How to plan a beautiful picnic

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24 May 2022

Every Spring my girls and I go to our favorite park and have a picnic. It is something that I’ve been doing with them since they were babies. Ever since then, our picnics have gotten better and better. This year though I am going to have more beautiful picnics. The ones where I bring flowers and have elegant music playing. I want to have picnics that are over the top and completely ‘instagrammable’ as some people may call it. Here are my tips on how to plan the perfect picnic.

Check the weather.

It is important to know what the weather will be like before you plan a picnic. If it rained a lot the night before, the ground will be soaking wet. If it’s too breezy, your napkins will fly everywhere and hair will probably get into your hair. If it’s too chilly, you won’t be comfortable.

Make sure the weather conditions are going to be clear, warm, and beautiful for your picnic. The last thing you want to do is get out into the middle of the park with freshly prepared food and find out that you didn’t plan for the appropriate weather. Trust me, I’ve been there.

The most important part: Deciding what to eat
There are a thousand ways that you could do a picnic so it’s important to figure out exactly what you want to eat.

Something light.

If so you can do something like a charcuterie board with whatever you want. Check out pinterest, Instagram, or Tik Tok for charcuterie board ideas.

Wine and cheese

Some parks have strict rules about alcohol, so make sure you are familiar with what the meals are but wine and cheese picnics are becoming increasingly popular

Order takeaway

If you don’t want to prepare the food yourself you can simply order. All you would need to do is bring the actual picnic supplies. You can have pizza delivered or you can order takeaway from your favorite restaurant. You could do sushi, Chinese food, American food, anything you want.

Pro Tip:

If you are ordering takeaway, make sure the restaurant remembers all of the food you ordered. In the early fall I took my family to the park for a lunch picnic. We ordered from a restaurant that had never messed up our order so we didn’t check.

When we got to the park it was super chilly (we didn’t plan for the weather) and the restaurant forgot my oldest daughter’s food. We all had to share our food with her and the picnic didn’t turn out the way I envisioned. If we had gone back to the restaurant to get the missing meal, the other food would have been cold. It was a rookie mistake honestly. Don’t let it happen to you.

Simple sandwiches

If you don’t want to do any of the above you can just do sandwiches. It’s quick, easy, requires very little effort and still makes for a wonderful picnic.

Plan the supplies.

You will need the following.

A picnic blanket (you can use a regular blanket, a sheet, or an outdoor blanket). I personally use an outdoor blanket with a sheet on top.

Cutlery
Flowers
Plates
Cups
Napkins
Drinks
Food

A playlist of elegant music
Fresh Flowers

Optional outdoor pillows

Picnic basket (or basket of some sort)
A bag for all of your trash (you never want to leave a mess)
Baby wipes (in case things get messy)

You can go on Pinterest, Instagram, or Tik Tok to get some ideas on how you want your picnic to look. There are thousands of ideas for locations, food themes, and decorations.

Picnic basket

You don’t have to have an actual picnic basket. My mom got me one a few years ago because she knows that I like to picnic, but you can transport your food and supplies any way you like. A picnic basket sometimes makes things easier.

Setting up

Find the perfect spot for your picnic. Lay down your picnic blanket and decide where you want to put your flower vase. Go ahead and set the vase up and add a little water to it. Then decide where you and anyone else who will be joining you will be sitting. Put the plates in front of the sitting area so you will know where to put everything else.

Arranging the food.

Remove the food from the containers that it came in and arrange it nicely onto trays, charcuterie boards, or your plates. Set up a snack tray as well. Have everything laid out before you sit down. Once you sit, you can pour drinks.

Use your phone to play some elegant music that matches the overall vibe of your picnic.

Take some photos of the beautiful picnic that you’ve arranged, but don’t get too lost in the photos that your food gets cold.

Mindfulness.
Do your best to be as present in the moment that you can. You just put in a lot of work to set up a beautiful outdoor meal, so do your best to use your senses to keep you in the present

The sounds of the birds around you
The feeling of the sunshine and breeze on your skin
The taste of the food you are eating

Paying attention to the little things that make the picnic special.