Guest Blog #131, Entry #599, July 26, 2011
The idea of outdoor entertaining is always exciting, especially in the warm summertime months. The idea of friends and family enjoying refreshments by the pool and taking in the warm summer sun can be heavenly. What happens when the weather doesn’t cooperate, or guests don’t enjoy themselves due to poor lighting or uncomfortable conditions?

Make your outdoor home ready for entertaining
Today’s Guest Blogger gives tips for making your outdoor entertaining go seamless with pre-party planning tips, and helpful ways to ensure you are ready for whatever life throws at you!
I love to entertain outdoors! However, I will confess, when Mother Nature has joined the party, I’ve had more than one elegant outdoor event turn into the equivalent of a basement potluck dinner. Fortunately, I’ve found a few ways to reduce the number of times I’ve had to organize my guests into a bucket brigade for transferring party paraphernalia indoors.
If only my yard had a thermostat…
When the mercury climbs, guests wilt and lively party banter is replaced by desperate panting. At the other end of the spectrum, an unseasonable chill can make conversation difficult as teeth are clenched in a vain attempt to quell the chattering. Fortunately, there are solutions. A few patio heaters can take the chill out of the air, and the heaters currently available at home and garden stores are often as decorative as they are useful. If you are a hardcore outdoor entertainer, permanent structures can widen your options for creating a comfort zone. Gazebos can be outfitted with electricity and ceiling fans, creating an oasis of cool in even the most sweltering of climates. And outdoor fireplaces draw people in to their warmth and keep them close with their beauty and ambiance.

Add misters in the summer and patio heaters in the winter!
Nothing breaks up a party faster than a trip to the ER.
Evening entertaining in the great outdoors is fraught with peril. Combine uneven ground, strappy sandals, cocktails and the onset of dusk, and you’ve created the perfect conditions for a guest to take a tumble. Judicious use of outdoor lighting not only enhances the atmosphere of your evening soiree, but it also increases safety. Using outdoor lamps along pathways creates an aesthetically pleasing way to ensure that guests can see where they are going. Highlighting landscape features and sculptures gives them a warm glow as darkness falls, and it also prevents guests from mistaking a boulder for a shadow. Choose from the enormous range of traditional and contemporary outdoor lighting options available at most yard and garden stores.

Ensure your outdoor areas are well lit
Nobody likes a party crasher.
No, we aren’t talking about the neighbors who stopped by “just to say hello” when they saw a crowd gathering. Outdoor entertaining is, well, outdoors. And unfortunately, that’s where all the bugs live. If you plan to spray your yard, do so well in advance of the party to limit not only the smell of the repellent but also the insect activity that results when the critters move to escape the spray. However, these days, there is such a wide array of citronella lanterns and candles available that bug control no longer requires the HAZMAT preparations it did in years past. If you have water features in your yard, be sure to use mosquito dunks throughout the season to prevent larvae from developing.
Although uncertainty is a fact of life with outdoor entertaining, you can mitigate some of the more obvious challenges with some adjustments to your outdoor space. Do some window (or screen) shopping to familiarize yourself with the increasing number of items that can be used to create a truly functional living and entertaining area in your outdoor space. Many of today’s outdoor products are as beautiful as their indoor counterparts. There are so many different products and styles that outdoor living is a retail category of its own. Whole stores—both the brick and mortar kind and online suppliers, like Pink Red Kelly—dedicate their entire business to making outdoor living more like living and less like camping! So go ahead, entertain—even when Mother Nature is on the guest list.
Jessica writes about a wide variety of topics. She especially enjoys writing about furniture. You can learn more about Outdoor Lighting at Pink Red Kelly
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Outdoor entertaining and backyard oasis are the hottest trend right now with people vacationing at home due to the economy as well as just wanted a place to relax. Every state has its season to cope with but you can use portable air conditioning and heating as temporary ways to make your party environment very inviting for your guest. Cheers!