Party On (a Budget)

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David Pippin

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If you’ve decided against a destination vacation this year, then make your back yard the place to be! Host a fabulous celebration in your garden this season – and do it without spending a fortune.

Keep costs down by hosting a drinks-and-appetizers party instead of serving dinner, and create an edible centerpiece of apples or seasonal fruit.

Photo Credit: David Pippin

Use what’s in your garden and around your home to create a lovely, inexpensive centerpiece.

Photo Credit: David Pippin

Be sure your seating arrangement makes for easy socializing to help ease the party into full swing.

Photo Credit: Mark A. Miller

To inspire a theme for your garden party, look to see what’s in bloom during your garden party. Vibrant plants like this false indigo can set the color and tone for your whole celebration.

Photo Credit: Mark A. Miller

You don’t have to go “fancy” to create a party atmosphere. Empty baby food jars, ribbon, cutflowers and some inexpensive pinwheels make quick, easy and affordable table decorations for an outdoor kid’s celebration or backyard baby shower.

Photo Credit: Jenny Hooks

Theme

While a theme isn’t absolutely necessary, it’s always fun to have some kind of guide as you’re planning an event, no matter what the size of the guest list. Since we’re working on a budget, I suggest using whatever you have around your home already and plan your theme around that. It doesn’t have to be complicated – a theme can be as simple as a color.

Just figure out the major color that’s in bloom in your garden during party time and plan around it. Will it be your blue mophead hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nikko Blue’), or will the hot reds, oranges and yellows of geraniums (Pelargonium), lilies (Lilium), yarrows (Achillea) and goldenrods (Solidago) set the garden “on fire” with their brilliant blooms? (If nothing is in bloom during your scheduled event, look to the turf, shrubs and trees for shades of green.) If you decide to use a color as your theme, ask your guests to wear that color to the party. Ten or 12 guests in yellow or red will certainly brighten up your garden! This way, your friends become part of the party’s décor, saving you money on decorations!

Don’t want to use a color theme? Then go with a personal interest. For example, if you enjoy camping but aren’t headed for the mountains, set up tents in the back yard for your party. Your circle of camping friends can make up the guest list. Place the tents in a large circle around a campfire (or fire pit). Ask everyone to bring their favorite camping food to share, and enjoy dinner and fellowship around the fire during the evening. Make it a sleepover, and in the morning, everyone can enjoy breakfast together and head home, leaving you to relax and enjoy the rest of your vacation!

Decorations

Your theme will help dictate the decorations you’ll need for your party. For some of my summer celebrations, I’ve used my antique bottle collection as bud vases and grouped them together in the center of the table for my centerpiece. In each bottle, I have a flower or some foliage that I’ve cut from my garden. (One of my favorite combinations had no flowers at all – just foliage!)

If you’re having a “green party,” use recycled cans and bottles for flower containers and candle holders. Little clusters of flowers in silver soup cans wrapped with raffia certainly dresses up the dinner table. Make enough for each guest or each family to take home and enjoy for the next few days.

Don’t have a table cloth that fits your theme? Make one from fabric purchased at a local fabric store. If you’re like me and don’t own a sewing machine (or don’t know how to sew), just buy the fabric and scrunch or gather it on top of the table.

Search your local thrift stores and yard sales for decorative items that may fit your theme. Sometimes party accessories just need to be cleaned or freshened up a bit with a coat of paint to make them look new. Look for interesting wooden chairs and tables. They don’t have to match. Sand, prime and paint with exterior paint, and you’re ready to entertain with your new eclectic patio furniture.

Food & Beverage

Again, a theme comes in handy when planning the menu. I was invited to a Tex-Mex party recently. The hosts provided the meat (grilled beef brisket) and beverages (sangria and beer), and the guests brought side dishes to go along with the theme. This is a great way to have friends over for the evening and not spend a fortune on food. Plus, it gets everyone involved in the party. (Ask guests to bring their recipe to share, too, because people will ask for it!)

Another money-saving idea is to just have friends over for drinks and appetizers – not dinner. Again, if everyone brings an appetizer, there will be enough food so you won’t need to provide a formal dinner. This is actually one of my favorite ideas because I’m not stuck at a dinner table, and I get to eat, drink and visit with everyone at the party.

You may not be headed for an incredible getaway spot this year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t plan a fun home vacation you can really enjoy. A simple (but still fantastic) garden party in your back yard, complete with great friends and food, can transport you to a whole new relaxing world – and it’s just a theme and a few garden blooms away!

Tips

I like using my collection of wooden bowls, baskets and crocks for food containers, as well as part of the décor for my outdoor parties.
If you don’t have anything blooming in your garden and you want a vase of seasonal flowers, visit your local farmers’ market and see what’s available. I do this all the time and love the flowers that others have grown – especially when they have blooms I don’t grow in my own garden.

Faqs

Q: What’s a quick, easy-on-the-budget centerpiece?
A: There’s no easier centerpiece than a basket or bowl of fresh fruits and vegetables from your garden. If you’re not growing any edibles in your garden, purchase some at your local farmers’ market – then enjoy the bounty after the fest.
Q: Is there an easy and affordable way to light up my evening party?
A: If you don’t want to use tiki torches or candles, then try elegant, inexpensive twinkle lights. You can string them up under garden umbrellas, arbors, pergolas or other structures. Just be sure to tape down any electrical cords so nobody trips.

Resources

Looking for some new recipe ideas to cook up for your garden party? Visit Learn2Grow’s Recipes for Gardeners section and find a list of delicious and easy culinary creations that enhance the flavor of your homegrown harvest – from summer pasta and gazpacho to roasted chiles and salsa!

Come to The Garden Party and share your celebrations with the rest of our Learn2Grow community! Join the Deck Party Group, post some pictures of your outdoor fiesta, create a blog, or learn from our experts and other home gardeners some more ways to add fun to your back yard get-togethers.

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