We’re kicking off this year’s summer cocktail party series, just in time for the Fourth of July weekend! Today’s summer cocktail picnic party inspiration and ideas are perfect if you’re planning to meet up with friends to watch fireworks this weekend – or for any group get togethers you might plan this summer!
We kept things super informal and easy for this picnic, so it’s definitely something you can pull together on the fly. Just grab a few ingredients, throw a bunch of things together into bottles and jars for easy transport, put it all into a basket, and you’re ready to go! As always, we’ll be sharing the cocktail recipes a bit later this morning!
Our menu for this picnic included baguette sandwiches wrapped in parchment paper and baker’s twine, pasta salad, and melon slices. I used Liz’s recipe for the sandwiches (so good!) and picked up some readymade pasta salad from Whole Foods, but you could easily make your own favorite recipe to substitute. We packed the pasta salad into glass jars with a hinged lid to make sure everything was both easy to transport and easy to eat (and keep away from bugs) during the picnic.
Our drink menu included a watermelon margarita, white wine sangria with peaches and cantaloupe, and a non-alcoholic lavender lemonade (we shared the alcoholic version of this recipe last week). Since we created the drinks in multiple serving quantities, we put them into glass swing bottles to pour into individual cups or glasses.
I painted the bottom of each bottle so that you could easily distinguish a non-alcoholic version of a drink if needed – I’ll be sharing the DIY tutorial tomorrow next week!
Dessert was also really simple – mini key lime tartlets from Whole Foods, and macarons from our favorite DC spot The Sweet Lobby served in food baskets and liners from the Oh Joy! for Target collection.
Sophie had the best time at our little picnic – she loved being outdoors (we also brought bubbles and a few toys to entertain her), thought it was fun to eat on a picnic blanket, and she was a BIG fan of the lavender lemonade and dessert tartlets. Toddler approved!
Check back for the cocktail recipes in just a bit!
Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper