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HOW TO STYLE YOUR PICNIC FOR SUMMER
Mastered the tablescape? Good, because summer is all about the picnicscape. Artfully-curated picnics are taking off – in other words, it’s the perfect chance to showcase all of those dreamy homeware pieces you’ve been stockpiling all winter. So, as the mercury rises and you head to the park, the beach or day-trip to the countryside, go a little extra when you dine alfresco.
Does your picnic sing? We’re talking jaunty wicker baskets, pretty plates, colourful glassware and playful soft furnishings (remember, waterproof is your new best friend). When it comes to tablecloths, go classic with ginghams and stripes or embrace summer folly with swirling patterns and graphic shapes.
Staple pieces needn’t be strictly outdoors, either. Add luxury by using silver cutlery (ditch the plastic), demonstrate your creative flair by bringing a throw pillow from home (even better if it has a frill), and edit things into a playful colour theme. Only one rule applies: go big and go bold!
HOW TO STYLE A BEACH PICNIC
Suggested Location: Dog's Bay Connemara, Galway
Beach day? Go classic. A spread of ginghams, plaids and Hamptons blues will pop against the white sands of Dog’s Bay, Connemara.
The Marly Blue Gingham wicker basket by Les Jardins de la Comtesse is the summer essential you never knew you needed. A reimagining of the classic picnic basket, it’s upgraded with ceramic plates, silver cutlery and glass goblets, as well as an insulated compartment. Soak up the sun on a classic plaid blanket (indulge in one made from cashmere), fire up your portable barbeque from Berghoff and don’t forget to lay the gingham tablecloth before you eat.
Get the food right, too. A snipe of Champagne served in a perfectly on-trend tumbler is de rigueur; just ensure you devour all the Prestat chocolate before it melts. Stow any leftovers in eco-friendly bee’s wrap paper (we love the meadow print on the Eddington 3 Pack Vegan Bees Wrap). Risk of showers? The best part is that it’s all moveable. Just pack up the car and head off on your next adventure.
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE $product.object.name
€135.00
EDDINGTON Meadow Magic Assorted 3 Pack Vegan Bees Wrap
Now €20.00
Was €25.00
JOHN HANLY 1454 Cashmere and Merino Wool Throw
€199.00
BERGHOFF Table Top BBQ Black
€129.95
PRESTAT Jewel Assortment Chocolate Box 120g
€19.00
MOËT & CHANDON Mini Impérial Brut
€26.00
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE Blue Gingham Tablecloth
€38.00
HAY Tint Tumbler Blue Set of Two
€35.00
CARTWRIGHT & BUTLER Cheddar Cheese Crumbles 75g
€7.00
HOW TO STYLE A CITY PICNIC
Suggested Picnic Location: Iveagh Gardens, Dublin
There’s nothing better than heading to a city park with friends, good food and a bottle of wine. The Victorian setting of Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens calls for something seriously opulent – and unabashedly feminine.
Stroll through town with a Le Jardins de la Comtesse Opera basket slung over your arm (you’d be forgiven for confusing it with one of this season’s XL bags). After a mooch around the shops, decamp next to the rose bushes in the Iveagh Gardens for wine, cheese and good company – a Marques de Riscal Reserva is the perfect partner for balmy, summer evenings.
Care for something sweet? Swill raspberry lemonade from Hay’s pink-tinted wine glasses which are made from borosilicate glass. Up next, bring the indoors outside with Slow Down Studio’s one hundred percent cotton Mooney blanket, that niftily doubles as a wall hanging (yes, they’re machine washable). Park life just got a chic upgrade.
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE $product.object.name
€135.00
CLEANCO Clean G
Now €20.00
Was €25.00
POLSPOTTEN Tie Up Wine Glass Set of Four
€55.00
RRP €110.00
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE $product.object.name
€14.00
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE $product.object.name
€14.00
CHARBONNEL ET WALKER Milk Marc de Champagne Truffles 135g
€26.00
ICHENDORF Garden Picnic Flask
€45.50
RRP €65.00
HOW TO STYLE A COUNTRYSIDE PICNIC
Suggested location: Powerscourt Waterfall, Wicklow
What’s better than a garden party? An excellently accessorised one, of course. Cottagecore is in, so escape to the country at Wicklow’s Powerscourt Waterfall, follow the winding path to the river bank and enjoy a picnic that’s both verdant and vibrant and with nature's most spectacular water feature as a background.
Chic and travel-friendly, the melamine tableware from Les Jardins de la Comtesse is a game-changer. (We can’t get enough of the vibrant jungle print.) Paper napkins, begone! Hay’s cotton napkins in lemon yellow speak to languid days in the sunshine. Don’t forget, a garden flask is a picnic essential – see Ichendorf’s hand blown picnic flask in forest green which will keep beverages cool when travelling.
When it comes to something stronger, CleanCo’s Clean G botanical gin has a crisp, dry flavour – it helps that it comes in an aesthetically pleasing bottle, too. Peckish? A Champagne truffle by iconic chocolatier Charbonnel et Walker will do nicely, thank you. The finishing touch: add some oomph to your alfresco look with wine glasses by Amsterdam label Pols Potten.
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE Opera
€175.00
MARQUES DE RISCAL Marques de Riscal Reserva Jeroboam 300cl
€134.00
GLOBAL KNIVES Cheese Board and Knife set
Now €38.70
Was €129.00
CARTWRIGHT & BUTLER Raspberry Lemonade 275ml
€3.00
CHOC ON CHOC Chocolate Daises And Cupcakes
Now €5.10
Was €17.00
CORAVIN Coravin Screw Caps
Now €27.00
Was €30.00
LIFE'S A PICNIC
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE Opera
€175.00
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE $product.object.name
€135.00
ICHENDORF Garden Picnic Flask
€45.50
RRP €65.00
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE Blue Gingham Tablecloth
€38.00
MOËT & CHANDON Mini Impérial Brut
€26.00
JOHN HANLY 1454 Cashmere and Merino Wool Throw
€199.00
LES JARDINS DE LA COMTESSE Concorde Tablecloth
€38.00
CHARBONNEL ET WALKER Milk Caramel Praline Sea Salt Truffles 100g
€23.00
MORE TO READ
But what would a picnic be without a batch of a delicious cocktail? In Summer Spirit we have 4 quick and easy cocktail recipes that are perfect for summertime sipping.