Hey Family! Luxury Picnics, I know bougie much? But no! they are so much fun and a great idea for any get-together, especially in this Covid-19 pandemic climate.
My best friend Ariana decided to celebrate her 31st birthday in this fashion after seeing it numerous times on her Instagram feed! We decided to tackle this Luxury Picnic DIY style because her guest list grew to almost 20 people.
We gathered a lot of inspiration from Instagram and Pinterest allowing us to pull this beautiful event off without a hitch. If you’re not the DIY type I will link some professional Luxury Picnic businesses a little later.
Let’s get into it!
Luxury picnics seem to be the new wave in upscale, social distance events that allow friends to hang out together for a few hours. We had to have a crack at it! When I tell you EVERYONE in that park stopped to compliment us, they truly did.
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The Setting
First things first, you’ll need to choose a pretty setting.
Indoors, outdoors, public parks, you choose!
We decided on this field at Benicia’s Big Slide Park (Community Park) for a few reasons:
- it features an open sky
- it’s a central area for all of our friends & fam to get to.
- the background is relatively simple- which draws more attention to the picnic itself
- it’s kid/animal friendly
- it’s a scenic park in general, with bathrooms. (Important!)
The Meal
You’ll want to pack food items that are easy to transport, don’t need to be reheated and aren’t too messy.
Some go-to picnic items we chose are:
- Charcuterie board, customize to your liking. Guide to make your own here: Make your own Charcuterie Board!
- Fruit like strawberries, watermelon, or any kind of citrus.
- Sandwiches and to-go meals from the grocery store, we chose Safeway!
- Bottled juices and water. We transferred to glass for the aesthetic.
- Champagne, wine, and sparkling cider.
- Sweets- Cookies, cakes, pie, etc.
Gagan & Ariana
The Aesthetic
There are a few things to think about, which I’ll break up into more details:
- The Overall Vibe
- Your Color Scheme
- Photo Props
Bohemian Chic was definitely the vibe. Because it was her birthday, we knew she wanted the colors to be rose golds, neutral tones, and to bring in that Spring fresh aesthetic!
Here’s a majority of the picnic props and why we incorporated them:
A lot of these items we already had on hand, but don’t be afraid to check Amazon, Dollar Tree, Ross, Marshalls, and more to make your Luxury Picnic come together.
- Flowers– they always add a nice romantic touch and everyone loves flowers! Ariana ordered artificial rose gold ones right from Amazon!
- Table– We wanted to use pallets as the table but they wouldn’t fit in her vehicle. So we last-minute chose white coffee tables from Ikea. They were super easy to put together & transport! Shop them here: Cute White Tables.
- Picnic blankets/rugs– creates your picnic space. We used a tarp as well to protect from getting wet from the grass. (Thanks Gagan’s Dad!)
- Pillows– The hunt for pillows had to be the best part. They add to the look and everyone can sit comfortably.
- A Tray– it’s practical when eating food and it groups together parts of your meal to make it more aesthetically pleasing.
- Cutting boards– similar to trays, boards separate parts of the meal and are practical. Gagan decorated 5 different cutting boards for the Charcuterie.
- Utensils– We chose rose gold utensils that came in the same set from Amazon as the plates.
- Cloth napkins– they are much prettier than paper napkins and are environmentally friendly. We added rose gold cloth holders to bring the look together.
- White dishes/ Chargers– I like to have all white dishes because they pretty much go with any color scheme. These had a hint of rose gold floral on the perimeter. Ariana found these BEAUTIFUL rose gold chargers at the Dollar Tree.
- Wine bottles– We went straight to Costco and loaded up on the Champagne and wine. We chose bottles in the same color family to add to that romance and add a classy touch.
- Wine glasses– Real wine glasses add class as well and make for good “candid” photos since they are something to hold in your hand and interact with. Ariana customized each wine glass with everyone’s names! It was a pain in the butt, but so worth it. She gave them as party favors, I use mine DAILY!
- A Matching outfit– On her invitation, she said to wear spring colors and florals. Everyone was on POINT with the aesthetics!
- Oversized candles– for prop purposes only… they add romance.
- Tent– Okay, we didn’t need the tent, but we NEEDED the tent. It brought everything together, we used it to store extra items and our purses we didn’t want to leave in our cars.
- Bluetooth Speaker– All for the vibe. Don’t forget to charge it!
- Party Signs/Balloons– We wanted to make a balloon arch but ran out of time, instead we took a few balloons from the kit (I already had, from Amazon) and got them blown up at Party City. They charge a couple of cents a balloon making a beautiful ‘custom’ bouquet. We simply placed a rose gold Happy Birthday sign in the grass to add to the birthday aesthetic.
Don’t forget the practical things
You’ll also want to bring paper towels in case things get messy, sunscreen and bug spray, ice, ice cooler or bucket (thanks Ki!), hand wipes, extra utensils, cups, and knives for cutting things. We also packed fold-up tables for extra food, an umbrella, and chairs for guests who couldn’t sit on the floor.
The best thing I can think of is to invest in a WAGON, I’ll link the one I have here: Must Have Wagon. It makes transporting your supplies sooo much easier!
We had a blast planning and putting this Luxury Picnic together! Shout out to the decor team: Ariana, Gagan, Elona, Tytiana, Trina, Bre, and myself! We did that!
Like I said before if DIY is not your steeze (it was A LOT of work!) here are some businesses I recommend to put together your next event in the Bay Area:
Check out this link for other areas, and they’re all Black Owned: Luxury Picnic Companies
I hope that helps you plan your next picnic!
Have fun with it and enjoy the art of creating something pretty!
Comment below if you have any questions or other suggestions.
When was the last time you went on a picnic?
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