5 Steps to the Perfect Garden Cocktail Party

Fancy hosting your own garden party? Let’s start with a ready-to-drink cocktail delivery, and go from there.

Calling all social butterflies and party people! We’re naming this the year of the garden party, whether or not the sun has got his hat on. Last summer might have been a washout for social events, but we’re going to more than make up for it this year. Bring on the hugs!

If you want to take home the prize for Britain’s Next Top Party Host (not an actual prize, sadly), we’ve got a few tips to help you throw a shindig to remember.

1. Start the party with pre-mixed cocktails

Look, we love cocktails. Were we ever going to start with anything else? But really, ready-mixed cocktails are the perfect drinks for a garden party.

If you’ve got a lengthy guestlist, grab yourself one of our bundles and kick off the party in style. Or if you fancy choosing your own flavours, how about stocking up on a few boxes of Strawberry Daiquiri and Classic Mojito?

You’ve got lots of catching up to do and plenty of missed hugs to make up for. So don’t waste your time squeezing fruit – save those arm muscles for cuddles with your buddies! Chill your pouches in some ice buckets, line up your cocktail glasses, and pre-slice some lemon and lime to garnish if you’re feeling fancy.

2. Plan a simple menu

Almost as important as the garden party cocktails (almost!), is the food. But just as with your drinks, you don’t want to spend hours preparing and serving. The kitchen is not where the party’s at, so keep things simple and get yourself back outside.

How about a homemade afternoon tea? Think finger sandwiches, cakes, and scones galore. Get it all prepped in advance, and let your guests help themselves.

3. Make it comfy

You don’t need to invest in a whole new set of furniture for the sake of a garden party. Throw down some picnic blankets, scatter around some cushions, and pop out a few chairs. Try to create some shady areas with a parasol, and give your guests options so that they’ll feel right at home. And, very importantly, make sure they have somewhere to pop down their Passionfruit Martini.

4. Keep your party guests entertained

Catching up and sipping cocktails might be entertainment enough, but if you’ve got a lively bunch or the atmosphere starts to die down, it’s best to have a few tricks up your sleeve.

Set yourself up with a few garden games – boules, giant jenga, or croquet are a pretty safe bet. Or for the extremely energetic, set up a game of rounders, as long as you’re far enough away from the windows. If you don’t want to splash out, friends and family might already have some lawn game sets gathering cobwebs in the garden shed. It’s probably best to put down your Daiquiri for this one.

5. Pump up the music

You might like to soundtrack your party with nothing more than the birds in the trees and Shirley’s terrible jokes (did we mention how happy we are to hug our friends again?!). But if you want to up the party vibes, download a summer playlist with a little something for everyone.

Budding DJs could create their own garden party mixtape, or head to Spotify to find something you like. Our Spring Fling playlist might be just the ticket.

And that’s it! Pre-mixed cocktails at the ready? Guestlist steady? Let’s kick this party into gear!