Summer-Themed Backyard Parties

August 13, 2019

School’s starting but summer’s still here and we want to hold onto that easy breezy summer feeling for a few more weeks with friends and family! We put our heads together to come up with a few great ideas for backyard parties (and pool parties!) to make the most of these final weeks of our favorite season!

Backyard parties are informal, casual and can be as impromptu as you are spontaneous. Don’t think you can’t entertain because you haven’t finished everything you want to in your backyard! Haul out the card table, cover it with a colorful serape, add a few camping chairs, spread a few blankets on the ground, picnic-style and get out (or borrow from the neighbors’) lawn darts, badminton, horseshoes or cornhole games for entertainment! You can even DIY your own giant Jenga game, or yard dominoes!

Pick a Theme, Any Theme

Whether it’s baseball or camping, a fiesta, luau or floral garden party – summer lends itself to a wide range of themes to help you decorate and decide on your party direction. While the fourth of July came and went, you can still host an all-American party. And even if you don’t feel like you can spring for a Lobster Bake, you can still do a beach party Low Country Boil with shrimp, andouille sausage, corn on the cob and plenty of Old Bay® seasoning!

Easy Eats to End the Summer

You don’t have to orchestrate a sit-down meal outdoors with a picnic theme and a few easy options like potato salad, macaroni salad and some crowd-pleasing finger foods make a great summer party-palooza. Country Living has 88 different picnic food ideas to get you started, and HGTV has a recipe for grilled cheeseburger sliders with Cajun seasoning, bacon and ranch dressing. Or try the Food Lion’s corn dogs using crescent rolls and corn flakes, air fried to a delicious crisp! Set up a spiked lemonade bar for the grownups, like this one from Sugar and Charm, or for a refreshing watermelon limeade recipe sure to hit the spot, try this lemonade alternative from the Food Network.

Among their summer tips and tricks for a backyard bash, Good Housekeeping recommends you set up the food table with chips, veggies, dips and salads at the beginning of the food line, and the meat and fruit at the end. That’s one way to stretch your spread and make people fill their plates before they get to the really good (and expensive!) stuff! And if you make the utensils a grab-and-go proposition – plastic spoons and forks rolled up in a napkin and stashed in a mason jar — it keeps people moving right along! And don’t forget the ice!

For more ideas about décor, head over to Great American Country.

Pool Party at The Lakehouse

If the theme you’re leaning towards has water toys involved, you can always rent The Lakehouse Lakeview Room and reserve space for a pool party. Play pool party bingo with these downloadable bingo cards, or generate your own with this bingo card maker! 

Summer Parties in Southshore

Don’t think of it as end-of-summer when you throw your party in the master-planned community of Southshore! Consider it a warm-weather celebration of Life at the Lake. If Southshore isn’t your home, why not? Within minutes from a variety of dining, shopping, recreation and entertainment, entertainment options, it’s close to everything but away from it all. Check out the newly built homes here from Century Communities, Richmond American Homes and Toll Brothers — available in ranch and two-story designs, and priced between the $400s and the $700s.