When the weather is perfectly warm, the sun is shining and the days are longer, it’s always nice to hit the patio and dine al fresco with friends! Whether you’re hosting family for a special occasion, invited friends over for game night or are hosting the girls for cocktails by the pool, setting a beautiful seasonal table doesn’t have to be difficult! With pops of color, tropical accents and elegant details, this Summer Tablescape has inspiration for all of your outdoor gatherings this season! Keep scrolling for simple ways to bring a breezy beach feel to your backyard.
Tropical Summer Dining Ideas
When the days are hot and long, the last thing you want to do as a hostess is spend a ton of time decorating and setting a table. Of course you want it to look beautiful, but if it could be easy – in addition to impressive – that’d be ideal, right?! You’re in luck because Event Designer Simply Gorgeous Events by Lara-Jill put together a gorgeous table that you can copy and steal! With large palm leaves, tiny pineapples and colorful details, she was able to capture a summer island feel that you can replicate right in your back yard!
The best way to capture a tropical feel at your outdoor party is to use tropical leaves! Who needs placemats or linens on the table when you can use a giant palm leaf instead. We love this set of tropical leaves because it has a variety of sizes and styles and will help you decorate the whole table.
As you can see below, simple white plates were placed on top of giant green palm leaves and a centerpiece was created by running palm fronds down the center of the table. The color palette here was greens, whites and golds, but you could easily bring in a pop of color with your plates or by adding some tropical flowers to the table.
Create a quick and simple centerpiece by filling a large glass vase with palm leaves! Remember you don’t want your centerpiece to be too overpowering or tall for an intimate dining table – you want all of your guests to be able to see each other and keep the conversation going!
Can we talk about how adorably cute these mini pineapples are at each place setting?! I love the idea of pairing a miniature pineapple with a palm leaf name card like you can see below. Check your local speciality grocery store (like Whole Foods or Central Market) to see if you can find these sweet little treats to add to your table!
Want to add some florals to your summer tablescape or centerpiece? How about something like this tropical bouquet with lilies, peonies, yellow pincushion and tropical greenery? You can add a further pop of color with ribbons like they’ve done here too.
Tropical Dessert Ideas
Setting a beautiful summer dining table is one thing, but carrying the theme on through the dessert course is another! That’s why we had to show you this amazing tropical inspired cake designed by Everything Cake. Topped with a golden pineapple, the hand painted tropical leaves are stunning, aren’t they?! And I mean, if you have a pool boy to serve it to your guests… well that’s just icing on the… you know, cake!
If you want something in addition to cake – or don’t want to go that big with dessert – why not just serve up some tasty little macarons in tropical colors. The palm fronds painted on these macarons, made by Dear Macaron, are just lovely! (And isn’t the Kate Spade “fancy another?” serving tray amazing?!)
Summer Party Fun
Finally, if you are hosting an outdoor dining event next to the pool, carry your theme and your colors right on into the water! We love these fun pineapple, swan and custom name floats in bright colors!
I hope you found plenty of easy breezy summer inspiration for setting a tropical palm leaf table for your friends and family to gather around! Summer dining only comes around once a year – make the most of it! Be sure to Pin this post for later party planning!
Featured Vendors
- Cake Designer: Everything Cake
- Signage: All She Wrote Notes
- Invitation Designer: EAlexDesigns
- Bakery: Dear Macaron
- Event Planner: AKP Retreat
- Event Designer: Simply Gorgeous Events by Lara-Jill
- Photographer: Ashton Kelley Photography
