Bulldog Spas, Coffee Creme Brulee and Lionel Richie

 

There is a three-day weekend coming up. Memorial Day weekend is nearly upon us, bringing with it the promise of three days of food, good weather and fun. Well, we live in Southern California so the good weather is often taken for granted. Anyway, what are you planning on doing this holiday?

We do hope that your festivities include at least a moment of silence for those who lost their lives defending your freedoms. You even might want to consider visiting a cemetery and placing flags on the graves of fallen soldiers or finding a veteran in your neighborhood and thanking them for their service and dedication.

And then, you will probably have a barbecue party.

You should, after all, because you have a Bullfrog spa and you want to share the joys of your hot tub with family and friends. But if you’re going to throw an epic barbecue, you had better do things right. So here are a few tips to help you successfully pull off a memorable Memorial Day barbecue.

Make a List and Check it Twice

Sure, you want a whole lot of people to attend your barbecue, but there needs to be at least a little discretion. For example, you might want to send out an invite to the crew at work, but you might want to reconsider. While some of the people you work with will make great barbecue guests, that one guy from sales would make people uncomfortable and the woman in advertising would totally dress inappropriately and spend the day talking about her cats. So practice some restraint when sending out those invites.

Also, the more people who you invite to your barbecue party, the more mouths you wind up having to feed. And even if you have guests bring drinks and side dishes, grilling burgers and hot dogs for 50 people is not only expensive but will take a lot of time, leaving you standing in front of the grill instead of mingling with the guests.

Consider a Theme

You might want to consider adopting a theme for your barbecue party. For example, you could try a luau theme and throw pineapples on all the food dishes and make the girls wear hula skirts. Heck, you could make the guys wear hula skirts as well.

You could opt for a 1980s themed barbecue where everybody wears checkered Vans slip-ons, feathers their hair and everybody says things like “gnarly dude” and “barf me out.”

You could host a Christmas in May barbecue and dress like Santa. You could have a decorated tree as the centerpiece and hand out gifts to the guests.

 

 

Food

Food is a critical part of any type of barbecue party, so you need to make good choices. Obviously, if you are having a themed party, then the food you serve will need to fit right in. One thing you will need to consider is if any of your guests have food allergies or other diet restrictions. Because of this, it is wise to have a variety of foods in case some dishes can’t be eaten by some people.

Also, burgers and hot dogs are nice, especially since they are traditional barbecue foods, but they can also be blah. Be brave and offer exciting and tasty alternatives like shrimp, salmon, tuna and lamb. Give your guests a break from the ordinary.

Beverages

No need to overcomplicate the drink situation. Just remember that some people don’t drink beer so have wine and other alcohol options available. Also, not everybody drinks alcohol so have plenty of non-alcoholic beverages ready to serve.

Dessert

You can’t forget dessert, your guests will never forgive you. S’mores are a traditional favorite, but you could also go fancy and serve some swanky dishes like coffee creme brulee, chocolate souffle or French apple tart.

Entertainment

You can’t rely on good conversation to keep people busy and interested for the duration of your party, you need to have things for your guests to do. Something as simple as a few decks of cards and lawn darts will keep guests occupied. However, if you get the metal lawn darts, the chances of a fatality increases exponentially.

There are also traditional games like Twister that can be utilized. A Slip-N-Slide will also provide excellent entertainment. If all else fails and you are desperate to keep people entertained, try charades or search for games people can play together on their smartphones.

Music

Music is also another important factor to consider when planning a barbecue party. While you are perfectly content with playing country music, your guests might turn on you and become violent. So it is a good idea to mix in a variety of music genres to appease the crowd.

If you are having a themed barbecue, the music you choose should match said theme. If you are having a 1980s barbecue, make sure you play plenty of Duran Duran, Tina Turner and Poison. If you are having a luau, you had better go and find some Hawaiian music.

Even if you mess up on certain aspects of your barbecue party, like forgetting the potato salad, serving a chocolate souffle that has collapsed or playing too much Lionel Richie, don’t fret too much because you have a hot tub and your guests love hot tubs. A hot tub will save even the worst barbecue party. But seriously, don’t play too much Lionel Richie.