Recipe for a Summer Party

If you’re planning a fiesta in the coming weeks (or are tempted to, but can’t face the faff) here are a few easy ideas to throw in the mix.

Real connection and community are increasingly precious in our ever more digitised lives, so find any excuse to get together, eat, drink, make merry, and make the world (or your small corner of it at least) a happier place.

Whatever the reason and whoever the guests, the recipe is really pretty simple - comfortable places to sit and chat, great tunes, delicious things to eat and drink - age adjusted as necessary - and decorations that transport you from ordinary life into a state of frivolity. These are a few things we've found that work well for us...

Setting the Scene

It was my littlest's seventh birthday last week, and very short on time, I tied lengths of satin ribbon onto twine and strung them in the trees (tying them straight onto the branches works just as well) and they have shimmered and fluttered in the breeze ever since, making the whole garden feel a little bit magical. The same tricks work equally well at Christmas!

Shop Ribbon Boxes

Colourful streamers and garlands strung between trees, fences or pergolas also make maximum impact with minimal effort and fuss. Ours are handmade in England using finest quality crepe paper, and hand-stitched for extra durability - just make sure to bring them in before any showers!

Choose Retro’s bright vintage charm, Cocktail’s chic muted hues, or pick and mix from our rainbow of two-colour streamer (add a bespoke name label to your box to make a great gift).

Write On

One of my most useful pieces of party kit is a pack of Japanese Kitpas crayons. Perfect for decorating windows and mirrors with drawings, birthday messages or party menus and info. Once the celebrations are over, they magically wipe away with a dry cloth.

Shop Kitpas Rice Crayons

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

Spread blankets on the grass, drag comfy chairs outside and make sure there are lots of flat surfaces to rest drinks and food nearby.

Martino Gampner's iconic Circus Stool is the most flexible piece of furniture we own - it can be a side table, stool, trestles for a makeshift table or bench, ice bucket / drinks chiller and anything else you can think of! Light and robust, it's available in many delicious hues; a perfect outdoor party companion.

Punching Above Their Weight

For my last birthday, a clever & stylish friend gave me a vintage glass punch bowl with a terrifyingly fragile matching ladle which she found in France. You'll find options on all the usual suspects (Etsy, eBay, Vinted etc), and then there's this beauty from 1st Dibs (with a price tag to match).

It was a brilliant present because I'd never have thought to buy one for myself, and is now a prized possession; it adds a satisfying touch of theatre and excess to proceedings.

She completed the gift by filling it with a delicious, bright pink and dangerously moreish cocktail first created by Match Bar in 1997, which really got the party started - find the recipe below (and a non-alcoholic alternative here).

Match Spring Punch

An earlier version of this now infamous drink, the Russian Spring Punch, was originally created by Dick Bradsell to use up cheap vodka and Champagne that guests often brought to house parties. He poured it all into a big bowl and made a delicious and inebriating Champagne punch. The drink was then adapted at Match EC1 in Clerkenwell in 1997 by adding fresh raspberries and raspberry liqueur and became what is now the biggest-selling cocktail in the Match Bar sites. You should never have more than two unless you want to lose the gift of sight!

25ml vodka

25ml fresh lemon juice

15ml fresh raspberry purée (or 4 fresh raspberries)

Dash of Cassis

Dash of raspberry liqueur

Dash of simple syrup

Champagne (or alternative sparkling wine)

Lemon slices & raspberries for garnish

Shake the first six ingredients well with ice, strain into a large glass with ice and top up with Champagne. Garnish with lemon slices and raspberries.

(Recipe from The Craft of The Cocktail by Dale Degroff)

Food for Fun

Cooking is not my favourite thing to do and I'd rather spend time making the place look fun and enjoying the party than spend hours in the kitchen, so low- to no-cook food is king...

Buy (or bake if you like!) big, handsome loaves of bread and serve with mackerel pate, tomato and peach panzanella, and fregola salad - all quick and easy favourites. For pudding, pile bowls with meringues, summer fruit and vanilla whipped cream - scatter edible flowers or rose petals on top if you're feeling fancy.

Finally, if you're invited to a party this summer, take something nice, and don't forget to say thank you!

Lead image: Desert House Party II by Slim Aarons, 1970