Simple Summer Entertaining Ideas

Create beautiful outdoor decor and summer tablescapes with these simple summer entertaining ideas. Quick and easy ideas that anyone can do!

I love spending time out on our back patio during the summer months. We usually only get 3-4 months of good patio weather around here so we try to take advantage of it as much as possible! Even though I still have a little work to do before out patio is completely “summer ready”, we’ve already eaten out here a few times and I often pop out here in the morning for my breakfast.

Summer Tablescape Ideas

Today I’m joining Alicia from A Burst of Beautiful for a fun summer tablescape blog hop. You’ll find lots of beautiful summer decor tips and summer entertaining ideas from more than 20 amazing bloggers to help you put together the perfect summer tablescape.  Great for summer BBQs, summer parties, or just a nice dinner spent with your family. You can find all of the links at the end of the post, so be sure to check them out before you go. 🙂

Simple Summer Entertaining Ideas

Summer is all about keeping things simple for me. No one wants to be working when the the weather is perfect for going to the beach, relaxing by the pool, or hanging out with friends for a BBQ! If you love to host summer parties and BBQs, you can definitely create some beautiful summer decor while still embracing that summer simplicity. This table was put together in less than 30 minutes and the only extra thing I purchased was some ribbon from the dollar store.   Here are my favorite simple summer entertaining ideas….

Pick a color scheme.

I find that everything comes together much quicker and easier once I pick out a color scheme. Shop your house for anything in that color palette that might work for your table or entertaining space. You really just need one or two little items to really make things pop! I ended up going with blues and whites with some fresh greenery for this summer space.

Use Durable, No-Fuss Dinnerware

There are lots of stylish melamine options for outdoor dinnerware these days. Not only do they look great, but they also withstand the elements and you don’t have to worry about anything breaking.  I picked up these blue and white plates and bowls from Walmart this year and think that they’re so pretty! When I don’t have them in use outdoors, I have them displayed just inside the house on our hutch for easy access. {NOTE: If you have bright or dark colored melamine plates, they will fade if left for prolonged periods of time in the sun. Keep them in the shade or bring them indoors to keep them looking fresh}.

 

Include some fresh flowers or greenery.

A few fresh flowers or greenery can really add a lot of interest and color to your table and should be easy to find during the summer! If you don’t happen to have any flowers in your yard, even some greenery clippings can add a little life to your decor. I managed to get the last clippings of our lilacs for this summer tablescape, but even a small bouquet of flowers from the grocery store would look great.

To spread the flowers throughout your table {and stretch out your flower budget!}, use smaller glass bottles or mason jars and just place a stem or two in each jar with some greenery. To dress them up a bit, I added some ribbon in a coordinating color {that I just picked up at the dollar store} along with a little Summer Vibes printable tag. You can find the free printable tags at the end of the post along with some instructions for how I used them.

Add some color with napkins.

Napkins are an easy way to add some color and interest to your table. Look for pretty, inexpensive paper napkins or bring out some of your linens. I love having a plain set of white linens on hand as they go with everything and can be mixed and matched with other linens when you don’t have enough of one set. Just alternate the white with the colored napkins for the place settings.

I used the same ribbon and summer vibes tags as I used for the flower vases to tie up the napkins and then added some greenery from our lilac tree. It ends up tying everything together for very little effort!

Don’t forget about the lighting.

Pretty, outdoor lighting is one of my favorite things about summer parties! Use a mixture of different lighting options throughout your space – strings of outdoor lights, glowing patio lanterns, solar lanterns, candles, or battery powered lights. Solar lights and battery powered outdoor lights with timers are my favorite as they will just come on automatically as the sunlight dims. I also like the battery powered candles so you don’t have to worry about wind or anyone knocking over a real candle.

I added some battery powered tealights to this table along with some strings of battery powered twinkle lights to the umbrella.  The battery pack is underneath the table and then I just wrapped the umbrella pole with the string lights and extended them up to the posts underneath the umbrella. It looks so pretty at night!

Create a Beverage bar

I always like to put out some fruit infused water along with some other beverages and ice for guests to help themselves. It gives you one less task to do and allows your guests to customize their beverages and refresh whenever they would like. You can read more ideas for putting together an outdoor beverage station HERE.

Download Your Summer Vibes Tags

If you’d like to use these summer vibes tags, just click on the link to download and print them out. I just used a paper cutter to cut them and then punched a hole in one end and cut a ‘V’ in the other end to finish them off.  You could always do the same idea with name tags, other words of inspiration, or even a pretty flower graphic. They’re a quick, inexpensive, and easy way to dress up any table or party decor.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER VIBES HERE

I hope you have some fun putting together some summer tablescapes this year and remember that simple is good! Just a few little touches can really transform your summer entertaining decor. Cheers to outdoor living! 🙂

More Summer Tablescape Ideas

For more summer tablescape ideas, check out the posts from some of my favorite blogging friends. There are tons of different styles and tips so you’re sure to find something you love!

A Burst of Beautiful | Amber Tysl | Sincerely, Marie Designs | Clean and Scentsible

Maison de Cinq | Town and Country | The Happy Happy Nester | Anderson + Grant

My Sweet Savannah | Finding Silver Pennies | Taryn Whiteaker | The Wicker House

Shabbyfufu | She Holds Dearly | The Handmade Home | Caitlin Marie Design

Paint Me Pink | Rooms FOR Rent | Summer Adams