This post about easy Labor Day party ideas is sponsored.
It’s here! The last "unofficial" weekend of summer! This means it’s back to school. Hooray! Once school activities kick in, Labor Day weekend is probably last time you'll have an opportunity to BBQ before school activities take over our life!
What does this mean? Break out the grill, invite some friends over and have a Labor Day party!
First up, invite some friends. It’s always good to have a head count, right? You can invite them in person, send paper invitations, use Evite, create a Facebook event, or another online invitation program.
Plan Your Menu and Shop in Advance
Labor Day is a great time for grilling! Hamburgers and hot dogs are a no brainer, but a great way to have a fun variety of food is to have a potluck! Ask good friends to bring an item or two, having a sign up sheet keeps everyone from bringing potato salad. Not only does this mean you will have an great variety of food, but you also won’t spend hours cooking the day of the party!
Awesome Labor Day food ideas
• Grilled chicken/vegetable kabobs
• Hamburgers/cheese burgers
• Coleslaw or potato salad
• Caprese salad or skewers
• Mixed fruit salad
• Make-your-own ice cream sundaes
• Seasonal fresh fruit pies
When you ask your friends to bring food, you get these fabulous Vinegar Marinated Chicken Wings like the ones my friend Amy made.
Or my friend Mariah’s Pineapple Teriyaki Burgers.
If you serve alcohol, ask your friends to bring your favorite brew to share too! Alcohol adds up, and you’re soda bill is going to be bad enough.
We’ve done some “old school grilling” lately, and have been using the Lil’Smokey with Cowboy Hardwood Lump Charcoal. It’s a slower cook than the gas grill, but it will give your Labor Day party that nostalgic feel of your youth.
Plan Activities for Guests
If you're planning a more casual backyard cookout to celebrate Labor Day, opt for team games like volleyball, tag football or tug of war.. If there will be kids at the party, plan some activities for them. You provide something as simple as chalk and bubbles or be adventurous and set up an arts and crafts table with summer craft ideas like colored sand jars or friendship bracelets. It’s all about your comfort level.
An activity that’s sure to be fun for everyone is paper carton bowling! We drink Boxed Water regularly in our house and amass a ridiculous amount of cartons. Plus, when you serve Boxed Water at your party, you'll have plenty to spare. They are the perfect size for impromptu bowling pins – just fill them with sand or (gasp) tap water so they have some weight as pins, set up a lane or two, grab a playground ball and you have a fun game that’s easy to clean up!
Why Boxed Water? Aside from being delicious and refreshing, Boxed Water does great things for the community. As of last week, the ReTree program has successfully reached 460K trees generated social media posts this year alone!
ReTree will extend until Labor Day before the program officially closes for 2016. Help them in planting a few more trees in these next few days, please post on social medai with #ReTree on (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) with a photo of Boxed Water before Monday.
Prepare for bugs
Light citronella candles. Keep food covered to discourage yellow jackets.
Seating: Make sure you have enough seating for your guests. If you can, ask people to bring camp chairs. Many outdoor parties become awkward or uncomfortable when people find themselves standing around holding plates and cups and with nowhere to sit down.
No matter how simple or extravagant your Labor Day party is, just enjoy being with your friends and family! That's what counts in the end!
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