July 9th, 2018 by Chris Chapman

With England’s historic World Cup performance drawing in huge audiences across the nation, it’s fair to say that World Cup fever is in full swing! Even if you’re not the biggest football fan, it’s hard to deny that this World Cup has really brought the nation together. With England being guaranteed to play two more games in Russia, now is your last chance to take advantage of that and throw a World Cup party – or two – that you’ll never forget! Read on for a guide to throwing the ultimate World Cup garden party – we’ll help you set up, organise your garden, and we’ll even throw in some food and drink ideas too!

Tidy Your Garden

A tidy garden makes for better parties! If you’re having guests round in the garden, you’ll need to make sure everything is clean and tidy! This goes for your patio, your lawn, your flowerbeds, and everything else. Clear out any clutter from your garden and if you’ve got a real lawn, give it a mow to get it in tip-top condition. If you’ve got an artificial lawn, give it a quick clean with some artificial grass cleaner. This is especially important if you don’t have a patio or deck in your backyard as you’ll want people to feel clean and safe when they’re sitting on your grass. Give your flowerbeds and borders a quick trim, too – your garden will immediately look much cleaner and tidier!

Clean Your Patio

Your patio or decking is hugely important, as that’s where most of your entertaining will be going down! Give your patio a quick clean with some Pro-Kleen Patio and Driveway Cleaner, or if you have decking, use some Simply Spray and Walk Away to make sure any green mould or algae is completely gone. Both of these solutions are really fast-acting and are available on fast and free delivery, so they’re ideal for quickly sprucing up your garden!

Organise Your Space

Keep your space organised and get into the game! Now that your lawn and patio are clean, you can start thinking about how you’re going to lay the space out. The main thing is making sure everyone can see the TV so they can actually watch the match but you should be wary of having too many extension cables and wires trailing around your garden. Tie up these cables as neatly as you can so that people don’t trip over them. You’ll also need to think about how easily people can move around to get food, drinks, or go inside the house, so plan your layout accordingly. The fact that you’ve de-cluttered and tidied your garden already will help massively with this!

Don’t be Bugged by Flies

The Xterminate Xzap 30 Flies are attracted to warmth, light, and food, so naturally, an outdoor party is like an all-inclusive holiday for a fly! You’ll find it hard to keep them away from the glow of the TV and the delicious smells coming from your food, so it pays to be prepared for a swarm of flies. Consider picking up an electric fly killer that you can use on an evening. Fly killers like the Xterminate Xzap 30 have powerful 30W bulbs that can attract flies from a great distance away and zap them dead, keeping them away from your food and your TV!

Heating

Whether England win or lose, you may well want to stay up well into the night celebrating or drowning your sorrows. Late at night, the temperature can still drop quite significantly when you're outside even in the summer. This means it’s wise to look at getting some sort of patio heater for this occasion and for any in future! If you already have one, dust it off and use it for the party, although if it’s a bit old and battered, it may be time to look into a newer, more effective, and more energy-efficient model.

Decorate!

Face painting is fun for all ages and will help your party feel a bit more special Now for the fun part. To make your party feel a bit special, do a bit of decorating outside. Simply buying some cheap flags online might do, but it’s also a great chance to get crafty, especially if you have kids. You can use football to get them engaged in geography, drawing flags for decoration, and in learning about the cultures those flags come from! It’s 28 years since England last had this much success in a World Cup, so you’re allowed to push the boat out a little bit with some streamers, lanterns, and paper pom poms. You can even decorate yourself with some face painting, which is sure to go down well with the kids!

Food Ideas

Spicy food like jalapenos can actually keep you cool in a heatwave! Light and simple is the order of the day when it comes to football food. Crisps, pretzels, and fruit salads are all pretty easy, and obvious choices. As it’s likely we’re going to see a bit of heat, then you may want to look at spicy food, too. It sounds counter-productive, but eating spicy food actually raises your body temperature to feel closer to the temperature on the outside of your body, making you feel a little cooler. A good idea is to make some jalapeno poppers by cutting whole jalapeno peppers in half and scraping the seeds out. Now you can fill these poppers with whatever you like – cheese, breadcrumbs, salsa, bacon – it’s completely up to you! They’ll be spicy enough to help you stand the heat, but they won’t burn your mouth out either.

Drinks Ideas

It wouldn’t be a party without something to drink! If you want alcoholic drinks, we’re sure you don’t need any ideas from us! Just make sure you keep them in a fridge, cooler, or ice bucket to keep them nicely chilled and ready to drink. If it comes to penalties, you might need it! If you want something the whole family can enjoy, though, you’ll want to look at some non-alcoholic alternatives that are still a bit special. With that in mind, check out our recipe for a non-alcoholic Moscow Mule. It’s quick, easy, and delicious – and a fitting drink to celebrate our heroics in Russia!

Non-Alcoholic Moscow Mule Recipe

Ingredients: makes one cup – for more cocktails, increase amounts as necessary

Moscow mules are a warming and delicious cocktail 1 lime 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp water Carbonated water Ginger beer Ice Mint leaves (optional)

Method:

1. Mix the sugar and the water together over a gentle heat in a saucepan to make a syrup.
2. Let the syrup cool, then mix it into your cup with the juice from your lime. Also pour in the carbonated water until your cup is about a quarter of the way full.
3. Crush the ice and fill the cup about halfway with the crushed ice.
4. Pour in the ginger beer to fill up your cup. Finish with mint leaves or a lime wedge to taste!