjoying the ambience.

Numbers matter – aim for no more than 30. This way you get to talk to everybody without feeling you’re not having any time to relax yourself.

Set the scene

I don’t mean theme, here – it’s not an 80s US prom, unless you want an 80s US prom? In which case let me recommend an Under the Sea theme… No, I mean create an ambience, deliver an impression from the moment those first guests arrive.

Collect jam jars and drop in real or LED candles, then place them among flower beds, along walls, scattered across the tables. Buy fresh flowers and fill all your vases, placing them on every table. Add strings of LED lights along fence tops, dot solar lanterns along pathways – get your garden glowing. 

How about a bubble machine? Drifts of sparkling bubbles as guests arrive look great, and you can switch it off once everybody is gathered.

Seating is key here. Ask your friends to drop garden chairs off earlier in the day (nobody has 30 chairs…) and create little pockets of seating, with a few lanterns or lights set about the chairs. Most people will stand to chat, but as the night goes on, seating becomes more valued.

Blankets – English summer evenings may start out golden and warm, but soon settle into a level of chill not everybody will be prepared for. Stock up on fleece blankets (they’re everywhere, from Tesco to IKEA) and leave a stack for guests to use in a prominent place. You could ask friends to drop their own selection off with their chairs, too.

Feed your guests

Decide well in advance what you want to do about food – will you do a barbecue (though that means spending a lot of time over a smoky grill, not mingling with your mates) or plates of nibbles? Will you buy ready-made, make your own, or a mix of the two? Cold food, or hot, or both? The actual food you serve actually matters less than you think, as long as there’s plenty of it and it’s easy to eat with fingers. Presentation of the food – small things set out on pretty plates, colourful bowls filled with nuts, olives and crisps, fresh cut crudites fanned around dips decanted into glass bowls – this is what makes a party special.

And think about how you serve your food – you  will need plenty of paper plates and serviettes, and there are many party planning websites to peruse if you want something a bit more robust than the average supermarket offering. These sites also have great photos, which might trigger your own thoughts on how you want your party to look and feel; check out Ginger Ray, or Meri Meri, for inspiration.

Raise a glass

How will you greet your guests as they arrive? Trays of pre-poured fizz always look great, and add a touch of class to set the scene. Or how about mixing up a batch of cocktails and passing these out as guests arrive? Don’t forget the designated drivers – make sure you have a selection of non-alcoholic options that exceed the usual. Sweet and fizzy drinks are more children’s party than stylish grown-up fun, so search out a bottle or two of non-alcoholic gin maybe, such as Gordon’s Alcohol Free Spirit 0.0%, some sparkling water and scour your supermarket for fancy cordials.

Do you have enough glasses? Does your local supermarket hire glassware? Maybe a trip to IKEA is needed – or can you borrow? Real glasses are the thing, not plastic, land-fill creating options – whatever you’re sipping never tastes right from plastic, anyway.

Music sets the scene

Unless you want to seriously cheese off the neighbours (if they’re not on your guest list, that is) you don’t want to have loud music blasting across the whole garden. It’s also not great for people trying to chat. Instead, set up two or three Bluetooth speakers and keep them set to a reasonable volume. You may need to test the best place to leave your phone so all the speakers pick up your songlist, or you and your other half run a speaker each – just make sure they’re far enough apart not to have the music overlapping!

Surprise!

All great parties have an element of surprise. How about bringing out platters of bacon sandwiches at the end of the night? What about booking a close-up magician to mix with the guests for an hour or so? Is there a pizza van or churros van you like you could have arrived mid-event? Budget permitting, of course – but then, if you’re going to throw a legendary summer party, you may need to splash out a tad…

The host with the most

It’s your party too, so don’t spend your whole night rushing about making sure everything is perfect. Set the ball rolling at the start, keep an eye on timings if you have a surprise planned, and enjoy yourself. It might be best to consider yourself a designated driver, however – if something happens that you need to address, it’s hard to do it well if you’re half-cut!

At the end of the day, parties are about gathering the people you like best and having fun, so don’t get overly concerned about themes, or food, or if everybody has a full glass, just enjoy. 

And if it rains – bring it inside!

Eddie – 23rd May 2025.