Beach Party Ideas: let the sun shine in!

Ahhh…It’s summer time…a great time to host beach parties, pool parties or just fun-in-the-sun parties. Here are some ideas to make your next beach party special (and you don’t even need to live near a beach or ocean to host a summer-fun get together)…

Invitations

Invite guests to your beach party with some fun beach party invitations or pool party invitations (these can be found at Urbanitystudios.com). When searching for your invitations, be sure to keep in mind some fun beach invitation wording. Here are some ideas (this wording can easily be modified for a beach themed birthday party or baby shower as well):

Option 1
"Splash into summer with us
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
3 o’clock in the afternoon

Please bring your suits, sandals and shades and we’ll provide the sun, snacks and sun block"

Option 2
"Surf on over for some summer fun
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
3 o’clock in the afternoon

Sun, snacks and smiles provided"

Decoration Ideas

Throwing a beach party means casual and easy summer entertaining. You definitely don’t need to worry about a formal table setting and can obtain a party atmosphere by doing a couple of things: Create a colorful and welcoming buffet table, have fun with the food and plan several activities for guests to do as they please.

For decorating the buffet table, use items such as

• Lanterns, Beach Balls, Sea Shells, and Sailboats to decorate your table.


• Instead of using a table cloth use a beach towel.

Food Ideas

Instead of ice for your drinks, freeze fresh fruit. Strawberries, blueberries and peaches are beautiful and flavorful in a glass of lemonade. You can also freeze lemon and lime slices. Top off the drinks with drink umbrellas.

Create fruit kebabs with bananas, apples, strawberries and kiwi. To keep the apples or bananas from turning brown, sprinkle lemon juice on the fruit.

For the main portion of the meal, serve up the traditional fare of hamburgers and hot dogs or get a little different with the meat and grill chicken and veggie kebabs.

For the sweets, serve frozen treats like Popsicles or ice cream sandwiches. If you’re feeling really ambitious, you could always make the shark cake from parenting.com.

Activity Ideas
If you have a pool, then you can set up some fun activities. Pool volleyball is great fun as well as handstand contests, Marco Polo or other pool games. If you don’t have a pool then you could have the following available for kids and adults alike:

• Set up a slip n slide in the yard


• Put up a volleyball or a bad mitten net


• Set up a karaoke station


• Put out sidewalk chalk or create a hopscotch area on the sidewalk or in your driveway

When the evening starts to set in, have a fire in your outdoor fire pit, light tikki torches and (if you have a pool) place some floating candles in the water.

For your music selection, play whatever makes you and your guests happy or turn up the Beach Boys greatest hits. You could also rent a projector and play beach themed movies such as Jaws, Finding Nemo or Karate Kid.

Favor Ideas
Send your guests home with a favor to thank them for sharing the day. You can give them a beach towel, flip flops or a cool visor…all things that they can use during and after the party.

So, get planning. Be sure to let us know how your beach themed party turns out. Happy summer!