Flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and the birds are chirping. It’s the perfect time of year for a picnic brunch! We all know that brunch is simply a meal that serves both breakfast and lunch. But what else do you need for the ultimate picnic brunch? Here is a checklist to help guide you through the process.
Know Your “Why”
The first thing you need to determine is why you are having a picnic brunch. Are you celebrating something? Honoring someone? Maybe you just want to have a small get-together with your squad?
It doesn’t matter what your reason is for having a picnic brunch. What’s important is knowing why. This detail will help determine what kind of brunch it will be. Will it be formal or informal? Big or small? Will you have finger foods or full servings? Knowing your “why” will help you answer all of these questions.
For a picnic brunch, it will most likely be small and informal. But it doesn’t have to be. The details of your picnic brunch are entirely up to you. If you want to throw a catered outdoor brunch in your backyard with servers and a wine fountain, we fully support that decision!
What’s the Budget?
Before you can start planning all of your picnic brunch details, you’ll have to know your budget. You can’t make any brunch decisions without knowing how much money you have to spend. Remember, it’s not just about the food. Will you have a theme, and are you going to decorate? Will you have any rentals? Are you going to have music? Will you use paper products or real dishes?
The budget question will come up over and over again. You’ll need to know how much you’re willing to spend and stick with it.
Where Will the Brunch Be Held?
Of course, you need to know where your picnic brunch will take place. Will it be in your backyard? At a park? At an outdoor venue? You already know it will be outdoors, but you will have to set up some kind of space.
Think about the food, the beverages, tables, chairs, tablecloths, blankets, dishes, napkins, silverware, serving items, and glasses. How will you transport all of these things? Do you need to set everything up on your own at home? Or do you want it catered at an outdoor venue?
The location of your picnic brunch is a major detail. It’s something you need to figure out before moving on with your picnic brunch checklist.
Who’s Invited?
The next thing to do is to create your guest list. You need to determine who you want at your brunch and how you’re going to invite them. Are you going to call everyone? Send out a text? Maybe create an evite? You can also go old school and send out a paper invitation through snail mail.
The type of picnic brunch you are having should determine how you invite your guests. For something small and informal, a phone call, text, or social media message will suffice. However, if you’re planning a formal outdoor brunch, an invitation would be more appropriate.
Of course, before you invite anyone you need to know the date and time your brunch will take place. The most common times for a brunch are on the weekend between 11 am and 2 pm.
The Menu
Now it’s time to think about the highlight of your picnic brunch – the menu. You can keep things very simple and make it from scratch. You can throw in some store-bought items. You can even cook on-site or have it catered.
Traditionally, a brunch menu is a combination of both breakfast and lunch, plus some juice, coffee, tea, and cocktails (or mocktails). No matter what kind of menu you choose to have, though, it should have several layers of food.
A basic brunch menu includes a finger food, a pastry, a heavier egg or breakfast dish, fruit, a salad choice, a finger-sized meat choice, sandwiches, bread, and beverages.
You have a TON of recipe options when it comes to planning your brunch menu. As always, you can customize your picnic brunch menu anyway you want. You can build on the basic menu, substitute items as needed, or offer multiple choices.
The one thing you have to think about, though, is where you’re going to cook the food. Also, how will you transport it to your brunch picnic? Also, when deciding what items to add to your picnic brunch menu, consider how much time you’ll need to prepare everything.
Menu Ideas
Egg dishes are a popular part of brunch, and we have a lot of favorites. When thinking about transporting food to your picnic brunch, we can’t think of a better egg dish than a quiche or a frittata.
This recipe for a Spinach-Bacon Frittata is absolutely delish, as is this Tomato-Pesto option. We also love these Italian Quiche Cups, Hash Brown Quiche, and Quiche Lorraine.
For something sweet, we love this French Toast Bread Pudding. Muffins are also great for brunch picnics. May we suggest Apple Oatmeal, Lemon Blueberry, and Banana Chocolate Chip. Waffles are also a great brunch idea, with a variety of toppings and syrups.
The Beverages
Archer Roose
It’s always a good idea to have coffee and juice available at a brunch. But you can’t forget about the champagne, wine, and cocktails! For a picnic brunch, we love the Archer Roose sustainable canned offerings from their Limited Edition Sampler Pack.
This sampler pack of wines in a can includes rosé, sauvignon blanc, malbec, and bubbly. We promise, wines don’t have to be bottled to be delicious.
Oola’s Takeaway
There is no need to stress out when planning your ultimate picnic brunch. There are an endless number of factors to consider, especially when the guest list is large. Just remember, take things one step at a time. Go through the checklist and ask yourself those questions before getting too overwhelmed. Happy planning!
