When it comes to hosting a party in your backyard, it is all fun and games: except for the actual preparation part. It can be stressful to put such an event together all by yourself, especially when you are not as organized as you could be.
What are the 5 simple steps to prepare for a backyard party? The 5 simple steps to preparing for a backyard party include cleaning up everything in the yard, putting up your decorations, organizing the seating area, creating a designated food and beverage table, and finding lighting or shade solutions.
Contrary to what you might be thinking, preparing for your backyard party does not have to be such a daunting task. Instead, you can follow through with just 5 simple steps in order to get your venue ready for your friends and family.
Also, if you’re new to grilling and throwing backyard bbq parties we recommend checking out our article on the best grills for your money. We go over the top grills from each grill type: charcoal, gas, propane and electric.
So, if you are running around with your head cut off, not sure how you are going to pull off this event, you will find all of the information that you need in this article. Keep reading to get the details on this easy process that you can use to your advantage.
5 Simple Steps To Prepare For a Backyard Party
Along with all of the planning that goes into a backyard party before you can even get the space ready, getting the preparations together is an entirely different question.
In this section, we will be going over the 5 tips, mentioned earlier, that can help you prepare your yard before the guests come running through the door.
Whether you are planning an adult party, a child’s birthday party, or a family event that is suitable for guests of all ages, you can’t go wrong following through with this simple process.
Take a look at the list down below to get the general steps on how you can prepare your space before the party begins, and keep reading for all of the details on each main point.
5 Simple Steps To Prepare For a Backyard Party:
- Clean up and polish everything in the yard
- Put up your decorations
- Organize your seating area
- Create an designated food and beverage table
- Find lighting/shade solutions
The first thing that you will need to do in order to prepare for your backyard party is to clean up and polish everything in the yard. This step is a given, because it is something that you start with almost every time you have guests coming over.
Think back to all of the times that you had company in your house growing up and your parents told you to clean up the living room. This situation is no different, and this should be the initial process that you begin with.
After all, you can’t get any space ready for party decorations and guests if it looks messy. This process can include mowing your lawn, power-washing the patio or sidewalk, and picking up any stray toys or yard tools that might be in the way.
Next, you will be ready to put up your decorations. Depending on the nature and theme of your backyard party, you might have a lot of elaborate decorations to hang around the yard, or maybe just a few centerpieces on the table.
After that, you can organize your seating area. It is important that your guests have somewhere to sit while they are attending your backyard party. No one wants to be standing up the entire time, and this is something you should keep in mind while you are preparing.
This might include bringing additional chairs or benches out to the yard, if you do not already have adequate seating, or if yours is not as comfortable as you would like.
The next component that goes into a backyard party is the food. You never have a party or gathering without serving some kind of food or drink, and the same goes for a backyard extravaganza.
To make it easier for your guests, create a designated food and beverage area that will be convenient to access at all points.
Finally, find solutions for shade or lighting. If you are having a backyard party on a sunny summer afternoon, you might need to put up a shade over the seating area on the patio.
Otherwise, if your party is taking place at night when it is dark, have some candles or lanterns around the venue to make sure everyone can see where they are going.
What Goes Into Planning a Backyard Party
As previously mentioned, there is a separate process of planning that must be done before you can prepare for your backyard party, which was discussed in the first section.
Now, we will be going over what goes into the initial planning process. Take a look at the list down below to find the steps that are required after you decide that you want to have a party in your backyard.
Here is what goes into planning a backyard party, before the preparations:
- Plan your guest list
- Come up with a theme
- Decide on activities
- Put together your menu
First and foremost, you will need to plan your guest list. Who will be in attendance? Is this a family event? Are you only inviting friends? A little bit of both?
When you are planning your guest list, it is important to make sure that everyone who is invited will add to the experience, and not take from it. In other words, ensure that everyone gets along and that all guests, including you, will have a good time together.
Next, come up with a theme. Think about who will be in attendance, and decide on something that suits them. For example, a child’s backyard birthday party might have a theme of Disney Princesses, but that would most likely not be ideal for a group of adults.
Once your theme has been decided, come up with some activities and games that you can play at the party, and put together the menu of what you will be serving to your guests.
In doing this, you should be mindful that you will be eating outside. So, while you are putting together the dishes and appetizers that you will be serving, make sure that they will be convenient in this situation.
Tips For a Smooth Backyard Party
While you are completing the preparations for your backyard party, there are a few tips that you should keep in mind in order to make sure that everything runs smoothly.
Here are some tips for a smooth backyard party:
- Plan everything ahead of time
- Do all of the food preparations before cooking (for BBQ parties)
- Organize the food and drink table from appetizer to dessert
- Get rid of the bugs before they come
The most important tip to keep in mind when planning a backyard party is to plan everything ahead of time. All aspects of the decorations and menu should be ready well ahead of time, so you are not scrambling at the last minute.
Do all of the food preparations before cooking to save time, if you will be having a BBQ party. Otherwise, you should just organize the food and drink table from appetizer to dessert.
No one wants to reach over the artichoke dip for a brownie, so you should just make it easier for your guests to go in order instead of leaving everything jumbled.
Finally, get rid of the bugs before they come. You can put out some traps or nets around the seating area, or get creative with your food and drink arrangements.
A great idea for keeping the bugs out of your sweet tea or lemonade is to put a muffin tin face down on the opening, with the straw coming out of the center. This is just one clever solution that you can find for this type of problem.
Activity Ideas For The Best Backyard Party
Now that you have a pretty good idea of how to plan and prepare for your backyard party, there is one more essential component that must be considered through these processes: the activities.
In other words, what will you be doing at your backyard party? While it is true that you can put together a guest list, decorations, and a theme, as well as put together a huge buffet table of food, your guests will get tired and bored of sitting and eating after a while.
Don’t let all of your hard decorating work go to waste. Instead, come up with some fun and engaging activities that will fit your audience and have your guests talking about your party for weeks to come.
In this section, we will be going over some great ideas that you can use for your party, as far as activities go. The list down below will outline some starting points that you can use in your planning process.
Here are some activity ideas for your backyard party:
- Play giant board games
- Play yard games (ie ring toss, corn hole, etc.)
- Have a trivia competition
- Come up with a fun drinking game (for adult parties)
The first activity that you can plan for your party is a giant board game. These are basically exactly what they sound like: board games that are life-sized that can be played with in the yard.
You can find all types of giant board games, or you can get creative and make one of them yourself. Either way, your guests are sure to love it.
Similarly, you can opt for some traditional yard games, including, but not limited to, ring tosses and cornhole. Yard games have been a fan favorite for several years, and you can really never go wrong having them at your event.
For the slightly older crowd, you can hold a trivia competition right in your back yard. This can be as simple as coming up with some questions off the top of your head and writing them down on cards, or you can get elaborate and make an entire game board or setting to make it feel like a television game show.
If you are having a backyard party for adults only, you can come up with a fun drinking game to keep everyone entertained for hours. This can tie into the board game idea as well – Giant Drunk Jenga is a really popular idea on the internet.
Whichever way you choose to go with it, just make sure that everyone is drinking responsibly.
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