How To Set Up A Beverage Station For Summer Entertaining

Welcome to Southern State of Mind! Today on the blog, I am officially kicking off SUMMER with a colorful beverage station idea. This is part of the seasonal Progressive Dinner Party collaboration with Christmas Tree Shops andThat! where a group of bloggers are collaborating to share seasonal ideas for entertaining. Today it is all about summer hosting ideas. If you are hopping over from Lindsay at  Aratari at Home, welcome!

This post is in partnership with Christmas Tree Shops andThat!

For my summer progressive dinner party stop, I set up a festive watering hole to help keep my guests happily hydrated. Of course, this beverage station has been kicked up a notch loaded with colorful accessories and fruit infused water. Here are my tips and seven simple steps for setting up a beverage station for summer entertaining. 

 

How To Set Up A Beverage Station For Summer Entertaining

1. SET UP TABLE & ADD YOUR TABLE CLOTH
   The first thing I did to set up this station was grab our small folding table. This is the one we usually take for football tailgates and can easily be carried and set up. Of course, any table you have would work well- just add your table cloth and you are all set. For mine, I used a blue tablecloth and then layered a red and white checked table runner down the center.  
   
2. ADD PAPER GARLAND DECOR
   Now that the table is set up, it’s time to add lots of fun colors!  I used a fun package of colorful fans to the front and a paper watermelon garland behind it. Such an easy way to add lots of bang for your buck! The fans and garland were only a couple bucks each from Christmas Tree Shops andThat! and I just love how much color they add!
   
3. ADD BEVERAGE DISPENSERS
   OK! Now your table is looking pretty so it’s time to add beverage dispensers. I was so excited when I spotted these white basket weave beverage dispensers from Christmas Tree Shop andThat!. I loved them so much- I bought two! They were a steal at $16.99 each and I know these will get lots of use this summer. (and really all year!)
   
   
4. Choose Your Drinks
   Of course, with these dispensers, the options to fill them are endless. Originally I planned on doing lemonade in one and sweet tea in the other… but I decided to run with the fruit theme. One of the dispensers has watermelon and cucumber infused water, and the other is filled with lemons, limes and grapefruit. I can also see these filled with a cocktail during the holidays or apple cider in the fall. 
   
5. ADD A GARNISH CADDY
   Now is the time to pull out all of those fun cocktail napkins and straws you have tucked away. I couldn’t resist these watermelon straws and cute fruit picks. To corral everything, I used a stainless steel caddy, I thought it would be perfect for lots of uses. In this case, I have it filled with straws, napkins and sliced fruit for garnish. But I can also see this caddy come in handy this fall for silverware at our tailgates.  If you have beer and wine, be sure to add a bottle and wine opener here as well. 

6. ADD YOUR GLASSWARE

Don’t forget to add your glassware! For mine, I used my go-to blue rimmed glasses. For summer parties, acrylic would be smart or you could even find some cute disposable ones if you are having a large crowd. 

 

7. FLOWER ARRANGEMENT
For the finishing touch, flowers are always a good idea! Adding to the fruit and watermelon theme, I am using a fun watermelon basket filled with white hydrangeas and pink Gerber Daises. So festive! 

I had so much fun shopping for and putting this beverage station together and I hope you are inspired to set one up this summer when you entertain. I love adding special touches to our gatherings and a beverage station would surely be appreciated by everyone! Here is a sampling of just some of the fun summer decor that Christmas Tree Shops andThat! has right now! Can you even stand how cute that flamingo stand is?

 

Be sure to stop by and see all of the fun summer entertaining posts linked below. 

Southern State of Mind    |   At Charlotte’s House   |  A Tufted Life   | 
  Jor Decor   |    Aratari at Home

xoxo

Heather