Let Your Senses Be Your Guide

Life is filled with everything that has a direct effect on at least one of your senses and often several at a time. Flowers fill yards and evoke smells that remind your nose of family gatherings or your first date. Additionally, the colors they flaunt unabashedly flirt with your eyes and make you smile. Birds sing in trees or fly overhead with sounds that delight your soul as you listen with your ears. Foods tempt your taste buds with flavors that meld and mingle to hit all of the taste sections of your tongue. Cool lakes tickle your toes and play with your hands as you run them through the soft water or pick up a smooth, wet stone to skip. You can bring all of these amazing sense tantalizing effects into the perfect night with some planning and creativity.

Lighting the Way With Flowers

For the perfect party setting that is planned for an evening, lighting is a wonderful starting point. Pick a location where you can hang Japanese lanterns or drape decorative strings of lights on your fence or patio. As night falls, the whole area becomes a magical wonderland. Use beautiful flowers to cover the lights just enough so they illuminate the colors and actually evoke the smells as they warm the petals. Roses, gardenias, and lavender put off strong pleasant summer scents. On your table, light candles of varying sizes and weave greenery in between and along the whole length of the surface. Then tuck blossoms or stems of bright, fragrant flowers all throughout the centerpiece to carry the lighted floral look from your surroundings right into your dining experience. Guests will be mesmerized and delighted.

Listening To Your Heart

Think about what most gives you peace with regard to sounds. Do you love the soft dance of the cricket calling to his mate? Perhaps it’s the soft lull of the evening birds as they settle down to watch the sunset. Maybe you prefer a soft, classical medley to softly woo you into the quiet night. Whatever enhances your evening by filling the background just enough for a soft place for the conversation to land, that’s what you need. If you love it, chances are your guests will too. Perhaps you may inspire them to use the same background sounds at their next event. Don’t be shy, allow your creativity to dictate your evening and possibly motivate others to explore new party surroundings

Leading With Your Good Taste

As amazing as the ambiance may be and as great as the company is, what the guests will remember the most is the food. What you serve and what you pare it with will keep your guests busy sampling while they mingle and smell the flowers. Pick out fine wines that speak to your party and your guests. Give them options like the sweetest moscato for a fresh summer evening, or the best cabernet sauvignon to add a flirtatious summer red to the night. These wines pare great with fruits and cheeses, which brings us to the food.

On warm summer nights, a big dinner is not always the best way to go. Think light fare that people can grab and go eat with their favorite neighbor or some fresh seasonal fruit slices that make a quick snack when there is a game afoot. Don’t forget how food and wine appeal to the final sense, which is touch. The textures of the food as your guests taste each hors-d’oeuvre, or the smoothness of the glass as they hold their chilled wine, all add to the overall effect.

Have fun putting all of your senses to the test. Find that inspiration as you delight your company by affecting all of their feelings. That makes for a very well rounded party that appeals to everyone in one capacity or another and leads to a successful endeavor.