Work is slow in the Summer so I decided to host a picnic party for the family one Sunday.  It wasn’t perfect, but we had fun.

Invitation

Click here to download invitation template

We visited a few parks and settled with Flushing Meadows Corona Park.  The park was huge, but beautiful.  The park had a lot of trees spread out making it great for picnics and/or barbecues especially on sunny days.

Click here for a printable map

We went to the park the weekend before the picnic to find a good spot and figure out how soon we need to get there to reserve it.  We found the perfect spot with a view of the lake, and close to the parking lot and bathroom.  We got there around 11:30am and luckily the spot was available!

We have set up a “Pack-Your-Own” picnic where guests get a basket each, fill their baskets with food, find a spot on the grass and enjoy their lunch.  I have created a welcome poster describing the concept.

Click here to download poster template.
Poster is 15″ x 21″ and can be printed on 4 letter-size paper.
When printing, check the option to tile large pages.

I covered the table with red and white gingham tablecloth.  I bought baskets from Paper Mart for guests to use.  I lined the baskets with red and white gingham fabric that I bought at the garment district in NYC.  I decided to use wooden forks and knives (I love them!) and tied them to Tekla dish towels from Ikea that I was using as napkins.

We served salad in white take-out containers from Paper Mart.  We left the containers open so guests can add dressing, there were two to choose from.  I printed 2×4 labels for sealing the salad containers.  My mom cooked Sotanghon (Filipino noodle dish) and we served it in kraft take-out containers, sealed with 2×4 labels.  Click here for template for the 2×4 labels.

I couldn’t find generic foil-lined bags that are not labeled, so I bought foil lined hot dog bags instead for the pork shish kabobs (pork bbq).  I then printed labels to cover the “hot dog” text.  I used the kraft take-out containers for the burgers.  I ordered wood boats for the corn and bratwurst.

Here are photos of my cousins’ baskets filled with food.

After eating, we played Pictionary.  I bought the Mala easel from Ikea together with the Mala drawing paper roll.  We used The Game Gal’s word generator to generate words to draw and we used our phones as timer.  It was a lot of fun.

I chose this spot in the park because of a small tree that I thought would be perfect for a “photo booth” I was thinking.  And here was our set-up and one of our photos:

A few tips:

• Visit the park ahead of time and figure out the best time to get there to reserve the spot you like. Summer is a very popular season for picnics.
• Serve food that can be served lukewarm. This is one disadvantage of hosting a picnic in a park instead of your backyard.
• If you can, pack the food in their individual containers at home. It is less stressful when you have the food all ready to be set up on the table when you get to the park.
• Be prepared for guests to bring food. The original plan was to have all food in containers that can be sealed. But bring plates and extra flatware for food that guests may bring.
• Have a rain plan.