Q: What’s the best way to entertain friends, relatives and neighbors all summer long without stress, high heels or turning on the oven?

A: The BBQ, of course! The perfect barbeque has something for everyone and practically throws itself. Choose your venue: backyard, rooftop, poolside or beach, and spark up the barbie (has there ever been a smell more intoxicating than smoking charcoal?!). With a little easy prep, a trusted pal on the grill, games for the kids and plenty of beer for everyone else, you’re free to linger over your margarita until the last rib bone has been sucked clean.

Q: How do I get guests fired up?

A: It’s all in the invitation. Opt for flip-flops invitations to float a casual come-as-you-are vibe, ideal for pool parties and seaside fetes. Our BBQ coaster invitations make guests thirsty for good friends, good eats and a frosty brew or two. For serious carnivores, you can’t lick our barbeque box invitations. Each features a barbeque illustration on the outside and opens to reveal a 3D animal figurine on a checkered tablecloth…saucy!

However you choose to rally hungry troops, indicate on the invitation whether they should bring anything in particular. Since barbeques often begin in the afternoon and last well into the evening, you want to make sure your guests are comfortable and prepared for the day’s activities. For example, “Bring a bathing suit, sweatshirt and lots of wet-naps!”

Q: How do I set the mood for grilling and chilling?

A: From seashells to palm trees and from hula girls to Uncle Sam, anything goes at a summer barbeque. Map out your space in your mind and determine where you envision guests eating, sitting and playing. String up Mexican celebration banners or lantern light strings around the perimeter of your deck or patio. Use striped beach mats to create different seating areas on the lawn. Treat each area as a little vignette, decorating it with conch shells and sand-filled pails with beach umbrella candles.
Set up picnic tables with our chalkboard tablecloths or roadside signs placemats. For country fair flair, choose our green plaid or old-fashioned tablecloth and wood watermelon napkin rings. Intersperse our “Day at the Beach” kits with flip-flop candles floating in clear glass basins for centerpieces hotter than Mesquite, Texas on the 4th of July.

Q: How do I up the ante on the standard burgers & dogs menu?

A: Remember, there’s a reason that menu is so standard — everyone loves it! Instead of overhauling family faves, we recommend refining them with gourmet touches that make the menu exciting but not totally unrecognizable. We’re talking lamb burgers with mint pesto, salmon burgers, spiced black bean burgers or sirloin burgers made with Peter Luger’s sauce. Try tofu dogs and chicken sausages on sprouted wheat buns. Serve in unfussy plastic sandwich baskets or with our summer stripes paper goods. Boil ribs in vinegar and spices, marinate, grill and heap onto colorful graphic platters.

On the side, serve corn on the cob, veggie kabobs, coleslaw, relish and sauerkraut. Don’t forget ketchup and mustard in our retro-kitsch squeeze bottles. For dessert: a self-serve buffet of waffle cones, several gallons of ice cream, caramel sauce, hot fudge and sprinkles. Or, host an old school pie contest, blue ribbons and all. Have guests bake or buy (and try to pass off as homemade) their best-loved varieties and reward the baker whose pie is gobbled up first.

Stay hydrated! Keep yellow plastic pitchers full of lemonade, margaritas and sangria. Snag colorful tubs for beer and neoprene cooling bags for wine. Perfect your summer sipping style with our party palm cocktail napkins and etch-it cups.

Q: Are there any special touches that will take my BBQ from ground chuck to finger-lickin’ flame-broiled fun?

A: Help pals get in the summer groove as soon as they arrive—pass out pairs of zany shades, from cat’s eye to heart-shaped to Risky Business styles. Stock up on beach balls and water guns for impromptu tossing and squirting. Have plenty of beach towels on hand for swimmers, sun worshippers and squirt victims. Our Tepper Jackson styles double as decor with their splashy, vibrant patterns. If you have access to a backgammon board, ping-pong table, croquet set and volleyball net, include them in your BBQ tableau and let guests choose their own adventures.