How to Plan the Perfect Summer Picnic

This post is in partnership with Christmas Tree Shops andThat!, a brand I love. All opinions here are my own.

With the warmer months ahead, I have some tips on how to plan the perfect Summer picnic to create lasting memories!

These orange sugar cookies would be so cute for a summer picnic, just switch the shapes for summer themed ones!

By following these tips, you can plan the ultimate and perfect picnic this summer for friends and family that is hassle free and fun!

Summer is just around the corner so that means more time spent dining al fresco! We love doing little picnics in the summer so I wanted to share some tips and tricks to planning the best picnic!

I am excited to be joining along some ladies for a little dinner party tour so be sure to check out what they have planned for all the summer fun! If you are hopping over from Jordan, JorDecor, hiiiiiii! I just love her summer ideas!

For this entire picnic, I went shopping at Christmas Tree Shops AndThat! and found the best things! They have all the summer essentials you could need for dining outside, decorating your outdoor areas, pool accessories, patio furniture, gardening items, and more! I love browsing their aisles with their huge assortment of goodies.

PICNIC SET UP

For any picnic, you are going to want to plan ahead and decide where and when the picnic will take place. Is it at a park, beach, playground, backyard, etc? Will you be sitting on the ground or at a table? These will help to determine what picnic essentials you will need to pack!

For this picnic, we were at a local park sitting on the ground so I wanted to create a comfy and casual little oasis for my family and I to enjoy some light snacks. I wanted to make sure we had easy things to pack and eat so that we could focus on the memory making and not on the set up or clean up!

PICNIC ESSENTIALS

Now that you have narrowed down where an when the picnic will take place, you will need to gather your essentials! Take a trip to your local Christmas Tree Shops AndThat! and you will find all the goodies you need!

I started with this beautiful blanket that is large enough to fit us all around. I laid down this gorgeous table runner to add a pop of color and create some more texture.

For seating, I decided to make it extra comfy with these outdoor cushions from Christmas Tree Shops AndThat!. They aren’t needed, but add a fun and lounge type vibe so after running around, we could lay down and relax.

For serving ware, I found these stunning elephant melamine plates. I love all the details on them. I complimented them with a large serving tray to easily pass food around on and to create a hard surface to serve drinks from.

For the drinks, I used these hobnail acrylic cups, some paper straws, and these glass pitchers.

I brought all the food in these glass storage containers. I like using glass containers to store food so that the food won’t sit in plastic in the hot sun.

A picnic is not complete without a basket! I decided to do something a little untraditional and found this adorable basket from Christmas Tree Shops AndThat! that will also be able to double as a basket for storage in our house. I love the pretty coastal design on the outside of it. It’s the perfect size to pack everything in too!

PICNIC FOOD

I like to create a casual setting when picnicking. It feels more relaxed and perfect for those hot summer days!

To me, that means finger foods so we don’t need to pack silverware/serving ware. I grabbed a bunch of fruits since we were doing more of a snack type picnic. Plus our favorite lemon water made with our purified water and lemon vitality oil! So refreshing and light!

Some other great picnic snacks would be crackers and cheese, chips and salsa, pizza slices, mini sandwiches, veggies and hummus, etc!

I can’t wait for many more summer picnics! Dominic loves being outside and of course snacking, so this is just the best combo for him!

Swing by your local Christmas Tree Shops AndThat! and check out their amazing assortment. Each time I go, I enjoy just searching the store to see what I will find that day!

Time to hop over to Heather’s, Southern State of Mind, home to see what she has going on for summer! Enjoy her ideas!

Be sure to check out all of the other participants that are hosting the Summer Progressive Dinner Party below!