How to Plan a Rosé and Roses Garden Party

Rosé and Roses in the Garden

Now that the outdoor mask mandate has been lifted for those who are vaccinated, I couldn’t wait to have a little garden party to celebrate spring. In an effort to keep things simple, I concepted a rosé and roses party, which meant serving one type of wine and having one type of floral to arrange. We ordered a few extra garden seats, put out trays of my favorite vintage-etched glasses and filled the patio and garden space with flowers. For food, we served individual cheese boards (which most people took home to eat for dinner, since everyone spent so much time talking). We also had lovely rose-adorned cookies.

Guests wore their Born on Fifth for Antonio Melani and shopped some sweet Mother’s Day gifts from the likes of ATL Boards (now Ruby Bond), Lucy’s Market and Bows & Blue while they were here.

The evening was delightful, and it was a pleasure to be around friends again. Below, some tips for planning your own Rosé and Roses garden party.

Throwing a Garden Party

1. Everything starts with the invitation. Below is a template you can download and fill in on Paperless Post. Here’s how to format the text: choose Futura Typeface in all caps, Size 10, Letter Spacing 2, Line Height 2. My final invitation is also below for reference!
2. Choose your roses and your rosé. We went with Francis Meilland roses from Grace Rose Farm. I ordered 20 bunches, which meant plenty of flowers to adorn all of the spaces. For rosé, we picked Gérard Bertrand Cote des Roses as it’s the prettiest bottle of rosé and tastes delicious. Use code BORNONFIFTH20 for 20% off your Grace Rose Farm order.
3. Decide what food you’ll serve. For us, individual cheese boards by Cheese Me and rose cookies by Henri’s were perfect as it was a cocktail and conversation type event, versus a sit down dinner.
4. Plan your space. Our gardens lend themselves nicely to an outdoor event like this, but work with what you’ve got! We maximized our space by having all of the furniture, drinks, food and shopping on the perimeter, so people could fill in naturally.
5. Determine your color palette. We asked guests to wear Born on Fifth or Blue and White which made for cohesive photos. Having a photographer isn’t necessary, but I always love capturing parties for the memories and some sort of dressing guidelines helps people know what to wear in my opinion!

Hope you enjoy the photos, taken by my dear friend Mary Catherine Brownfield. Elle was invited and had the time of her life entertaining with mama. Our dresses also make the perfect Mother’s Day outfits, if you’re shopping around.

Chinoiserie was a part of the inspiration for the Born on Fifth for Antonio Melani collaboration and these ginger jars, which double as vases, made the perfect statement at the entrance of our gardens. On sale, here. I can’t tell you how many neighbors popped in to ask about the roses! 

The prettiest, most functional patio cooler. We used my favorite wine glasses too!

In love with this tablecloth, from my Bows & Blue x Fenwick Fields collaboration. There are napkins and placemats too. The outdoor table and chairs are from last spring, and have aged beautifully.

How sweet is this garden table set? You’ll never guess where it’s from!

Elle’s sweet dress is part of my Born on Fifth for Antonio Melani collaboration. Her espadrilles are here. Kids tablecloth is Bows & Blue x Fenwick Fields.

Espadrilles are always a good choice for a garden party. Our yard was unexpectedly a bit muddy and these shoes did the trick.

It was so lovely to see the Bows & Blue pieces merchandised!