Our Favorite Ideas + Recipes for Outdoor Entertaining

The weather has gotten so nice here in Virginia so we’ve been spending all the time we can outside. Today I thought I’d share some ideas for hosting outdoors, I have been inspired recently to have casual and impromptu events on nice days. I included ideas for both hosting just a few friends or a larger event along with sources for our favorite casual entertaining items.

I use this white console table on our deck to serve or as a bar depending on how many people we are entertaining. You can see the makeover here, it frees up space on our coffee table or our dining table. You can see more of our deck here.

I tend to use the same things year after year when I entertain outside. I keep plenty of unbreakable dishware for serving and I love these affordable glasses in bright blue, but have a collection of clear hobnail glasses too. These classic woven placemats work both indoors and out.

We also lit up our deck with cafe lights to make it easy to enjoy the outdoors later at night.

As far as what to serve to guests, charcuterie boards are an easy way to feed a group and provide a lot of options without a lot of fuss. If you like this idea, you can get tons of inspiration from this book. While typically a charcuterie includes mainly meats and cheese, grazing boards can be anything even dessert!

Here are some easy ideas for other things to serve, either indoors or out.

Christy created a taco salad bar, this is a great way to serve a crowd. One of my favorite menus (Spiced Pork, Coleslaw and Cornbread) for a casual dinner with friends is here. You can also find the best burger recipe here.

Below are some other creative serving ideas for both food and drinks from other events we’ve had over the years. From tiered stands to vintage soda crates for paper goods or galvanized tubs to ice down drinks, and one of the most inspired ideas in my opinion is a display chip rack to hold individual bags of chips!

Finally, what to serve to drink? We have tons of ideas from over the years. You can see our cocktail recipes here (like the best margaritas, or a low-carb pear cocktail perfect for a warm day), or even a flavored water recipe or sweetened teas here.