No matter what occasion you are hosting an outdoor party for, these must-have outdoor entertaining tips will ensure your outdoor party is a smashing success! You won’t have to worry about flies descending on your party food or wasps sneaking into your drinks with these tips. Plus you can have everything ready in about 30 minutes!
*This post has been sponsored The Coca-Cola Company. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Outdoor Party Tips
Summer weather brings the perfect opportunity to host an outdoor party with all of your favorite friends. Dodge the typical outdoor party pitfalls with these must-have outdoor entertaining tips. These tips are genius and require very little time to do. Next time you have company drop by without any notice, you’ll be party-ready.
I find that summer is the perfect time to host impromptu guests because you can entertain outdoors and you don’t have to worry about the messes in your house. Do a quick tidy and clean the bathroom and you’re all set to host a party. By doing a little bit of prep now, you’ll be ready to host an outdoor gathering at any time!
Outdoor Entertaining Tips
#1 – Keep some of these inexpensive glass cracker jars on hand and serve your party foods in them so that bugs don’t land on your food. Put chips in them to prevent them from getting soggy. Serve salads and fruit inside them for easy access that flies can’t easily get into. You can use them for just about any party food and it will help keep the bugs off and prevent foods from becoming soggy, while still displaying the food for your guests to see.
#2 – Always keep Simply Lemonade, Simply Lemonade with Raspberry and Gold Peak Sweet Tea on hand for quick and easy beverages for your guests. I stock up on them while I’m at Walmart each week. Simply Lemonade is my favorite and I always grab a couple of bottles from the refrigerated section. My husband’s favorite drink on a hot summer day is Gold Peak Sweet Tea so I always grab a couple bottles from the beverage section and store them in my fridge so they are cold and ready for entertaining.
#3 – Fill a tub with ice and serve the refreshing drinks in their original bottles to cut down on dishes later. It makes for a pretty presentation without any muss or fuss, while keeping the beverages ice cold.
#4 – Always have muffin liners in your pantry. They are perfect for keeping wasps out of your drinks. Simply turn the muffin liner over and push the straw through it to shield your drink from wasps. Serve drinks in mason jars for a simple presentation that looks gorgeous.
#5 – Muffin liners also come in handy for preventing hands from getting sticky while eating frozen pops! Just add it to the bottom of the frozen pop treat and it will catch the drips as the pop melts. You can make these pops yourself by filling a popsicle mold (like this one) 2/3 full with Simply Lemonade with Raspberry and freezing until solid, then adding Gold Peak Sweet Tea to fill the remaining space. Remember to leave a little space at the top for them to expand when they freeze. Then return to freezer until frozen solid. Remove and dip in hot water to easily remove from popsicle mold and serve immediately with a handy muffin liner drip catcher.
#6 – Keep a stocked party basket ready to go in your cabinet. You’ll always be ready for an impromptu party with a basket that is stocked with paper plates, napkins, mason jars, muffin liners and paper straws.
#7 – Also keep a stocked utensil caddy in your cupboard. You can easily pull it out for any occasion and it’s a great way to store your unused or leftover plastic utensils after a party!
#8 – Stow away some tea lights and mason jars for quick and easy centerpieces you can add to your tables outside. Once the sun starts going down you’ll be glad you have some lighting at your tables.
#9 – You don’t need fancy supplies. Simply use apples or other fruit as paper weights so your napkins don’t blow away. It’s decorative and functional!
Whether you are planning for a big outdoor gathering or you frequently host impromptu outdoor parties, these tips will help you be the best host around! You can buy everything we used in our tips here at Walmart.
Visit the Gold Peak & Simply Lemonade hub for even more summer entertaining tips, tricks, and recipes.
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These are all wonderful ideas! I like the glass containers, and the muffin cups for the popsicles. You know everyone wants icy cold drinks and love lemonade! Yum, and fast and easy.
So many great ideas! I love the glass jars idea! Thanks for sharing.
That’s my favorite tip too!
These are great tips! I really love the cupcake liner tip. Clever!
Great ideas. I like the jars of food and the jars with candles.
We do host quite a bit and some of them are definitely last minute. I love that these can be done in under 30 minutes.
Using a cupcake cup to prevent popsicle dripping is pure genius! I can’t believe I never thought of this.
These are awesome ideas. I think the candle in the jar is really cool. They’re all ingenious.
So quick and easy but makes you look like a pro! Thanks for stopping 🙂
Gorgeous photos. Who knew that a cupcake wrapper could be soooooo useful!!!
That looks SO pretty, and so fun! Love the straws. 🙂
Aren’t paper straws so fun?!
I love these tips! The cupcake liners on the cups to keep out the bugs is brilliant! And I love the glass candy jars too.
Great tips just in time for a surprise party for a family member coming up soon! I’ll bookmark this, should we need any other ideas!
Good luck with the party! fun!
These are all great ideas. I need to keep a caddy of supplies ready to go. That would save a lot of time.
Yes, it’s so handy when guests stop by!
I like the idea of using muffin liners over the drinks. I wouldn’t want anyone to get a bug in their drink.
I love all these ideas. Your set up looks amazing too! We absolutely love that lemonade too!
Thanks Kathy!! It’s my favorite lemonade for sure!
I had no idea cup cake liners had so many fantastic uses. We are having a get together i a few weeks. I will have to try these hacks for it.
I am looking forward to our BBQ this weekend. I have the perfect glass jars to use. The drinks in a bucket of ice is a great way to keep them cool and look cute.
I am definitely using the cupcake liner trick to cover drinks. It is a great mess guard for Popsicles as well as pogos.
Yes and we always have cupcake liners laying around in the pantry so it works great!
Love your ideas. The glass cracker jar is a fabulous tip. Thanks for sharing.
That’s my favorite idea! It works so well.
How fun! I love your ideas! I guess it wouldn’t be too difficult to throw together an outdoor party this year!
Great tips and perfect timing since we are hosting friends next month just before school starts.
That’s great! We are also trying to pack in some end of summer entertaining!
These are such great ideas! The drinks in a bucket of ice are a perfect idea! Can’t wait to try this out this weekend.
Thanks! We always keep Simply Lemonade and Gold Peak Tea in the fridge this time of year! It’s just what we crave when it’s hot out.
Great list of hacks. I can’t wait to use them
I love the little cupcake wrapper tip!! Those bugs are always in your drinks, specially that sweet lemonade!
Yes, they love the lemonade! How can they not though right? YUM!
Using the muffin liners over the drinks is genius! The kids always get annoyed with flies and wasps buzzing around the drinks so this is perfect for our picnics. 🙂
Thanks Dawn! It’s a drink-saver for sure!
Fun party idea! Yes, we are fans of pulling off last-minute parties like a pro! Sometimes people over think it– as long as the food and drinks are on point, you’re good to go!
I think it holds many people back from entertaining but it doesn’t have to be complicated!
Great tips! I love the muffin liners on the drinks. Pinned! Thank you for sharing on Merry Monday! Hope to see ya next week!
Kim
Thanks for stopping by Kim!