7 Tips for Hosting A Nautical Summer Beach Picnic

We're back again with the lovely Cara of Caramelized Blog for our second installment of At the Table, Styled.  Our summer theme is a nautical beach picnic.  We're sharing with you some style and food tips to host a beach picnic of your own. 

When dreaming of summer,  what comes to mind is warmth, beaches, and being outdoors.  When Cara and I started brainstorming for our second round, we both knew we wanted to focus on taking our table outdoors and what better way to do it than at the beach?  Now of course, all of you lovelies don't have access to a beach, so let's pretending you might while taking full advantage of your local park or perhaps a backyard, will do just fine!

WHAT TO PACK FOR A NAUTICAL BEACH PICNIC

1. Blankets ||  You'll need plenty for spreading out on the sand.  A few favorites of mine are Turkish beach towels (large lovely blankets) and simple cotton throws like these ones from West Elm.
2. Pillows, Poufs, etc. || Seating!  You'll want plenty of it and hosting a picnic with the comforts of home with decor like pillows and poufs makes it all the more intimate and cozy.
3. Totes & Bags || Make sure you consider packing all your goodies in "totable" bags rather than a large picnic basket.  You can pile more in and on and they are great space savers.  Bags from Simple Peace.
4. Flowers & Decor || Consider grabbing a seasonal bunch of flowers from your local flower stand and gathering them in small containers decorated with ribbon.  A flower arrangement or two gives your party a great natural element.  Think about using floral elements in unusual places, such as inside lanterns (rather than traditional candles).
5. Plates & Glassware ||  Think bamboo and reusable "glassware" made of acrylic to use for your outdoor gathering.  These bamboo plates look great and are perfect for the outdoors.  You can also purchase fun disposable party goods from Susty Party!  Think about wrapping your plates, forks, and knives up together with themed ribbon for a great "stylized" touch.
6. Homemade Beverages ||  Homemade cocktails and festive drinks like lemonade bring a down-home feeling to a small gathering.   Consider making the beverages in a few large batches the night before and prep them in fun beach friendly containers.  Then create fun labels for your beverages with chalk and mini-boards.
7. A Fabulous Beach Picnic Menu ||  Head over to Caramelized to see the menu for our beach picnic.

If you're looking to throw a little nautical beach of your own, you can shop the goods here:

Blankets & Pillows || striped pouf | pillows | Totes & Bags ||  Simple Peace || Decor || Striped ribbon or floral ribbon| parchment & gingham paper | woven runner | lanterns | Serveware || Nautical tray | Nautical Ice Bucket | acrylic glassware | Cheese Boards | Blue napkins | Red bowls |

THANKS

Thank you so, so much to Kevin Falk of XOXO Wedding Studio for taking all the fun pictures of our beach picnic, to Claudia of La Belle Bloom for the lovely blooms, of course, Sheli from the Incidental Spoon for providing the fun jars/ribbon from her birthday bash, DeAnna of Simple Peace for the awesome beach tote bags , and check out Milled for their amazing hand milled cheese boards.  Finally, West Elm for their usual goodness!