With summer being right around the corner, now is the perfect time to start getting your outdoor space ready to host cookouts. Of course, at these kinds of gatherings, the food is the center of attention and is ultimately what brings your guests. But as the host of a cookout, setting the scene is what should be at the forefront of your mind, and getting your backyard prepped for such events is what’s going to determine how good of a time your guests have.
Take a look at the top 5 tips to hosting the ultimate summer cookout.
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Tend to Your Lawn
Just as you would vacuum, sweep, and mop your floors inside your home before a house gathering, you would do the same thing to your backyard in the form of lawn care.
When you make the decision to host a summer cookout, one of the first things you need to do is get your grass cut, trim the bushes, and water your grass/plants/flowers. If you don’t have the time to do it yourself, that’s fine, hire lawn care services to do it for you; The last thing you want is for your guests to come over and have them standing in grass up to their knees.
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Hang Outdoor Lighting
The sunlight is your cookout’s natural lighting during the day, but if you know anything about cookouts, then you know that they tend to extend over into the evening. So when that happens, it’s always good to have your reinforcements… Outdoor lighting.
With outdoor lighting, it doesn’t have to be the typical porch light either. There are actually some very unique hanging outdoor lights that come in a variety of different styles that will be perfect for your cookout, no matter the theme you have.
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Update Your Outdoor Patio Furniture
When hosting a cookout, your reputation is already on the line on whether or not the food will be good, and that’s a form of judgment you can count on. But the one thing you should NOT be judged on is the look and feel of your outdoor living space. That reason alone is why you need to go to your backyard, evaluate it, and see if it needs updating… If it does, a trip to Nashville Billiard & Patio for outdoor patio furniture is due.
One of the priorities when hosting a cookout is to have plenty of outdoor seating to accommodate all your guests. So, first and foremost, you’re going to want an outdoor dining table large enough to accommodate a large number of people to sit down and eat. Our Hyannis Teak 118” Extension Table is perfect for such occasions.
Another priority is additional seating. You still want to make sure everyone is able to sit comfortably and engage with each other, so you can have an area designed with beautiful deep seating, and then having benches and chaises strategically placed around the yard in case your guests want to engage in more private conversations away from others.
Just as you want people to feel welcomed when they come inside your home, you can give your guests that same sense of welcome and comfort by creating an outdoor living space designed with that in mind.
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Do a Trial Run on the Food
If there’s one thing that can completely ruin a summer cookout, it’s going to be if you serve bad food… After all, the food is what’s bringing your guests over in the first place, right?
To prevent this from happening, it’s always a good idea to do a trial run on the food you plan on serving. This includes everything from figuring out the seasonings you want to use on the meats to becoming one with your grill… Nothing’s worse than burnt barbecue.
Your guests will already be impressed by how beautiful your backyard looks… The last way to “wow” them is by serving up mouthwatering barbecue; If your food is delicious enough, you might even earn the title of king or queen of the grill!
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Create a Vibe With Music
What’s a summer cookout without creating a vibe with music? Whether early 90s pop is your favorite or it’s 50s soul, you can’t have an epic cookout without music playing in the background. Simply make sure your Bluetooth speaker is charged up before your guests arrive, and they can simply follow the sound music to the outdoor oasis, otherwise known as “the cookout.”
These five tips are staples that your backyard cookout can’t be without. At Nashville Billiard & Patio, we have the biggest selection of outdoor dining and deep seating available at your leisure. Before you commit to hosting a cookout this summer, make sure you stop by our showroom to see which pieces can bring your backyard back to life.