Summer or at any time of the year, BBQ parties are the bomb! It’s the best time to get together and celebrate outdoors with some music, eats, and booze that spells divine.
While a BBQ party might be a little more interesting when unplanned, a lot of spectacular things happen when you decide to plan ahead and make barbecue parties memorable for friends and family.
The first step to hitting the party mode is to brainstorm and plan. It all starts with the event theme. Is there something special to celebrate?
This becomes the skeleton key. Planning a party is complicated at first especially if you don’t have a plan set up.
However, when groping for ideas, you will learn that it’s pretty easy with an outline of what you have in mind for your BBQ party.
The Guest
List It’s critical to have a party planning list ready before anything else. Are you looking to arrange a small intimate party or a big one?
If you are planning on organizing a big shindig, then you must also extend the party hours to accommodate everyone’s busy schedules.
You can also ask your guests to bring desserts like ice cream, brownies, beer or soda to add to the menu.
Politely refuse guests who would bring side dishes like salads because this could be heavy on the after-party cleaning part for you.
Many people would prefer intimate or smaller BBQ parties because it’s convenient and easy to organize.
You only invite one to two families to join the party. You will need little food to prepare and also less clutter to manage.
This is also more enjoyable and stress-free to host because you get to party with your closest squad.
If you are very busy and organizing a huge BBQ party event then you can use Facebook to invite guests.
All you have to do is create a private event and invite people.
In this mobile-driven generation, almost anyone can be reached online over social media channels.
This is a great platform especially for very busy individuals who would want to quickly organize BBQ parties without missing anyone on the guest list.
Set the Time, Date, and Location
The most convenient dates to hold your BBQ parties would be during Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
You can have the party at noontime or late afternoons from 5 pm to 9 pm.
This allows a considerable block of time for them to spend with their own families or do their individual activities during the weekend while also allowing them some time to join your BBQ party.
For the time and location, you should also consider the age range of your guests.
So, if you have more families with kids around then barbecue parties should be arranged at an earlier time or schedule while you can go for late afternoons or evenings with an adult crowd.
It’s critical to follow up with your guests via email or text and make it an RSVP so you would know the number of guests to expect and plan for the food and drinks accordingly.
If you are unsure of the time and date then it would be a great idea to create a poll to ask your guests on their suggested or available time and dates for the barbecue party.
You can set the BBQ party in your backyard, beach, terrace, or any outdoor spaces where you can have that grill set up.
What’s on the Menu?
- Grilled Food. You won’t go wrong when you stick to the classics and the basics on your menu. It’s a BBQ party alright, so grilled food is definitely in! Be sure to use the best cooking gear recommended for BBQ. Prepare grilled chicken, hamburgers, sausages, hotdogs, steaks, pork barbecue, and vegetables for your guests. With a mix of all these, you will cater to everyone’s taste such as for adults, kids, picky eaters, and even vegans. Don’t forget the dips and sauces like mustard and cheese.
- Drinks. If you are having kids or seniors around, then having sparkling water, fruit juices or lemonade, and soda would be best. You can combine these too with booze like beer, margaritas, sangria, tequila, and wine which is a perfect match for grilled meats and veggies. Always have an ice chest to put all your drinks in and keep it cold.
- Appetizers. You can never go wrong with veggie platters as well as chips and dips. You can easily whip this up from stores and it’s ready to serve. You can serve these first while everyone is warming up at the party or coupled with some drinks.
- Side Dishes. The best picks for side dishes would be potato salad or macaroni salad. It is best to keep this as simple as you can as everybody loves a bowl of cheesy salad. This is predictable yet filling.
- Desserts. Treat your sweet palate with sinful desserts like ice cream, brownies, cupcakes, and even random fruits of your choice.
Table Settings
With BBQ parties, you can use your glass utensils or settle for paper plates, cups, and plastic spoons and forks with knives.
For large parties, these paper party packs are more practical but you can use your own utensils for intimate get-togethers.
There are party packs that you can readily buy at supermarkets or even online.
Don’t forget the tablecloths. While the design and form of your table setting make the party aesthetically vibrant, the functionality of your pieces have more weight than mere design.
Music and In-Betweens
To set the mood for a BBQ party, the music should have that fun and casual vibe to get everyone in a party and relaxing stance.
Make sure that you can accommodate everyone by having enough tables and chairs.
Also, ensure that your house is spotless especially the bathroom and the guest room or sofa where your guests can crash after the party.
Hosting a BBQ party need not be an SOS call all the time. If you want to learn more about how to grill the perfect meat, cookoutpal.com has got you covered.
Yes, hties need to be fancy and elaborate but refuse to be overwhelmed and focus on the excitement and in creating great moments over grilled veggies, hotdogs, and barbecue. After all, everything tastes better when shared with people who matter.
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