53 Best Backyard BBQ Party Ideas

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Set Up a Pimento Cheese Bar

This easy appetizer will keep everyone grazing without heating up the kitchen. Don't worry about picky eaters! Everyone can choose their own toppings.

Get the recipe for Pimento Cheese Bar.

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Gift Country Survival Kits

This fun gift will be put to use during the party. Top bandana-wrapped bundles of country essentials (sunscreen, bug spray) with fly swatters.

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Craft Flower Crowns

Set up a crafts station with fresh blooms, embroidery hoops, wire, twine, and scissors so they can make their own flower crowns.

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Put On Some Tunes

An essential part of any good party, you need the right mix of tunes. And for an outdoor backyard or beach barbecue, that means adding in at least a few essential summer hits to ensure your playlist really slaps.

Keep reading: 30 Best Summer Songs.

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Turn a Gardening Bench into a Drinks Bar

Sweep aside the soil but leave the potted herbs and plants! Add a tall pitcher of something delicious and a selection of beer or other canned and bottled drinks and you now have the perfect outdoor bar.

Read more: Best Summer Drink Recipes.

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Get Your Game On

Make sure to give the guests something to do besides mingling and sipping on drinks, while you grill everything up. Lawn games like cornhole are a great go-to. If you need a set, let us shamelessly point you to some gorgeous designs we developed with game company Slick Woody's.

Shop Country Living Cornhole Games

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Or Make Your Own Games

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Set out a Grazing Board

Let guests serve themselves! While you can add anything to your grazing board, we like to include cured meats, at least one cheese, good crackers, pickled and fresh vegetables, olives, soft boiled eggs, and loads of fresh fruit.

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Enlist Helping Hands

Put the little ones to work by enlisting them to serve watermelon slices or other treats to party goers.

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Party Patriotically

When the parade rolls through town be sure you are there celebrating the nation with your friends and family. Hang a flag from the window, step outside, and get your cheer on.

Read more: How to Properly Display the American Flag.

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Set out a Berry Dessert Spread

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Serve S'mores in a New Format

S'mores in a cake form! Swirled chocolate and vanilla cake batter get baked in a Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Heritage Bundt Pan then topped with chocolate syrup and toasted mini marshmallows. Your guests won't believe their eyes!

Get the recipe for S'more Swirl Cake.

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Get More Bang for Your Buck

Melamine plates such as the ones pictured offer the look of pretty porcelain in a much more durable form. And a simple arrangement of dahlias, gerbera daisies, and fireworks-esque spider mums create an eye-catching centerpiece.

shop melamine plates

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Serve a Berry Spritzer

Tis the season for all thing berries! The season's freshest gets mixed up with a little orange juice, sugar, lemon, and fresh basil for a super refreshing drink guests can sip all day long. A DIY garland, made from dyed wooden craft beads, adds extra cheer.

Get the recipe for Refreshing Berry Spritzer.

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Set Up a Soda Float Buffet

Setting up an outdoor soda float station allows guests to serve themselves. Fill balloons with water and freeze for a festive way to keep the ice cream cold. Make a garland from paper straws and oversize pinwheels from red, white, and blue fabric to decorate the scene. And serve Parmesan tots with dipping sauce so no one crashes from a sugar high!

Get the recipe for Parmesan Tots.

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Grill Up a Pizza

No need to heat up the house by heating up a hot oven. Instead, fire up the grill and cook your pizza outside! Serve these cherry, prosciutto, and goat cheese pizzas as an appetizer or main dish.

Get the recipe.

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Design a Starry Setting

For your Memorial Day cookout or 4th of July barbecue, red, white, and blue decorations will get everyone in the patriotic spirit. If you plan on celebrating with fireworks, hang a DIY star bunting made from bandanas to get everyone's eyes toward the sky.

Read more: 4th of July Crafts.

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Set up a Food Station With the Works

Allow party guests to dress up grilled Italian sausages with an assortment of homemade toppings. We suggest offering Grilled Horseradish Slaw, White Bean and Peppadew Salad, Grilled Lemon Broccolini, and Marinated Peppers and Onions.

Get the recipes.

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Serve a Sparkly Beverage

Stir up a bubbly blend of sparkling rosé and smashed raspberries for a libation that'll be so refreshing on a hot summer day. To make your own festive glasses, simply take plain glassware and draw on fireworks with fine-tipped, oil-based paint markers.

Get the recipe for Raspberry and Lemon Rosé Sparkler.

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Offer Something on the Lighter Side

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