Winter Garden Celebrations: Making Your Holidays Merry and Brighter in 2020
Last night we hosted one of our favorite families for our first outdoor casual holiday supper including Turkey Noodle Soup, Spicy Delicata Squash with Lime & Cilantro, Cornbread, and Festive Berry Muffin Cake.
Traditionally, a great way to spread holiday cheer is to create a holiday home beautifully decorated inside and out. The experience begins at the front of the home. The front door and porch set the tone and theme for the rest of the house. This year many will make an extra effort to make the front of their house brighter with twinkling holiday lights displays given the unprecedented darkness of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Also, many will be forced to have small intimate gatherings at home with family members instead of large holiday parties. Interior decoration will likely be more intimately appreciated by members of your household, and unfortunately, not shared with guests at your annual holiday party. Creating a festive backyard gives you a perfect new setting to host small intimate groups outdoors so you can make your holidays more merry and bright.
Be sure to arrange outdoor furniture with distancing guidelines in mind to make safety measures seamless for guests.
Blue Christmas Without You
Don’t let it be a blue Christmas without your loved ones and friends. If you are lucky enough to live in a mild climate or can invest in outdoor heating, your backyard can continue to take center stage for socially distanced micro-entertaining this holiday season. Make your backyard garden a focal point this holiday season to gather small groups of family and a couple of friends from your social pod to celebrate the holidays. Keep it small, simple, and safe with groups socially distanced at least six feet apart and with no more than six people. To ensure a safe gathering, be sure to read CDC guidelines for gatherings and food consumption to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Arrange outdoor furniture with distancing guidelines in mind to make safety measures seamless for guests. Tables should be pre-set with napkins, cutlery and stemware. Serve up a simple meals in with individual portions on plates and avoid shared serving platters or buffet style. It is best to limit the hands that touch food and beverages. Simple meals can be soup or chili with crusty bread. Have friends over for hot cocoa and s’mores. Each guest should have an individual plate with s’more ingredients. For special friends, host an intimate outdoor winter tea or hot toddies with holiday cookies. Smaller and simpler holiday gatherings will allow you to connect socially, partake in holiday cheer, and make entertaining safer than large gatherings during the pandemic. Being merry and being safe will ensure a brighter holiday season for all.
Selecting a theme and color pallet for the entire holiday design plan will provide visual unity for both the interior and exterior décor.
Deck the Halls
Remember to integrate your backyard into your holiday decorating design plan for your interior and front yard plan. Theme is essential to decorating because it affords unity through color, textures, and design. Theme allows you to plan what you will need and how to accomplish the look. To get a cohesive design consider coordinating light displays, evergreens, berries, floral, ornaments, ribbons, and decorative accessories. Create an outdoor focal point in your backyard garden with an outdoor Christmas tree or using outdoor holiday decorations for all to enjoy. Keep scale in mind as outdoor décor tends to be larger than indoor décor. Use weather-friendly plastic decorations or natural materials like pinecones and berry branches to adorn your tree, decorations, and garden architecture
Let it Glow, Let it Glow
Lighting is the best way to make your holiday decorations get noticed at night, especially in darker backyard environments. Use outdoor environmental LED lights to keep your backyard garden well lit and welcoming. Weave lighting to wreaths, garlands, hedges, and shrubs. Lighting can also highlight garden architecture like trellises and arbors. Of course, a lit Christmas tree can create a focal point to be enjoyed in the garden or from a view from inside your warm home. Lighting can also provide an opportunity to entertain at night giving your micro-holiday celebration more sparkle. During the day, gardens in milder climates that are abundant in the spring and summer can look bare and dormant during the winter and fall. Unlike the colder climates, there may not be a decorative blanket of snow covering the grounds and evergreens to enhance the sparkle of the season. Lighting in your garden adds the sparkle and magic to your evening holiday celebration.
Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Even in milder climates, evenings this time of year can be chilly. It is important to make sure your guests know you will be hosting outdoors and to dress warmly, après ski chic! Providing your guests with soft cuddly lap blankets will help keep them toasty. Gathering around a fire pit will also add warmth and ambiance to your evening micro-gathering. Also, there are many outdoor heating solutions for every budget and many have been reviewed on the New York Times Wirecutter.
Jingle Bells
There is nothing like holiday music to boost spirits and cheer. A family sing-along accompanied by an acoustical guitar around a roaring fire pit will enliven any gathering. But if you don’t have a musician in your household or neighborhood, an easy way to bring music into your backyard is to link your favorite holiday playlists to portable Bluetooth speakers or more connected home solutions like Sonos, Apple Home Pod, or Amazon Echo Studio. Be careful to select a weatherproof speaker just in case you forget it outside overnight.
A festive backyard during the holidays will create more warmth and cheer for family and friends throughout this holiday season. With these holiday ideas, you can make your holidays merry and brighter.
