Themes, colours and ideas for a garden party

To my mind, a garden party is something rather more than just a party in a garden. It has a more – how can I say this? – grown-up or mature feeling. Let’s look at three types of garden party and three possible themes.

Three types of garden party

We all know about the garden parties at Buckingham Palace. That’s the first type: the afternoon garden party with tea and cakes. Sometimes these are arranged in aid of a charity, such as Macmillan Cancer Support.

The second is the formal meal. This is Sunday lunch or an evening dinner, the time when you meet your future in-laws or impress potential business partners.

Finally, there’s the afternoon into evening garden party.

Whichever you’re planning, you have to think about the same things: tables and seating, food and drink, decorations and lighting. And you must have a Plan B, in case of rain and cold weather.

Themes and colour palette

There may be a reason for your garden party – a significant birthday or anniversary, a celebration of someone’s success or achievement. Wonderful! If not, then give your garden party a theme.

Broad themes work best because they allow everyone to join in, in the way that they want. We’ll take a look here at a few ideas for ‘vintage’, ‘elegant’ and ‘laid-back’ themes. Choose what will work best for you.

Have a colour scheme, matching or complementing the flowers and plants in your garden. White and natural is very chic; yellow, orange, blue and pink give a more vibrant tone. Keep to the theme and your colour palette and your party will feel very smart and pulled together.

Theme and colours chosen? Now your tables and seating, food and drink, decorations and lighting should all start to fall into place.

‘Zones’, tables and seating

If you can, it’s a good idea to ‘zone’ different areas of the garden:

cosy corners for relaxation or a quiet chat
a patch of lawn for children to relax and play
an area to wander and admire the garden
somewhere for food and drink.

Blink ImMACulate Garden Party, Edmonton, Canada. By Monika Czuprynski, Visual Index Photography, and reused under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

It’s essential to provide enough places to sit.

Vintage: deck chairs and camping chairs, with cushions to make them more comfortable.
Elegant: proper tables and chairs.
Laid back: comfortable, bohemian rugs and cushions on the ground, logs.

And for all garden parties, as Hartley Botanic says:

Rather than serving kiddish paper plates at your party, serve food on nice china plates. Not only does it avoid the inevitable paper and plastic plates left to blow around the garden, it brings a more mature feel to dinner and encourages guests to sit and enjoy the food.

Elegant: a tablecloth, napkins and individual cutlery sets tied with ribbon to keep them together. Place empty glasses upside down to keep insects out.

Food and drink

A garden party should have better than average food. Have a look at our Recipe Show for inspiration.

Vintage afternoon garden (tea) party: sandwiches, scones, butterfly cakes, Victoria sponge, thinly sliced fruit cake. Tea to drink, obviously.

Vintage formal meal: rosé (not blush!) wine.

Vintage afternoon into evening: sangria.

Elegant formal meal: colour co-ordinated cocktails.

Laid-back food: good bread and crispbread, salads, roast peppers, olives, salami, cheese. And for evening: marshmallows toasted over the firebowl.

Decorations and lighting

Decorations and lighting outline your theme and help your guests to relax and enjoy the garden. Bunting, containers of plants, vases of flowers, table centrepieces, candles, fleece blankets and cushions in your chosen colours all contribute.

Vintage: homemade bunting, lanterns hanging from branches.

Elegant: candlelight makes a small garden look wonderful.

Laid back: string lights and tea lights in repurposed glass jars.

Plan B and keeping warm

Rain and cold temperatures are not unknown in summer … so check the weather forecast in advance. Blankets and fleeces take the chill off, whatever the style of garden party, and firepits and patio heaters provide a focal point after the sun has gone down. Having garden furniture covers to hand can give you peace of mind, should the skies open. (We hope they won't!)

Vintage: a chiminea.

Elegant: a marquee is a good choice.

Laid back: a tent or gazebo.