These fancy backyard picnic & party ideas are inspired by the classic picnic setup, with some elevated details to make them just a little bit, well, fancier! 🙂
Here in Minnesota, we love to soak up the gorgeous summer days while we have them, and hosting a picnic is a great way to gather your loved ones to enjoy the warm weather.
Today’s inspiration is all brought to you by Party Haus Event Styling and the talented own/party stylist Angie Vorse.
Orange Party
The first step to planning a fancy picnic is deciding on a theme for the decor.
For this Party Haus Event Styling gathering, my friend Angie used the bold color orange as the primary color and accented it with white and yellow.
Angie’s Orange Party is a great reminder that you don’t need to shy away from color to create an elegant party setup.
Sometimes bold colors can create beautiful decor!
Outdoor Party Decorations
Your theme colors should permeate every element of the event decor.
The flowers, tablecloths/linens, balloons, and other decorations should be consistent with your theme.
You don’t have to have everything be one singular color, but deciding on a few (one primary color and 1-2 accent colors) ties everything together.
When it comes to floral arrangements, limiting yourself to only two kinds of flowers with your two theme colors is not necessary.
Instead, feel free to use a variety of flowers.
Have fun; mix and match the textures and combinations to create a pretty bouquet that still carries through your colors.
Read more about how I put together floral arrangements in this Graduation Party Ideas post.
Because this is a picnic, after all, keep your tableware simple.
You don’t necessarily need a full dining setup like this Garden Party.
Instead, you could opt for just a grazing table, where people grab plates & whatever food they’d like and have areas just designated for eating.
You could also have a table with place settings of placemats, a plate, and simple silverware.
In true picnic fashion, you’ll want to keep the food laid back and simple that doesn’t require many utensils.
Party Charcuterie Board
A charcuterie board strikes the perfect balance between casual and fancy.
It is ideal for any event, especially a fancy picnic.
Angie chose to take the orange theme even further, adding mini oranges, carrots, Goldfish, and different orange cheeses to the board.
But you certainly aren’t limited to a particular color for your charcuterie board.
Here are some ideas to get you thinking about what you might want to include on your party charcuterie board.
Cheeses
The backbone of any charcuterie board, cheese comes in all different types and textures.
Play around with these, adding soft and hard cheese to your board.
Soft cheeses include brie, goat cheese, burrata, and more.
Hard cheeses are abundant; some of the most popular ones are cheddar, manchego, parmesan, and gruyère.
Meats
If you’re entertaining a crowd of carnivores, there are several cured types of meat that go great on a charcuterie board.
Prosciutto, salami, and soppressata are the most popular meat options for charcuterie boards.
Crackers
You’ll definitely need some crunch to accompany the cheese and meats.
Since the cheese and meats are so flavorful, stick to crackers or bread without a considerable amount of flavor/herbs to not distract from the other flavors.
You could make these quick crostinis that go with pretty much anything.
Water crackers and flaky, buttery crackers like Ritz are also highly versatile.
Spreads
Flavored spreads are a great way to add fun flavors to the charcuterie board.
Something sweet like this fig spread or hot honey pairs well with many different types of meat and cheeses.
You could also opt for something savory or tangy, like whole-grain mustard or red pepper jam. (colored products are affiliate links.)
Sweets
While not totally necessary, you could also add some other sweet elements like fruit grapes, dried apricots, or apple slices are some favorites!
Backyard Picnic Party Ideas
With any outdoor party, you open up the door to endless possibilities for activities.
Ideas include yard games like ring toss, a scavenger hunt, or an outdoor pong game. (Affiliate links are in color.)
Additionally, bubbles are inexpensive and easy fun for kids and adults alike!
My Graduation Party post has some more ideas for party activities.
Planning an Event
Do you want to plan a party but aren’t interested in picking out all the details?
Angie is fantastic at conceptualizing the overall aesthetic of an event and bringing it to life!
Event Planning Services
Let Party Haus help you save time, money, and stress in planning your next event! Follow and connect with Angie here.
And don’t forget to check out her Carnival-Themed Party and read more about her in this interview.
Cheers to enjoying a backyard picnic with your favorite people.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
xo,
Cindy
More Table Decor Ideas
See the posts below for more entertaining ideas and holiday and party tables.
Valentine’s Day Dinner Table Decoration Ideas
Fancy Picnics
Garden Party Ideas
July 4th Table Decor Ideas
Black Table Setting
Ideas for Arranging Halloween Tabletop Decor
Thanksgiving Table Setting Ideas
Rustic Christmas Table Ideas
Elegant Christmas Table Ideas
Christmas Table Setting Ideas
Subscribe to Bloom’s Newsletter
Sign up here for the Bloom newsletter. Select only the topics that interest you! Creative projects include crafts, sewing, recipes, hosting/entertaining, home/garden, and gnome-only emails.
The newsletters are 100% free. If you want to add, delete your topics, or unsubscribe, click “manage subscriptions” at the bottom of any email newsletters you receive.
Explore More
SHOP to purchase patterns
RECIPES for more recipes
INSPIRATION for creative project ideas
START HERE for blog home
The products with underlined text may contain affiliate links. When you buy through affiliate links on my site, I may earn a commission, but at no cost to you. See the shop page for more information.