17 Effortless Summer Party Ideas
Fussy fix-ups are "sooo last season"... Embrace the easygoing nature of summer entertaining with these low-effort, high-impact DIYs
Summertime calls for a distinctly unfussy approach to entertaining, and thankfully so – because who wants to sweat over planning a summer soiree? Make things easier on yourself by making use of the great outdoors, getting guests to pitch in and embracing low-key, budget-friendly decor and upcycling tricks. From DIY flowers and quick extra tables to a beachy outdoor bar, these 20 ideas will make your party planning easier.
2. Fashion a wooden crate into a drinks container
If you line it with plastic, any old crate can be a rustic-chic open-top cooler for keeping soft drink and beer on ice. It won’t keep it cold as long as an esky, but it should do the trick at a party.
3. No crate? Use whatever you’ve got
An old wheelbarrow, a garden tipping cart, an enamel bucket or even a storage chest can be lined with rubbish bags and filled with ice to make an impromptu drinks cooler.
If you line it with plastic, any old crate can be a rustic-chic open-top cooler for keeping soft drink and beer on ice. It won’t keep it cold as long as an esky, but it should do the trick at a party.
3. No crate? Use whatever you’ve got
An old wheelbarrow, a garden tipping cart, an enamel bucket or even a storage chest can be lined with rubbish bags and filled with ice to make an impromptu drinks cooler.
4. Give your outdoor bar a tiki makeover with a palapa roof
Search for “palm leaf thatch panels” to find a source and tack a few lengths of the grassy stuff to the roof of your outdoor bar or shed to give it some tiki bar style.
Raise your glass to more home bars
Search for “palm leaf thatch panels” to find a source and tack a few lengths of the grassy stuff to the roof of your outdoor bar or shed to give it some tiki bar style.
Raise your glass to more home bars
5. Dress up candles with woodsy details
Curl a wide green leaf and drop it into a glass jar – then fill the jar with water and float a tea light on top. Or use lengths of paperbark (available at craft shops) to wrap the outside of a jar or candleholder, and fasten them with twine.
6. Make beachy candles with mason jars and sand
Filled partway with sand, a mason jar of any size can easily become a chic candleholder. To make hanging lanterns, wrap the mouth of the jar with flexible wire and hang the jar from the branches of a tree. For safety, use battery-operated candles for hanging.
Curl a wide green leaf and drop it into a glass jar – then fill the jar with water and float a tea light on top. Or use lengths of paperbark (available at craft shops) to wrap the outside of a jar or candleholder, and fasten them with twine.
6. Make beachy candles with mason jars and sand
Filled partway with sand, a mason jar of any size can easily become a chic candleholder. To make hanging lanterns, wrap the mouth of the jar with flexible wire and hang the jar from the branches of a tree. For safety, use battery-operated candles for hanging.
7. Use recycled glass bottles as vases
A row of tall, slender bottles lined up in the middle of a table makes a pretty (and super-easy) centrepiece. Just plunk one bloom in each vase, and you’re done! Try gerbera daisies, cosmos or sunflowers.
Crafty DIYs with old glass
A row of tall, slender bottles lined up in the middle of a table makes a pretty (and super-easy) centrepiece. Just plunk one bloom in each vase, and you’re done! Try gerbera daisies, cosmos or sunflowers.
Crafty DIYs with old glass
8. Involve your guests
Have them help squeeze lemons for fresh lemonade, let them take a turn cranking an old-fashioned ice cream maker or send them into your garden with clippers to pick a bouquet for the table.
Have them help squeeze lemons for fresh lemonade, let them take a turn cranking an old-fashioned ice cream maker or send them into your garden with clippers to pick a bouquet for the table.
9. Use old crates as trays and servers
Vintage wooden bottle crates make the perfect receptacle for toting glasses, vases, napkins and other essentials out to the garden. Or use one to dole out flatware; standing utensils upright in simple mason jars.
Vintage wooden bottle crates make the perfect receptacle for toting glasses, vases, napkins and other essentials out to the garden. Or use one to dole out flatware; standing utensils upright in simple mason jars.
10. Boost ambience with lanterns and signs
Flank the entrance to your party area with a pair of big lanterns and lean a chalkboard sign nearby – it can announce the menu or simply say, “Welcome!”
Flank the entrance to your party area with a pair of big lanterns and lean a chalkboard sign nearby – it can announce the menu or simply say, “Welcome!”
11. Give guests a healthy option with fresh flavoured waters
Fill a big drink dispenser with ice water, flavoured with fresh ingredients for a healthy thirst quencher on hot days. Try lemon, lime or orange slices; fresh mint leaves; cucumber rounds; or berries.
Fill a big drink dispenser with ice water, flavoured with fresh ingredients for a healthy thirst quencher on hot days. Try lemon, lime or orange slices; fresh mint leaves; cucumber rounds; or berries.
12. Place your table in the shade
There’s nothing worse than trying to enjoy a lovely meal al fresco when the sun is beating down on you! Keep your guests comfortable by pulling the tables under the shade of a tree or awning, or invest in some umbrellas.
Discover more ways to take cover outdoors
There’s nothing worse than trying to enjoy a lovely meal al fresco when the sun is beating down on you! Keep your guests comfortable by pulling the tables under the shade of a tree or awning, or invest in some umbrellas.
Discover more ways to take cover outdoors
13. Make a plan to keep bugs at bay
If you have a water feature, make sure you regularly treat it or skim it to keep mosquitoes from breeding there. There are also plenty of tricks you can try to fight them off on the day, from installing an outdoor fan to keep the area cool, or using Citronella candles and other natural repellents.
Simple tricks to give mosquitoes the flick
If you have a water feature, make sure you regularly treat it or skim it to keep mosquitoes from breeding there. There are also plenty of tricks you can try to fight them off on the day, from installing an outdoor fan to keep the area cool, or using Citronella candles and other natural repellents.
Simple tricks to give mosquitoes the flick
14. Collect thrifty party supplies
Avoid last-minute stress by keeping an entertaining cupboard well stocked with mason jars, florist’s buckets, table linens, candles and serving containers. Often you don’t even need to buy these things – save pretty old jars to use as glasses, washed-out tin cans to use as flower containers and even old bedsheets to use as outdoor tablecloths.
Avoid last-minute stress by keeping an entertaining cupboard well stocked with mason jars, florist’s buckets, table linens, candles and serving containers. Often you don’t even need to buy these things – save pretty old jars to use as glasses, washed-out tin cans to use as flower containers and even old bedsheets to use as outdoor tablecloths.
15. Go wild with your arrangements
Plucking flowers and foliage from your own backyard is cheaper than buying them, and it can be more fun, too! Push yourself to look at your garden anew and clip a little something unexpected to tuck into your bouquet. Dandelions look charming in mason jars, or old apothecary bottles, flowering chives are utterly romantic, and an artichoke would make a dramatic centrepiece in a mixed floral bouquet.
16. Hang flowers from a tree
Use a drill to punch two holes in a washed-out tin can and thread wire through the holes to make a hanger. Fill your cans with cut flowers and hang them from a tree around your outdoor dining table. Leave the cans plain or dress them up by tying on strips of pretty fabric.
Plucking flowers and foliage from your own backyard is cheaper than buying them, and it can be more fun, too! Push yourself to look at your garden anew and clip a little something unexpected to tuck into your bouquet. Dandelions look charming in mason jars, or old apothecary bottles, flowering chives are utterly romantic, and an artichoke would make a dramatic centrepiece in a mixed floral bouquet.
16. Hang flowers from a tree
Use a drill to punch two holes in a washed-out tin can and thread wire through the holes to make a hanger. Fill your cans with cut flowers and hang them from a tree around your outdoor dining table. Leave the cans plain or dress them up by tying on strips of pretty fabric.
17. Consider the arc of your evening
Moving your guests from place to place is a great way to keep the evening moving along – and keep folks talking. Start with appetisers and drinks on the verandah, move into the backyard for dinner, gather around the fire pit for dessert, and carry mugs of coffee on a post-dessert walk to the water or somewhere equally pretty.
TELL US
Share your most memorable summer party memories in the comments section.
MORE SUMMER PARTY TIPS
A Night at the Movies: 10 Epic Outdoor Cinema Ideas
Outdoor Party Planning: 20 Tips and Tricks
10 Steps to Hosting the Ultimate Barbecue All Year Round
Moving your guests from place to place is a great way to keep the evening moving along – and keep folks talking. Start with appetisers and drinks on the verandah, move into the backyard for dinner, gather around the fire pit for dessert, and carry mugs of coffee on a post-dessert walk to the water or somewhere equally pretty.
TELL US
Share your most memorable summer party memories in the comments section.
MORE SUMMER PARTY TIPS
A Night at the Movies: 10 Epic Outdoor Cinema Ideas
Outdoor Party Planning: 20 Tips and Tricks
10 Steps to Hosting the Ultimate Barbecue All Year Round
Short on outdoor dining space? Hunt down a few trestles and top them with a length of board as big as you want your table to be. You can paint the board, cover it with a cloth, oilcloth or butcher’s paper, or leave it as is.