Summer Entertaining: Elevating your Gathering with Seasonal Florals

Summer is the season of sun-soaked afternoons, balmy evenings, and spontaneous celebrations – a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. This season is perfect for cozy backyard dinners, lively garden bashes, and birthday parties for your favorite Cancers, Leos, and Scorpios. The secret to unforgettable summer entertaining lies in the details – especially when it comes to dressing your space with florals.

A beachside table setup with orange dahlias and roses in small vases with elegant tablesettings

Every summer soirée deserves a whimsical touch and a splash of color in the form of flowers. Artistic arrangements transform any gathering into a magical experience. If you’re ready to make your party the talk of the season, we’ve got plenty of summer floral decor ideas to inspire you, Native Poppy style!

The Art of Summer Entertaining

When deciding to host a summer soirée, it’s important to think about how you want to set your space. The right style of floral arrangements sets the tone for your event. Do you want an atmosphere that feels effortless and playful? Polished and elegant? Bold and over the top? Our florists love to help you craft an ambiance that’s as unique as your guest list. From structural centerpieces to delicate bud vases, our event florals are curated to complement every style.

A elegant floral arrangement with orange roses in a shell shaped vase at a bar table top

Don’t let our À La Carte flower menu fool you – the flowers in this collection are not just for weddings! We recommend the centerpieces, garlands, ground pieces, and bud vases in this collection for events big and small. If you’re planning something grand, our full service event floral offerings can create custom installs to fit any theme! Under the sea themed prom? Heck yes! 50th birthday bash for a Leo who wants to be transported to the lavender fields of Provence? We gotchu. But if your summer party is a little more intimate, we find that our À La Carte menu is a great fit for most of our clients.

An eye-catching table setup is the first thing guests will notice when they arrive at your gathering. Imagine walking into a sunny celebration where every table bursts with color, texture, florals, linens and dishware perfectly aligned with your party theme. 

Setting up a table for a summer party

For summer entertaining, flowers capture the season and infuse your party with life. Whether you’re hosting a sunset cocktail hour with wedding vendors or celebrating a friend or family member with a breezy brunch, our arrangements are designed to make every moment feel special. Plus, our À La Carte menu helps you choose your perfect party florals with ease. 

Inspiration from our A La Carte Menu

Not sure where to start? Our À La Carte menu is your one-stop shop to mix and match event flowers with no minimum order. Handcrafted with love by our San Diego-based floral team, this menu offers a range of floral options for every party size and style. You can choose from playful centerpieces, lush garlands, and blooming bud vases to scatter across your tablescape. You can even opt for large statement arrangements for the bar or entry table, decorating blooms for grazing stations and desserts, scattering petals and more – every type of florals to make your summer entertaining effortless. Plus, you can customize your color preferences, so your florals ooze summer charm – and match your decor!

A table setting with a white table cloth, with bud vases and local flowers

Bud vases are endlessly versatile and perfect for dressing up long tables. Parade them down the length of your table as a runner of color and texture, or place one at each place-setting or on a belly bar for a small, personal touch. They're a beautiful way to highlight individual stems while not overpowering a cocktail menu, or additional decor on your table.

Our Fave Summer Colors and Flower Varieties 

When styling an elevated summer event, selecting a color palette for your party is a must, and flowers can be an integral part of pulling the palette through! Get inspired by your favorite summer blooms like the bright pink of coral charm peonies (early summer), the cocktail-hues of zinnias (mid-late summer), or the creamy-popsicle-dreamy shades of dahlias (all summer long).

Selecting either a monochromatic palette (like all yellow) or a mix of 2-3 shades of an analogous palette of similar colors (like orange, peach, pink) creates an elevated aesthetic. We offer curated palettes in our À La Carte menu, but you can also stop by our San Diego flower shops to select your favorite colors from our stem bar, and a florist can build your centerpieces on the spot.

Play with mixing different vases for an eclectic look, or continue the color palette with matching vessels. Don’t forget to snag cohesive taper candles that mimic the hues of your blooms – a professional touch! 

Are you less called by color and more sizzling for seasonality? Let the summer-harvest guide you! Here are some of our favorite seasonal summer flowers you’ll find on our stem bar this summer:

  • Sunflowers

  • Marigolds

  • Dahlias

  • Zinnias

  • Yarrow

  • Phlox

  • Geranium

  • Cosmos

Summer Floral Arrangements for Dinner Parties

For summer dinner parties, it’s all about creating the mood without blocking connection. For seated dinners at long communal, banquet-style tables, opting for a low and lush flower arrangement is ideal. They allow guests to see each other clearly across the table and keep the conversation flowing, all while offering a beautiful view of the blooms – instead of a big vase!

Tall, sculptural arrangements are best reserved for entryways, bars, or buffet-style tables where they won’t interfere with sightlines, but can still deliver a strong visual impact to your party. For round tables, a low, circular arrangement is the perfect centerpiece. Just like the Long & Low arrangement on a rectangular table, it encourages conversation, and provides a better view of the blooms.

A event floral tablescape with Native Poppy flowers.

Summer entertaining is all about joy, connection, and a little bit of magic. When planning your next summer soiree, turn to these tips on what florals to use as a jumping off point for. Ready to start planning? Explore our A La Carte Menu to find the perfect blooms for your celebration. Here’s to vibrant gatherings and florals that will make it all feel magical.

Planning some serious floral magic that goes beyond tablescapes? We offer full-service, luxury event floral design for everything from birthday parties to baby showers, weddings to corporate events. A big bash or intimate gathering, we’ll create custom floral magic that perfectly fits every moment. For more inspiration and ideas, check out our Full Service Floral Design portfolio.

Photographers: Jessica Rice Photography, John Schnack Photography, Rebecca Yale

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