We can’t think of anything better than the feeling of a gentle evening breeze in the garden and the warmth of the setting sun on your shoulders while sipping a crisp glass of wine and digging into a beautiful meal shared with friends. Garden parties are the perfect end of summer event because they are casual, accessible, and easier to pull off than your average dinner party. Using the natural backdrop of a lush, abundant garden landscape, these gatherings can come together effortlessly in just a short amount of time. We reached out to some of our biggest inspirations for outdoor entertaining to get their best tips on how to throw the perfect garden party.

I grew up on a farm in southern California - I am naturally drawn to  throwing together seasonal food from the farmers market! My mother is French, so enjoying food and wine with friends and family was and is a HUGE part of my life. I am a farmer French girl.

1. I always put a white table cloth down! It will make any environment feel like "something is going on here that is special." I've reused a cotton/linen muslin cloth FOR YEARS! It's super durable and easy to clean and you can find yardage for really inexpensive at most fabric stores. 

2. Keep it simple and seasonal. 

3. Let people share with their hands - serving platters on the table to be passed, whole loaves of bread and let people pull apart! Baguettes look much better as is, than sliced. 

4. Candles are the best light for any evening - flowers and branches from the yard are best for the tabletop.

5. Let the wine overfloweth.

Any season staples: wine, bread, whole fruits for dessert, a spanish tortilla, and of course cheese!

Family style for life!

Tinned fish, a good hard cheese, dried squid ink pasta (great with a bunch of herbs and EVOO), stash of wine and always amaro for after dinner.

Make a great playlist! I have a "Dinner is Served" playlist, and I swear when it starts to play everyone is ready to make dinner and have fun :) Music makes everything better!

Thinking about what to make for dinner.

Tablecloth, candles, flowers, and everything is ready to go when people arrive so I can just relax.

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Now that you’re ready to host your own Garden Party, remember that the most important part of any Garden Party is the people...and maybe the wine 😉