3 Essentials for Summer Entertaining

As the year heats up and those warm evenings stretch out their legs, there’s nothing like having great friends round for drinks, dinner or a celebration. Here are 3 essentials to entertaining that will turn your get-togethers a thing of legend.

Brought to you by EcoSmart Fire

Creating that vibe of a memorable evening doesn’t just happen by accident. Parties that go down in history always follow the same rules whether they’re big shindigs or casual meet-ups.

They include elements which, when incorporated into your soirée set-up, means you’ll always throw a great party.

Everyone has those memories they talk about with friends and family for years afterwards, reminiscing over those long summer nights spent with our favourite people.

Here are three tenets of entertaining that will bring all your friends and family around you, and make your parties the definition of summer for years to come.

3 essentials for summer entertaining

Food and drink

This might sound obvious, but as Julia Child put it, a party without cake is just a meeting. This is where you can really tailor your party to whatever vibe or theme you’re going for.

A cheese and charcuterie board is always a good idea for a party – you can check out our tips for the perfect platter here, and you can craft your offerings to suit your occasion.

The same goes for drinks, and if you want some inspiration for cocktail recipes and running your home bar, here’s our e-book guide on How to Host a Cocktail Party.

Entertainment

Depending on the feel of your party, you could have fun games like bocce or kubb for people to play.

How about sharing a playlist on Spotify that everyone can add to that creates a jukebox just for the party.

Or why not set up an outdoor cinema like this. You could turn the party into an al fresco movie night or have a photo slideshow if it’s a specific celebration.

Ambiance

It’s really easy to create a lovely ambience to your party with a few lights, but there’s nothing quite like a fire for impact and mood.

Fire pits have become so popular in Australia and around the world, but EcoSmart Fire’s amazing range is the very best of the trend.

This Manhattan 50 Fire Table doubles up as a beautiful surface for drinks and food, while the business end releases a vibrant smokeless flame for hours from behind thick safety glass.

And when the party’s over, there’s nothing quite like watching the warm flicker from the fire while you enjoy a nightcap and reflect on yet another epically successful party.

EcoSmart Fire’s Manhattan 50 fire table

This beautiful piece of furniture makes such an elegant yet subtle statement in your home, whether it’s in your living room, veranda or garden.

Our table features the natural concrete finish, but there are four different finishes to choose from, including sustainably sourced teak.

The Manhattan 50 (measuring 127cm x 76cm x 11.7cm) and all the other fire tables from EcoSmart Fire require no installation, and you can move them as easily as any large coffee table.

And holding up to eight litres of e-NRG bioethanol, the burner gives up to 11 hours of burn time.

EcoSmart Fire – pioneers of planet-friendly ethanol fire features

It used to be that engineers only had two elements in the Venn Diagram of interior design to shoot for: form and function.

But these days there’s a third target to aim at: sustainability.

And EcoSmart Fire has been hitting that bullseye since 2004.

Not only are EcoSmart’s fire pits, fire places and fire tables like the Manhattan 50 beautiful in their aesthetic and elegant in their functionality, they’re made with the environment very much front of mind.

This Manhattan 50 fire table is made from EcoSmart’s specially designed concrete, which is lightweight, stain, heat and impact resistant, but also environmentally friendly.

Quite different to traditional Portland cement, EcoFire’s proprietary concrete requires 20-40% less energy to manufacture and produces 90% less CO2. It’s also made from 95% recycled natural materials that absorb Carbon Dioxide and are 100% recyclable.

And as for flames themselves, they come from EcoSmart’s own bioethanol, e-NRG. This bioethanol is a distillate of fermented plant matter like sugarcane or other high-carbohydrate flora.

When this 100% alcohol burns, it releases heat and light energy with the flame, steam from water molecules and a small amount of carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by plants, but also by the concrete the fire tables are made from.

This means EcoSmart not only uses a renewable energy source but also a carbon neutral one too.

It’s the perfect option to bring atmosphere to your parties and adds a luxurious level of comfort in your home.