Ideas For Hosting Summer Parties

Ideas for hosting summer parties that are fresh and light and entertaining just for the girlfriends.

Sometimes you just have a few of the girls over and summer is such a fun time to celebrate outdoors! With the 4th of July holiday coming next month we are going to spending much of it poolside. The food and drink will be light and refreshing because it’s so hot outside at this time of year. I have two delicious cocktail recipes for you in this post for your party as well…so keep reading!

ideas for hosting summer parties

Ideas for hosting summer parties

pink limoncello bottles ideas for hosting summer parties

When talking about ideas for hosting summer parties and entertaining, I generally start with a color in mind. For this gathering I knew that I wanted to go with PINK (no surprise:-) I grabbed these mini pink limoncello bottles I knew that they would be perfect and I could easily come up with a girly cocktail recipe for my friends.

pink limoncello and tower vodka styled

I also picked up some Tower Vodka and Fever Tree Ginger Beer to make the perfect summer chilled Moscow Mules. I’ll share the recipe with you shortly and if you’ve never had an icy cold Moscow Mule summer is the perfect time to try one!

fever tree ginger beer moscow mule copper cups
Light food is called for when poolside and here we have a tiered tray filled with delicious goodies!
fruit on tiered tray

I set up a buffet style in the dining room since it’s so hot outside and the food keeps better in the air conditioning. Since our pool and patio are right outside the door as you can see in this post, we can take our food out there to sip and sit. Fresh fruit and madeleines were on the menu and stacked up on the layers of my tray.

beautiful buffet table shabbyfufublog.com
I love to set up buffet style casual dining on trays like this because it makes it so easy to move around and just looks more organized. Also on the menu were mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto and French toasts brushed in olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary sea salt. Perfect foods and drinks for a light day of eating and drinking in this heat!
I also picked up some Sugarfina candies and sprinkled them around, just for the pretty factor. When you think of ideas for hosting summer parties, small candies are such a great little treat to include!
limoges plates and goa gold flatware shabbyfufublog.com

I do use my antique French Limoges china regularly and the modern gold and white flatware goes with everything.

cocktail party image shabbyfufublog.com

My recipes are adapted from all over the place and made just the way that we like them. I’m sharing two today and both of these pare well with casual tidbits for summer dining both indoors and out.

watermelon limoncello cocktail shabbyfufublog.com
LIMONCELLO WATERMELON SPRITZER
Ingredients:
  • 1 Oz Limoncello
  • 1 Oz Vodka
  • 1/2 Cup Chilled Club Soda
  • Ice Cubes
  • Watermelon Balls
Directions:
Place ice cubes in your glass. Pour limoncello, vodka and club soda over the ice to fill. Stir and add watermelon balls for taste and garnish if desired. Yields one serving.
iced moscow mule shabbyfufublog.com
 MY MOSCOW MULE

Ingredients:

  • 1 Oz Vodka
  • 1 Oz Lime Juice (I like lemon juice as a substitute)
  • 1/2 Cup Chilled Ginger Beer
  • Ice Cubes
  • Lime Slice
  • Fresh Mint Sprigs
Directions:
Chill copper Moscow mule mugs in the freezer. Place ice cubes in your glass. Pour vodka, lime juice and ginger beer over the ice to fill. Stir and add lime slice and mint sprigs for garnish and taste. Yields one serving.
Have a fun summer and please pin and share!

summer entertaining cocktails

This post was originally published in 2016 and has been updated.

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7 Comments

  1. So beautiful and refreshing! What an easy and elegant way to have friends over for a casual party that looks so effortless but classy! Love it all! Although, I’m not really a big cocktail drinker. Wine and beer are my go to’s. But that doesn’t mean other friends cannot enjoy these cocktails! Awesome job, Janet!

  2. Marty Oravetz says:

    Great ideas. Love those white and gold silverware pieces too.

    1. Thank you Marty for reading my posts. I love your blog and what you’ve been doing with your home decor in your “new” place!

  3. I remember hosting a garden party with a couple of my girlfriends a couple years ago. Everyone showed up with a pretty hat. It was unexpected since I didn’t ask for it, but was such a delight. That day I realized I had cool friends. lol. Now that I have a different house with a bigger yard, I’ll have to plan another one. Thanks for the inspiration.

    1. Those kind of parties are so much fun Cindy! Why not show off our girly side when we entertain. Have a great rest of your week…

  4. Christine Steller says:

    Oh my Janet!
    What fun! Those glasses are absolutely gorgeous!
    Please tell me you didn’t get them at an antique store!

  5. Yes, Where can you get these light pink wine glasses? Are they plastic?