The Ultimate Garden Party Planning Guide for the Perfect Event
It’s garden party szn y’allllllll. Garden parties are a classic, a go-to, a tried-and-true. And for a good reason. The theme is timeless, you don’t have to really explain the vibes to your guests, you get to put on your prettiest floral dress, and you get to fill the space to the brim with beautiful floral arrangements.
But, to land in the garden party planning Hall of Fame (a fictional thing I just made up), you may need a few tips from someone who has hosted their fair share of garden parties, most recently about a week ago 😅
I was asked to help put together a garden party for my cousin’s daughter, Annie, for her “Annie in ONEderland” first birthday party. Of course my eyes lit up and my brain started reeling with ideas. I usually have to reign myself in when someone asks me to help with events, but for this one, I knew the host would want to go all out. My cousin, like me, loves to be over-the-top 💁♀️
So I thought I’d share with you what I typically do for a garden party, what I WISH I would have done for this party and all the other things I learned from being a self-proclaimed garden party planning expert.
Let’s get into it!
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Garden Party Venue
As a disclaimer, I would like to say that you can host a garden party wherever you like. Whatever fits your budget and makes the most sense for you and your guests. So I’ll provide suggestions for how to transform your home space (which is free to use, ofc), some paid venues to look for in your area if your budget allows, and some specific spaces in the Oklahoma City area if you’re local!
For the most recent garden party I planned, we used my cousin’s gorgeous home with a wraparound porch and whimsical landscaping. It already had garden party vibes so it was the perfect spot for us.
If I hosted at my house, I likely would have set out a few tables in my backyard near my wildflower garden and relied on the decorations to create the garden-esque atmosphere I wanted.
You can always go big or small with any of the party themes I talk about in my blog, so again, consider your budget and how important this event is to you. If it’s a garden party as a wedding reception or something like that, you could go bigger than what I’m suggesting. If it’s just a fun girls night, no need to break the bank.
Your Local Venues
If you are looking for a nice venue in your area, I would suggest searching for something that already has a garden feel because that will be the most difficult thing to pull off in a stark, empty event space.
Your local botanical garden is a great start. Any outdoor venue with beautiful landscaping helps to provide that look you’re going for.
OKC Event Venues
For those who are local to OKC, my top choices are the outdoor space at Coles Garden, inside the Crystal Bridge at the Myriad Gardens, or The Edith Kinney Gaylord Garden at the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. You can find more details about each space in the links provided, or head to my blog about OKC event venues.
Garden Party Themes
A good theme can make or break your garden party. You can keep it simple and just have the garden party be the theme. You can go more elaborate to tie other elements in to be ✨extra ✨. If you choose the latter, might I offer a few garden party theme ideas?
- Tea Party (duh, classic)
- Bridgerton – disclaimer, I’ve never seen this show but I’m certain it would be a great garden party theme
- Alice in Wonderland (the theme for my last garden party)
- Summer Italian Garden
- Plant/Seed Swap Garden Party (for the plant-obsessed)
- Bee-themed
- Golden Hour Garden Party (the timing would be crucial here)
- Lemon or citrus-themed
- Coquette Garden Party
And for funsies, I created mood boards for a few of these so you get a sense of the vibe.
Garden Party Mood Boards
Garden Party Decorations
Florals, for a garden party? Groundbreaking. But really. It’s not a garden party without flowers. You can choose faux, dried, fresh, or any combination of those. I like to use the dried flowers sprinkled throughout the food table, with a few vases of fresh flowers, and maybe some faux flowers in spots that won’t be the center of attention but may need a little zhuzh.
If your garden party has a specific theme, obviously you’ll want to lean into that. First, check to see what you have at home that would work within the theme. If you’re doing a Golden Hour Garden Party, gather all the gold decor items you have in your home (or take a mental inventory at least).
I always encourage shopping at local stores first but if your city doesn’t have a ton of options for local party supplies and decor, Amazon, Hobby Lobby, and Michael’s are my go-to suggestions.
Thrifting for your party is also a great way to reuse items, find treasures that are more unique than what’s in chain stores, and save a little bit of money – which you can put towards food since we all know how expensive groceries are these days!
Speaking of food…
Garden Party Menu Ideas
If you haven’t already heard this from me (or know this yourself), my favorite food trick to keep costs down is to host your party outside of normal meal times like noon or 6 pm. You could do 2 pm to 5 pm or 8 pm to 10 pm, etc. That way, people would have likely eaten a meal before the party and wouldn’t be expecting a full spread.
The TWO exceptions to that rule are:
- if you are hosting brunch because that’s already just an odd time, but you could get away with pastries and light food options, and
- if you are hosting a potluck. You don’t have to worry as much about food costs if everyone is bringing a dish.
Food Ideas
A charcuterie board is almost always a good time for light snacks at any party. You can always switch out the specific meats, cheeses, and dips for the season or the specific theme.
Pastries, cookies, and other sweets are a MUST when hosting a garden party. We opted for lemon squares, macarons, cannolis, and shortbread cookies.
Another summertime favorite is fruits and vegetables. Pair these with dips of your choice for a simple and refreshing snack.
Have some fun with it and add a few items that directly speak to the theme, whether that be finger sandwiches for a tea party theme or little cookies like what Alice eats in Alice and Wonderland. There are some seriously talented cookie decorators out there!
Again, you don’t have to go crazy if you host outside of normal meal hours, but if you want to show off your cooking skills, feel free to do so.
My rule of thumb on that (from years of learning the hard way) is to make things easier on yourself by only doing a few “from scratch” dishes. The main course and maybe one side or two. Or get everything catered and just make a homemade dessert.
Drink Ideas
I always talk about signature cocktails/mocktails for my parties, and this one is no different.
What I WOULD have done for this party if I had more time, is create ice cubes with edible flowers. I saw this idea on Pinterest and I thought it would be soooo cute for a fun cocktail/mocktail.
Doing something like that would have meant the drink itself could have been very simple like lemonade and white wine because the presentation would have done the talking.
If I was doing a lemon/citrus or Summer Italian Garden Party, I would have opted for some sort of limoncello cocktail. Refreshing AF, right?
Something that you would think goes without saying but I have occasionally forgotten is to be sure there’s water available and/or some sort of non-alcoholic drink. I don’t have kids so my mind always immediately goes to “what signature fancy ass cocktail can I make for this event” instead of “what will the kiddos drink”.
Even if this is a cocktail party or if kids aren’t expected to attend, provide non-alcoholic options for those choosing to not drink, whatever their reason might be (which is likely none of your business!).
If you opt to have a cocktail and mocktail that looks similar, be sure to have signs pointing people to which is which or have some indicator (like the cocktail has a cherry garnish and the mocktail has an orange garnish or something like that!).
Garden Party Activities
Activities are one of those things that you could either take or leave for a party. If your guests pretty much know each other and can hold steady conversations without too many awkward pauses, activities aren’t really needed.
If you’re merging friend groups or just have introverted friends, activities can help break the ice or break up the silence once people run out of the standard small talk like weather and “what do you do for work?”.
Another tip on activities, coming from someone who isn’t a huge fan of “group activities” like charades, is to just have handouts or games people can play on their own.
For the garden party I just finished planning, I wanted to have a “build-your-own floral arrangement” bar, but time and budget didn’t allow it. We did include a few vignettes where people could take pictures and it turned out SOOOO cute!
Last note on activities – you don’t have to go crazy planning any elaborate games if you don’t want. If that’s your style, I’ve seen a ton of fun ideas on TikTok. If that’s not your style, things like singing happy birthday and opening presents (obvi for a kid’s bday party) can be considered the activity 100%.
Other Garden Party Planning Tips
Plan for the Weather
A tip I know all too well, living in Oklahoma, arguably the place with the most unpredictable weather, but a tip I don’t always follow. Make contingency plans for any weather that could be possible.
This, ofc, is mostly for outdoor parties but could be applied in severe weather conditions (tornado season, amiright?).
Something I did not account for during my last party was the HEAT. And not just that no one would want to spend any amount of time outside, but that the decor I planned involved glue dots and it WOULD NOT STICK which was super frustrating because I had a vision and it didn’t work and I wanted to cry but as the event planning expert that I am, I just pivoted and decided that no one would have noticed those little touches anyway.
How to Dress for a Garden Party
So many factors go into this like weather, who is attending, what the actual theme is, etc. Luckily, if you’re the one hosting, you get to basically set the tone for the attire. If you have specific expectations of what people should wear, you need to tell everyone!
Know that people will dress however they feel comfortable, so some will show up dressed to the nines and some will show up in their most casual clothes, and that’s totally fine.
I always like to stick with the theme, so for a garden party, I would choose a floral dress of some sort. Something light and breathable because it’s 1000 degrees in Oklahoma in the summer.
I chose a simple floral dress from Hollister (yes, THAT Hollister. She’s back, baby!)
Alright y’all, thanks for reading through the ultimate garden party planning guide! Hopefully your next garden party will be a big hit!
What’s the next party theme you want me to help you plan? Let me know in the comments!
