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The Architect’s Vision Of A Perfect Outside Party Space

Building an ideal space for garden parties is far from a straightforward task. Before you even begin, there are a lot of questions you need to ask yourself. What sort of parties will you be having? How do you envision yourself or your guests spending them? Who might be invited, and will it be adults-only, or not? If you’re having trouble making these decisions, our experts at Elite Balustrades are here to help. Below, we run through some things you’ll want to consider before you start sending those invites.

Setting the Mood

glass balustrade looking onto pool

Decorations set the tone for your party, whether you plan to throw a big family get-together, invite some mates round for whiskey and poker or just have a few close friends for some quiet drinks. It’s surprising that after millions of years of human evolution, when it comes right down to it we’re still pretty suggestible creatures. You can use that to your advantage, controlling the mood of your space in how you decorate it. Generally people will instinctively treat a place of obvious serenity with respect, whereas bolder colours and fun ornaments will encourage your guests to let their hair down a bit more. For example, you can inject a bit of Christmas cheer into your surroundings by wrapping tinsel around your balustrades.

For your quieter gatherings, its best to keep things unobtrusively ornamented with some of your more attractive decorations, for guests to admire at their leisure. A light, cool colour scheme works best for these situations. On the other hand, if you’re looking to give your parties a bit more spark, you can deck the place out in bright colours and attention-grabbing features. Careful to keep a balance – too much going on at once, especially colour-wise, can look gaudy and amateurish. The experts recommend three or four different colours at the most.

Controlling the Space

People at outside party

Speaking of human suggestibility, furniture is another way to subtly guide guests around the party area. People will generally gravitate towards seating areas, so discreetly place some seats around any talking points – like water features or viewing areas (glass balustrades are always well-suited for this purpose). Secretly, though, you’ll always want a few guests on their feet in order to keep things moving – if everyone sits down at once there’s a danger they might not see a reason to get up again!

Space is a constant balancing act. You don’t want so much that your party feels sparsely attended, but you don’t want so little that it’s difficult to move around – that way things often get spilled or broken. Consider creating little ‘rooms’ for different purposes: for example, using outside sofas or other hefty objects to separate eating and games areas. (Again, framed glass balustrades make fantastic natural ‘walls’ in these scenarios.)

Thinking About Activities

curved glass balustrade

A not so obvious question you need to ask is: what time of day will you be having people over? Even if it’s during daylight, lights are never a bad idea (unless you keep your parties to a really strict schedule). If children aren’t around, candles always look beautiful – and they’re low cost, too! You’ll also want to consider how your guests will be spending their time. If there are a lot of people milling about with food, it’s a good idea to invest in plenty of available surfaces for plates. Even if you’re not serving food, wineglasses will occasionally need to be set down somewhere, and it’s better for everyone if you provide places to clearly do so. A wineglass on the floor is always going to end badly!

You’ll also need to consider where you’re going to keep food. It will often need to be covered, and away from plants and greenery. There’s nothing worse than the unlikely but possible danger of your guests finding dead leaves – or worse, live insects – on their plates.

How Does That Sound?

Whatever you’ll be doing, music is essential to every party, so consider in advance where you’re going to store your iPod stand or speakers. You don’t want them too far back, or the music will be muffled, and turning them up loudly might annoy your neighbours. If your power sockets are too distant, battery-operated speakers are easy enough to find, and might be worth a look.

At first glance, it’s a lot to take on board, but when you’re well into the swing of your first garden party, you’ll see that none of your planning went to waste! If you have any questions, or you’d like to discuss anything further with us, you can call on 01254 825 594, or email us at sales@elitebalustrade.com.

Published: 16th December 2016

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