This post is sponsored by Walmart and SheKnows Media. All opinions are my own.
In my mind, summer is the best time of the year for brunch get-togethers with friends. The sun just brings out a certain cheerfulness that seems to go well with homemade pop tarts and other goodies.
But this time of year is also great for relaxing and keeping things simple, so, I put together a little brunch inspiration that looks beautiful but doesn’t require a ton of effort. My kind of party!
Click through for my tips for throwing an awesome brunch without trying too hard…
In my mind, get-togethers are always made better by keeping things casual and easy. Honestly, all you really need are a few ‘wow’ touches to make it memorable. No guest remembers every detail. I promise. A beautiful centerpiece or two can go a long way for an at-home-brunch.
So with a few key elements to set things off, you can play it cool on the other stuff and enjoy your time with friends instead of slaving away for the day. Here’s how…
First and foremost, you’re going to want to simplify the number of to-dos on your list. And one of the easiest ways to free up some of your to-dos is to have guests serve themselves when they arrive, whenever possible. That’s where the Keurig K-Latte comes in handy, since I set up a make your own latte bar, along with fresh baked goods and juices for guests to munch on as they arrive.
In a brunch scenario, this machine is perfect because every guest can customize their own drink (coffee or lattes) – whether they want a plain latte with soy milk, a vanilla latte with almond milk, a regular coffee, etc, etc. Personally, I like the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Vanilla Espresso Roast with almond milk. Which means there’s one less thing for the host to have to do, and everyone still gets exactly what they want. Win-win!
You can make a latte in just a few minutes and the milk frother works for any type of milk or substitution you might want (skim, soy, almond, etc). It’s so, so easy. To froth the milk, you just pour it into the side container, press the power button and wait for it to froth. And while that’s going, you can make the espresso part of your latte using the K-cups, as you normally would.
OR if you’re not feeling a latte on a particular day, you can make regular coffee with it too. So you only need one machine to do it all – regular coffee and lattes! The Keurig K-Latte is the only Keurig that can make lattes. It’s $99 and available exclusively at Walmart.
Okay, so you have the to-dos list down to a minimum. What other tips can help simplify things?
Hiring out! There’s no reason you have to do everything yourself…and who wants to anyway when the weather is nice and you’re spending time with friends. So, hiring out (affordably) on one or two things if you can is a great option. For this brunch, I hired out on florals and food. Sure, I could have made it all myself, but if I’m trying to enjoy my time, why not make it easy on myself?!
From there, it’s just a matter of prepping what you can ahead of time. So for example, setting the table day before with neutral linens, plates, etc will make day-of prep go so much quicker.
And speaking of day-of prep… For one last ‘special’ detail, I like adding pops of color in unusual places. So this time, in addition to having colorful (yet somewhat neutral) floral arrangements, I decided to add color with food and drinks. How easy is that?!
Add colorful juices to clear jugs and plan for one food item that really pops. That’s where the smoothie bowls come in! Aren’t they so pretty!
Other than putting the flowers on the tables and arranging the baked goods on a tray, the smoothie bowls were the only thing that was done day-of. And because they’re so easy to make, it felt like nothing at all. Just make a big batch of the smoothie bowl base the day before (or day of) and freeze overnight. Then, right before guests arrive (or after if you prefer), plate the smoothie bowls and add fresh fruits, nuts, etc before serving. And that’s it!
Photography Amelia Lawrence
Styling Brittni Mehlhoff
Flowers Petal and Fold
Food HYGF
Those are my tips for creating a beautiful brunch without a lot of effort. So now that you have some guidelines, I’m curious to know… Think you’ll host an easy brunch like this one at you house this summer?
And what are your best tips for creating cute little parties at home without the fuss? I’d love to hear your tips!
6 comments | Click here to reply
Thanks Pink Pineapple! I appreciate that. 🙂
BrittniLook so nice.I really love this
The pink pineapplehttps://thepinkpineappleblog.blogspot.com/
Thanks Kathleen!
BrittniYum!! This all looks so tasty and beautiful!
KathleenWe could all use a few more brunch get-togethers in our lives, right Michelle? 🙂 Thanks for the kind words. Happy Wednesday!
BrittniI definitely need a brunch in my life right now, especially one that looks as good as yours! That taste looks amazing!
Michellehttps://www.makeandmess.com/