Fall’s coming, and everyone knows what that means! The cool breeze, autumn leaves, apple picking, and picnics! Whether you choose to have one with friends or family, planning and organizing a picnic takes steady work – but the coming together of the community is all worth it in the end.
From the people to be notified to the food to be prepared, having a picnic is not a last-minute job, and since the whole community is going to be coming together, preparations must be top-notch!
You might be scratching your head thinking about how one goes about planning and promoting the perfect community picnic. Well, here’s a simple 4-step guide on how you can do just that:
- Pick a Venue!
There’s no picnic without a venue, and the first course of action should be to choose your location. Not only will this make it easier for you to map out your other arrangements, but you can also plan out logistics accordingly.
The outdoors are a picnic trademark – there’s nothing quite like basking in the warm sun and feeling the breeze on your face. Try to go for a location that’s not too crowded – you don’t want to be bothered by chatter and children’s screams the entire time – and one that isn’t a hotspot for stray cats and dogs or otherwise you’ll have a hard time keeping your food to yourself!
Of course, keep in mind your attendees as everyone won’t be able to travel long distances, so it’s best to choose a spot that’s easily accessible. Oh, and make sure your picnic spot makes for great pictures!
- Make an Invite List
One of the most important elements in your picnic are the picnic-goers! Decide early on what your guest list consists of – since it’s a community picnic – take care not to exclude anyone – and notify everyone well in advance so people have time to book their calendars.
Once the list is finalized, it’s time to send out the invitations. If you’re going for a picnic theme, then make sure your invitations play along, and in any case, don’t miss out on the important details – timings, location, and date. And if you’re worried about designing the perfect invitation, then you can always turn to online design tools such as PosterMyWall.
Choose from one of PosterMyWall’s many picnic invitation templates and customize it to your needs. Not only is there a wide variety to choose from, but it’s also all for free, meaning that your picnic budget won’t go to waste on invitation designs. And don’t worry, the PosterMyWall platform is super easy to use, so these invitations won’t take much of your time!
- Decide on the Food
A good group and company aside, everyone’s going to come to your picnic for the food. Sandwiches, potato salad, fruit punch, crisps, the list of go-to picnic food is endless, but if you avoid pre-planning and scramble to get your menu together just before the picnic, the food experience isn’t going to go down well.
Not only are you likely to run into doubles of food, but you might also miss out on some favorites. The best way to go about deciding on your picnic food is to make a menu and then distribute it among your volunteers. Everyone will know what to bring, and they’ll have plenty of time to prepare, making for happy eating all around!
- Get the Decorations Together
Truth be told, half of the excitement in a picnic is from the atmosphere and vibe. To really make your picnic stand out from the crowd, go all out for decoration – and that doesn’t have to mean spending a fortune.
Pick out a cloth for your picnic – going down the traditional checkered route is always a win – or you can decide to go bold and opt for a statement block color too! Other ideas that you can explore are hanging fairy lights in nearby trees – make sure to remove these once you’re done though – having light and groovy music playing, color coordinating your paper plates and cutlery, and arranging small centerpieces from fresh flowers.
Whatever stylistic elements you choose to go for, just make sure that they’re all in sync once your setup is complete. And of course, start decorating a couple of hours ahead of time on the actual day of your picnic to not fall behind schedule.
So, by implementing these easy-to-follow yet effective planning tips you can pull off a successful community picnic and leave everyone amazed. Just make sure to spread the word so your turnout is impressive!