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Summer is my absolute favorite time of year, hands down (fall is a close second). I love grilling, soaking up sun, throwing my kids in the pool, heading to the beach, serving watermelon for lunch and pretending I still have a summer vacation. I know it’s only April, but with temps in the 80’s here in Charlotte, I’m in full on summer planning mode, so I thought we could do a full series about “summer must haves” – the things we should all think about grabbing before the season of magic actually arrives.
First up? Outdoor entertaining essentials! There are few things better than a summer gathering with good food, warm nights, and time outside with some of your favorite people. See below for some hot summer party ideas (see what I did there?) and the items that make outdoor entertaining and dining so much easier and more fun. This might even spark some fun ideas for summer party themes or general summer party ideas!
DISHWARE
Most nights over the summer, our family will eat on our screened in porch, the picnic table on our deck or even down by our fire pit. Carting our heavy ceramic plates to and fro and providing many opportunities for breakage is not my idea of fun. These plates are the perfect, colorful, stackable solution without turning to disposable paper plates. They are dishwasher safe too, obviously!
BUY on Amazon, $21.99 for a pack of 8
Of course, when you have guests over the summer, iced beverages all around are an absolute must. We usually have a mix of kids and adults, so I need something that doesn’t break and as above, is dishwasher friendly. These look nice, come in summer colors and because each one is different, you can easily keep track of which cup belongs to which guest!
BUY on Amazon, $26.99 for a set of 6
SERVING TOOLS:
For charcuterie boards, fruit trays and graze boards, trays are an absolute must. These are shatter proof, lightweight (easy to carry down to the fire pit!) and a great price point. Just don’t leave meat and cheese out on a sunny day, or you + all your guests could end up with some unwanted surprises.
BUY on Amazon, $14.99 for a set of 4
Another tool I swear by to cut down on trips to and from the kitchen? This condiment caddy. If you’re serving nachos (salsa, sour cream, guac), hot dogs/cheeseburgers (ketchup, mustard, etc.) or any smoked meat (BBQ sauce!), there are appropriate, yet optional add-ons to offer your guests, and since you want to spend more time with them v. running back to the house, you can use catch-alls like this one.
BEVERAGES
As mentioned above, drinks are a key component of any summer gathering. We always have a cooler stuffed full of goodies, but for things like water or iced tea, a giant drink dispenser is an easy way to make sure your guests can keep themselves hydrated without constantly having to ask for more! We keep one by the food and then another one over where folks might gather, sit, stand together for ultimate ease.
Like I said, our other beverage “dispenser” is a cooler full of ice with canned/bottled bevvies (including a lot of my faves from the Dry January roundups I did!). We did a TON of research on coolers, and though Yeti is the “cool” choice, we’ve found that this Orca Cooler delivers amazing performance and plenty of durability (we take it camping too!) at a fraction of the cost.
TREATS
In keeping with the cold/frozen theme, I always find popsicles to be a huge hit for kids (and honestly, adults too) at a summer gathering. We like to make ours at home because then we can 100% control the ingredients and make them only with real fruit. Not to mention, this saves a ton of money. Fruit only popsicles sometimes even make it on the breakfast menu for my kids on lazy summer mornings, so our molds see a lot of use. Here are a couple of our favorites that are easy to clean, store and freeze.
BUY on Amazon, $17.99 for 12 molds
BUY on Amazon, $12.77 for 4 molds
Heading the complete opposite direction, hot treats, s’mores are a fireside favorite summer party food. This caddy and set of sticks ensures you get all the accessories down to the fire pit in adequate quantities and have the tools for ‘mallow roasting.
ACTIVITIES
While roasting s’mores is an activity all on its own, a good summer outdoor gathering may need a few other past times, especially for the kiddos. We have several sets of boards and bags (also called cornhole by some) that we always pull out in case anyone feels like tossing a few rounds. Usually, someone gets it started and then someone else will call playing the winner and a vicious competition gets going. Dan makes ours for us (and custom hand paints them!), but if you don’t have a Dan, these might work just as well for you!
This giant Jenga set is a crowd pleaser for both kids and adults, and even better, it’s something the whole group can do together.
Honestly, nothing in our yard gets even close to the amount of use that our zip line does. Kids never tire of running it back to the start point and taking turns riding it down the length of our yard. Highly recommend for lots of bang for your buck.
Even though it takes a lot longer for the sky to get dark over the summer, everyone’s bedtime seems a lot more flexible. That means a night time movie out in the woods (ie: our backyard) during summer parties is an absolute must. This projector can make it happen.
DECOR AND AMBIENCE
Even though we keep up our string lights in the backyard year round, there’s something about these colorful lights that just screams “summer party!” BONUS: they can be controlled with a remote.
The best kind of lighting is the kind that also repels insects. Since we have a creek running through our backyard, we have no shortage of mosquitos and these torches help keep our outdoor gatherings bug free.
Those are some of the summer entertaining essentials on my list. How about you? Anything you’re buying to prep for the hot summer party season? Stay tuned for more “Summer Must Have” posts coming soon and let me know if there is a specific category you’d like to see us explore in this series!
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