How To Prepare For A Large Alfresco Event In Your Backyard

Holding an event in your back garden is a really great idea for lots of reasons. For one, you do not need to worry about venue hire costs, which can run into the thousands for the most sought after locations. You also get to make memories in a place you have lots of wonderful memories already, so there’s something special about the space you’re enjoying with friends and family. It is also much easier to plan the practicalities of an outdoor event on your own land, especially when it comes to the legalities of getting permission for things like portable toilets and other amenities.

So you’ve definitely made a great decision by planning your alfresco event right in your own backyard. The only thing left to do is get all the plans set in place to make it an event to remember. Don’t know where to start? Follow these key tips for a successful outdoor party to impress even the most discerning guests.

Safety

When you have a few friends or family around in your garden, safety isn’t too much of a consideration because you can control the situation easily. However, when you have more people, plus drinks, food, furniture, electrics and plenty more elements that aren’t usually present on your land, things get a bit more complex. Safety needs to be your top priority when you plan each element of your event. Statistics show that more accidents happen at home than anywhere else, and if you don’t want yourself or others to be in danger of an accident at your party, you have to ensure you’re thinking of safety first.

Decoration

The way your event looks is probably one the most fun elements because it is where you can be creative. There are no restrictions either with how creative you get, because it is an open outdoor space. If you want to keep the look coherent, have a recurring theme, even if that is just a colour. So if you choose yellow, the cushions, flowers and paper plates are all yellow. You can find cool ideas for outdoor decorations in this article, and in this YouTube video.

Toilets

Most people use the toilet up to ten times a day. So the chances are, with a large group of guests, the toilets inside your home are not going to be enough to accommodate everyone comfortably. Plus, things can get pretty unpleasant quickly when lots of people are using the same toilet, so it is best avoided where possible. There are a few different options you could have depending on your budget, and creativity.

• Porta Potty – A porta potty is a portable toilet that comes with a chamber that you empty when needed. You fill the porta potty up with chemicals to keep the smell at bay and to keep things as hygienic as possible. You could easily put this in an outbuilding, or place one in a ‘toilet tent’. Then have hand washing facilities and anti-bacterial gel on offer nearby.
• Portaloo – A portaloo is an entire bathroom in one. So you have your toilet, your sink, and a whole ‘room’ around it. A company simply comes and delivers the number of portaloos that you need and then they come and empty the loo’s regularly if you have them more than a day.
• Luxury Portable Toilets – This will be a unit with a few toilets in a set of cubicles, along with sinks and mirrors and generally more room for manoeuvre.

What you choose as your outdoor toilet option depends on the size of your land, the size of your event and also the size of your budget. You’ll want to think about the placement of your toilets carefully to ensure everyone has access, and so they aren’t too far away from where people need them. By a drinks area, is often a good choice.

Electricity

You can easily get water to where you need it with tanks and accessories. However, electricity is not so easy. For basic lighting, you could go with battery powered options and solar options. However, if you want to use lighting units and lamps, heating equipment and equipment for sound, you will need electricity. There are ways to connect to the electricity from your home safely using the right equipment. You could also use a home generator which is especially useful if you have a lot of land and your event is far away from the house. Just look for generators for sale in your area and ask the supplier which size they would suggest for your event.

Food & Drink

Food and drink is the element of your event that will be the trickiest to get right and plan, but the bit that could take your event from great to amazing in just one plate. Consider the following when thinking about the food and drink you’ll be serving at your event:

• What kind of refrigeration do you have? Do you need additional refrigeration?
• Do you have enough work surfaces for preparation?
• Are there enough ovens, hobs and grills for any cooking that needs to happen on the day?
• Is it worth hiring staff to work the event? Bar staff, serving staff or cooking staff can be very useful at larger events, especially events like weddings or wedding receptions where you probably don’t want to be working yourself.
• Have you got enough time to prepare? If you are making and serving all the food yourself, have you got enough time to prepare? At some events, a potluck can be a great idea for food to save on money and work.
• Is there enough food and drink for everyone? This newspaper article on buffet economy will help you figure out accurate food and drink maths for your party.

Shelter & Seating

People want to be comfortable at an event, especially if there are very young or very old guests. If you live in a hot climate, shelter from the sun is a must. If your climate is more temperamental, then you will want some rain protection. Gazebos and tarpaulin (if you have trees) can be exceptional additions to an outdoor event, and they can be decorated to look beautiful. With seating, you can be a bit more creative. Hay bales, mismatched chairs from yard sales, bean bags, blow up sofas – have some fun with it!

It’s easy to impress me. I don’t need a fancy party to be happy. Just good friends, good food, and good laughs. I’m happy. I’m satisfied. I’m content. – Maria Sharapova

An outdoor event at home is a really lovely thing because it is making use of an outdoor area that probably deserves more love and attention anyway. The high of the event is likely to last too, as every time you look into your garden, you will remember the great times everybody had there. With plenty of planning, and lots of creativity you’re bound to have an incredible al fresco event. And if anything does go wrong, you’re on home turf so it won’t be too difficult to get things right!