Race days at home can be great fun. Spending time with friends and family is always welcomed and with a common activity like a big race that may be going on in your town or around the world, there is no better excuse to light up the BBQ. Here’s how you can set up your garden for the ultimate race day BBQ.
Seating
For any BBQ in your backyard, the kind of seating you choose is important. Opt for more casual chairs where people can relax and feel comfortable. As a social affair, your seating arrangement is always better off being more haphazard as people will move around and be chatting with others. Just be sure you have spaces for people to enjoy their food without having to balance it on their knees. Maybe having a long table with chairs that you can easily move around after the main meal is served is a setup that will work for you or creating small seating zones with low tables could be more your style.
Decorations
Horse racing is a broad sport when it comes to decorating your home. You can theme your BBQ on the field, the fashion, the horses or the jockeys. The sport comes with no shortage of colors to choose from so you can choose your favorites and run with them. Using oval dishes to represent the racetrack can be fun and stringing up plenty of colorful bunting can give your affair a celebratory feel. For those who want their event to be a little fancier, you can invite your guests to dress in their finest and complement the stunning outfits with a few glasses of bubbles handed around throughout the day.
Activities
Race day is about more than just the horse race itself. Creating activity stations for kids is always fun and for the adults, you can have Kentucky Derby or Melbourne Cup betting tips ready at hand for a friendly sweepstake between your group. For those who are keen to add even more to their race day BBQ you can hold your very own fashion competition and award prizes for the most elegant hat or fascinator, best and the funniest outfits and more. The key to a great race day is in having activities that everyone can enjoy.
Food and drinks
Though a race day can be thrown at your home with the same old BBQ style foods, why not spice it up with a few dishes that are themed for the day? Gourmet finger foods are popular at the races because they allow people the freedom to move around. Barbequing a selection of colorful vegetables and serving alongside some caviar or champagne is one way you can harness the elegant spirit of horseracing. Choose a few key cocktails such as mimosas or mint juleps for your guests to enjoy and make sure you pair your foods with the right kind of wines for all to enjoy.
No matter whether you are arranging a small gathering at your home or an elegant soiree, there are key ways that you can make your race day celebrations better than anyone could have ever expected. As with any event, the enjoyment of everyone involved comes down to the finer details so be sure to take some time to research a few special touches for the day that will surprise and delight your guests.
