Beautiful décor tips for your alfresco summer party

From blooms to vibrant crockery, here's how to elevate the summer gathering in ways your friends will love.

The sunny season is upon us, but let the weather not spoil your social calendar. You can still have your parties and get-togethers for friends and family and bring out the best of the vibrant weather. Use a beautiful table setting with décor, cutlery and food that hits the right notes. Here's how to get creative:

Beachy vibes
Nothing spells summer like the beach. Go with shell-shaped plates, large, decorative starfish and anemones, or fill a platter with sand and place shells on it as a table centrepiece.

Elevate your summer gathering with smart décor tips (Shutterstock)

Make it cottagecore
A way to bring in rustic vibes is via the cottagecore theme. Go with vintage doilies and sage or beige table cloths with a fringe. Create a create a cosy seating with rattan or cane chairs and place around cushions in soft hues. Serve tea in vintage cups for a traditional English countryside style-feel.

Blooms and fruit stations
In the hot season, flowers and fruit is a must-have and you can add that creatively to the table.

Dress things up with fruit and your favourite flowers

Use fruit platters, glasses with berries or even have a huge vase with a variety of fruit from oranges, pink dragon fruit and pineapples to ice apples and coconut, which rustles up a tropical vibe. A popular and easy way to create a fruit centrepiece is is carve out a watermelon and fill that with tiny scoops of muskmelon. Also adorn your table with blooms like lilies, hydrangea and roses to complete the look.

Go with a vibrant colour palette for the crockery

You can't go wrong with tangerines, ochres, blues and reds. Have ditsy print floral napkins to match the solid-colour crockery.

Foliage calling
A cool DIY way to introduce greenery to the outdoor party is to hang up old light bulbs with plants.

Plants in bulbs add a fresh, green vibe to the outdoor setting

Hang a string of LED lights around them if its an evening party.