With summer just around the corner, households across the United Kingdom will be making preparations to host gatherings of friends, family members, and other important, cherished people. Whether it’s an informal barbecue, an impressive garden party, or just a few drinks with friends, playing host can be extremely rewarding. But in many cases, it can also be extremely stressful.
But how can the stress be minimised? Let’s take a look at a few worthwhile tips.
Keep the Guest List Manageable
The more people you bring over, the more complex and stressful your gathering is going to be. This goes especially if you have limited experience hosting, and there are a number of different dietary requirements to think about. If you’re inviting lots of people, then it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the responsibility. What’s more, your guest list can easily swell, as the presence of one person leads to the presence of their husbands, wives, children, and friends.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to impose a tight cap on numbers and devise your guest list accordingly. Don’t invite more people than you can comfortably handle.
Choose One Effortless Food Option
If you have to make a separate dish for every single person attending, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in the kitchen – and the quality of the food might ultimately suffer. You’ll also end up spending a lot of money.
For this reason, it’s worth keeping things simple. Build everything around a single centrepiece dish. If you’re barbecuing, you might supplement the meat you’re grilling with a series of salads, pasta bowls, cous-cous, and other pre-prepped dishes that you can get in order the night before. Prepackaged supermarket food can be a godsend. Make sure that there’s a vegan option available and that you’re aware of any allergy sufferers.
Make It a Bring-and-Share Event
It might be that you’d rather not make all of the food yourself. The ‘potluck’ formula, which requires that friends and family bring along a different dish, and that everyone shares their food with everyone else, can be compelling because it spreads the cost of hosting and provides a sense of novelty and the occasional surprise.Â
Your guests should ideally know in advance what everyone else is cooking, to eliminate the risk of duplicates. A potluck can be great if you know that all of your guests can cook and that each might have something interesting to contribute. It isn’t so good if your guests lack these abilities.
Set the Scene Outdoors
The setup of your garden can also make a big difference to the success of your party. To begin with, make sure that the space has been tidied. You don’t have to provide a chair for absolutely everyone, but elderly and disabled people should be catered for. To make the space more welcoming, you might make use of candles, throws, garden cushions, and other soft furnishings.
Use Lighting to Shift the Mood
If you know that your party is going to last long into the evening, it’s vital that everyone be able to see what they’re doing, and to give you one less thing to think about if you opt for solar-powered lights you don’t have to worry about running around to turn them on, and another bonus is you’ll have very few cables trailing outdoors. Festoon lights, hanging lanterns, and solar-powered pathway lights can all be great ways to add visual interest and excitement to the space. This is where the right lighting can be pivotal.Â
Provide a Relaxed Entertainment Option
The extent to which you provide entertainment might depend on your tastes. Sometimes, a structured series of games can be great fun – but it can just as often be a distraction. Try to keep things flexible. The right playlist, some informal garden games, and the screening of a film or slideshow might all be worthwhile.
Plan for British Weather
Garden parties in the UK run the constant risk of being rained off. Make sure that you have plans in place to deal with this problem. Parasols, gazebos, and indoor party options might help to save the day.
Following all these tips, your summer hosting should run without a hitch and give you minimal stress!