Picnic Planning
Means No Picnic Panic

Picnic planning is essential really, whether it's for a moveable feast or just a spur of the moment snack - although admittedly not so important for the latter.

You can organise an impromptu alfresco meal fairly quickly by choosing a location and buying the food on the way!

Take advantage of local produce such as luscious fruit in a country market, a seafood stall in a coastal village, or bread, cheese and charcuterie from a deli you discover en route.

You can enjoy a delicious and spontaneous feast, however far you are from home, as long as you have a few essentials with you:

Knives for cutting and spreading and forks for eating with
Paper or melamine plates, bowls and tumblers
Napkins or wet wipes for sticky fingers
Seasonings even if just salt and pepper
a couple of bin or trash bags

However, some outdoor meals need a tad more preparation and, although you probably don't want to spend hours in the kitchen, you might want to think more about the idea picnic menu as well as the best spot to enjoy the meal.

You should take along some ideas and/or equipment for picnic games and let the kids run wild and work off their energy without disturbing others.

Having a few things to hand will make any kind of picnic, impromptu or otherwise, much easier to plan. And, thankfully, picnic equipment and accessories have come a long way since the days of leaky thermos flasks and tin lunchboxes.

To help with inspiration, you might like to check out some of my ideas on these particular picnics:

Depending on the age of your children, you might like to involve them in the packing. I’m sure you’ll find they’re much happier helping you with picnic planning than cleaning their room!

Give each a specific task, such as finding the games to take – badminton, croquet etc., or collecting and packing the family’s swimming or sports gear.

To make picnic planning really easy, you could have a picnic hamper at the ready with all the necessary picnicware in it. There are some great picnic back-packs available these days too, which come complete with plates, plastic glasses, cutlery, bottle opener, and even napkins.

Planning a picnic party

If you’re inviting others and you want to plan a picnic which is more of an outdoor party, then you’ll find it much easier if the picnic planning is done quite thoroughly in advance.

You’ll be less stressed and everyone present will enjoy themselves much more.

Date? – you can have picnics any time of the year
Time? – daytime or evening – or a night out under the stars with a fire?
Reason? – there doesn’t have to be one!
Theme? – you can have a themed picnic, just as you would have a themed party - or maybe the picnic is theme enough.
Location? – is the venue going to be close to home or further away, by the sea or in the country? Nothing beats a change of scene, even if it’s only for a couple of hours – and there’s sure to be some beautiful scenery on offer near you, wherever you live. Please don’t join those people who’ve been seen picnicking beside the motorway! The food would really have to be exceptional to counteract the view and the traffic fumes, wouldn’t it?!

Who will you invite? Do you need written invitations? The right mix of people is important for an outdoor picnic, just as it is for an indoor party. As well as the food and the setting, it will be memorable because of the folk who take part.
Are you going to ask others to share in the organizing of the event? If so, you need to give them clear instructions as to what you would like them to do, bring, bake etc. Have suggestions ready to give each one.
Weather? Do you know if it’s likely to be hot, warm, humid, windy, cloudy? Is rain a possibility? Forecast it as best you can and with a little planning, even if it does decide to rain, you can still have a wonderful time.

Make a List

Packing your picnic:

To pack your party food with style, I suggest you don't limit yourself to plastic containers. Many foods will look much more elegant in shallow heavy dishes, covered with wrap.

Try and use two cars for transportation so that one can be used for tables, chairs etc. and the other for food. It is annoying to have to unpack everything to get the table at the bottom!

A tailgate or at least a hatch-back is best for dispensing a moveable feast and make sure you have removed any petrol/gas cans well in advance (not a good flavour enhancer!), cleaned it well (dog hairs and food are not a good mix!) and lined it with a large cloth or sheet.

Then pack the car in the right order, putting the last course in first and the first things you will need last. At the picnic, try and prevent eager helpers from unpacking the food for you. They can easily reduce your picnic planning to chaos! Quite unintentionally of course.

You will need to plan the neat clearing away of each course as well, so have baskets and bags ready for dirty dishes and left-over food. Clutter and chaos do not make a relaxed party atmosphere!