Are you thinking about hosting a summer dinner party, picnic or other event where you can share time with friends, family or neighbors? You want to make the event unique and memorable, but just can’t seem to come up with a new idea…right? An entertaining drought is not uncommon. Sometimes you just need a little spark of an idea to flourish into a beautiful full-blown theme. Maybe one of these ideas will be your spark:

Garden and color: If you’re like me and love the summer garden show, pick your favorite flower and corresponding color. Hydrangea are common in the South and they are abundant in sky blue, white or deep purple. Build a visual theme around your favorite flower and scatter it throughout the party area. You might even look for printed napkins with the flower or other high quality items like cups and paper plates.

Wine: This one is especially fun. Pick your favorite region, like France for example, and build your theme around both the region and favorite wines from the region. If you select France, here is a Tour de France wine collection from Wine.com featuring Chateau Les Graves de Barrau, Bouchard Bourgogne Pinot Noir and Louis Bernard Cotes de Rhone. Take home gifts might be little Eiffel tower trinkets, or some icon to hold your special evening in the memory of your guests.

International Region: Give your guests a rich culinary journey to an international region. Pick your favorite travel spot and build a dinner party around that region. Tuscany is one of mine and there are many recipes to choose from. You can even decorate the dinner table with colorful sunflowers!

If you’re like me and love to develop visions and themes, but don’t have the time to shop and prepare, remember GourmetStation for gourmet meals delivered nationally, including a delightful 4 course Tuscan dinner for two. Our gourmet dinners not only make a striking food gift, they can make giving a dinner party easy so that you may relax and be the exceptional host or hostess that you are.  Bon appetit!