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After you work so hard to create a beautiful garden, why not show it off with an outdoor cocktail party or get-together? There are endless ways to put together a fun event. Here are some of our tips for throwing a party that’s as fun for the guests as it is for the host.

• Have plenty of ice on hand: When the weather warms up, never underestimate the ability of party guests to run through ice. You need ice for cooling drinks, putting in drinks, keeping food cold (shrimp, dips, cheeses—all benefit from sitting on a plate that’s sitting on ice). Designate one cooler/ice bucket for “clean ice” that goes in drinks, and keep extra bags in the freezer or other coolers.
• Keep the food in the fridge until guests arrive: That means you’ll have to stage the food so that it is easy to reach and pop on the table. Put dips in their dishes, veggie platters together, and add serving spoons or forks to each before covering. Then, you can bring them out of the cold, put them on the table, and un-cover.
• Serve only one “specialty drink” that can be mixed ahead: Nobody likes to be stuck behind the bar all night. Provide a range of drinks, including water, lemonade or tea, beer and wine, and one specialty mixed drink (if you like). Try to serve something that can be mixed ahead of time. Sangria, margaritas, daiquiris, and other “punch” concoctions will allow your guests and you to have fun.
• Provide “bug-off” products: Depending upon how rowdy your guests get, how dry it is in your neck of the woods, and local open-flame ordinances, you might not want to have citronella-filled tiki torches all over your garden. There are plenty of natural “bug off” products, and synthetic products, as well. Place a little basket of these in your powder room so your guests can stay comfortable, even if mosquitoes are out in full force.

Tags: cocktails, Cocktalia, outdoor entertaining, party tips

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 5:00 am and is filed under Entertaining, Garden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.