Outdoor Entertaining Toolkit

As we finally begin to gather again, many of us will be venturing back to the joys of hosting! That’s why our team of entertaining experts put together this toolkit of ideas, tips and tricks to set you up for hosting success. Whether you’re looking to host a bonfire party out East for 30 of your closest friends or a stylish picnic at your building for 10, we hope this short list of resources will inspire you.

Everything here and more can be arranged with your LIVunLtd concierge, and you can send us your request for assistance to coordinate your event through the LIV app, our web portal, or by emailing or ca l ling us directly.

ONE STOP SHOP

If you’d rather leave everything to the professionals, take the hands-off approach with an all-inclusive vendor. These experiences can be set up at a park or beach, or you can take advantage of the amenity spaces in your apartment building.

Beach Bonfires

If you’re spending any time in the Hamptons this summer, then Heritage Aristocrat is the perfect option for you. With 12 of your loved ones, you can enjoy an all-inclusive beachside bonfire experience. They provide a full setup with gorgeous rattan lounge chairs, tiki torches around the fire, and clean-up without the fuss of permits. Drop-off dinners are also in their purview. You can also even call on them to host “backyard” pizza bars with pizza ovens or even add an eyecatching party cart – like a lobster and rosé cart or cocktail tricycle.

Instagram-worthy Luxury Picnic

Whether you’re having a romantic evening with your partner or hosting a birthday for 20, Picnic & Peonies will appoint a picnicker-in-chief to coordinate your occasion at any park in NYC. Outfitted with everything from rugs and pillows to twinkling lights and s’mores kits, it’ll feel out of a dream. We are also a big fan of Perfect Picnic, an NYC-based picnic caterer that specializes in family-style picnics. You can even host a helicopter beach picnic experience or a seafood picnic inspired by Citarella’s Joe Gurrera, complete with a bounty of caviar, king crab, littleneck clams, steamed lobster, local Peconic oysters, and every accouterment you could dream of. Use the code LIV20 for 20% of your Perfect Picnic order.

Rooftop Soiree

Party by Numbers is a new service by the team of Pinch Food Design and The Gathery that allows you to order everything you need for the perfect event with the click of a button. Simply select the guest count, the look, dining style, and date and they’ll deliver their signature cart full of the perfect amount of party supplies for events in multiples of 8. Food included! Party by Numbers is perfect if achieving a stylish aesthetic is high on your priority list. Book through your LIV concierge and they’ll add one free magnum of wine to your order.

PIECES TO THE PUZZLE

For a casual weeknight with your friends or a Sunday BBQ on your building’s roof deck, look to these experts to guide you in the right direction for a more hands-on approach.

Staging the Scene

Social Studies is a one-stop-shop for curated tablescapes delivered straight to your door. Select your party look and guest list and you’ll be greeted by a delightful box complete with full place settings (plates, flatware, barware), menus, personalized place cards, and tabletop decorations like runners, flowers, candles, and more. For summer we love these sets: Bali Mama, Hometown, Montauk Picnic, Shibori Picnic. Plus, their recent collaboration with Whispering Angel gives you the option to add on a magnum bottle of everyone’s seasonal favorite wine, rosé. Use the code LIV10 for 10% off every order.

Breaking the Ice

Games are always a party pleaser. Stock up on all of the crowd favorites like playing cards, a croquet set, this adorable Connect 4 Game, or this super cool Ping Pong set that includes colorful zig-zag dividers so you can turn any surface into a temporary table.

If you want to pull out all the stops for your guests, may we suggest an entertainer or two? Our concierge team will hire you a drag queen, fabulous celebrity impersonator, festive steel drum band, charming jazz quartet, or mysterious magician. Your wish is our command!

On the Table

Now onto what the guests care the most about: the food. Here are five ideas we love for summer.

MP New York – Nothing says summer nights quite like an Italian-themed dinner party. The Michelin Star restaurateur, Missy Robbins, developed the perfect way to bring her elite pasta dishes right to your door while maintaining the utmost freshness. Save yourself the hassle of trying to decide what to prepare for your party. Order your pasta kit online or pick it up at their location in Williamsburg.

Culinistas – These culinary gurus have a Rolodex of local, professional chefs. They develop recipes and menus for vibrant family-style meals and plentiful buffets as well as canapés and cocktail snacks like a build-your-own burrata bar. To make hosting seamless, they provide vetted chefs and staff who will take care of shopping, cooking, table service, and clean-up, so you can host carefree.

Alimentari Flaneur – Keeping his great-grandfather’s grocer tradition alive, Daniel Soares started Alimentari Flaneur as a six-week pop-up in Italy and has since found its permanent home in Essex Market. The Italian-leaning market has somehow made the dreadful pursuit of grocery shopping an almost ecstatic experience. For the home chef and fruit fanatic, this is your perfect grocery shop to curate the most delicate and intimate lunch meal for your next dinner party. Perhaps a fig and ricotta toast?

Dinner Party – Did someone say five-course picnic lunch box? Cami Jetta, the founder of Dinner Party, serves up delectable luncheons, made from all local ingredients, to-go for you and your loved ones to enjoy (starting at $16 per person)!

Quinn – Quinn is a new NYC delivery service operating from a Female-Founded shared kitchen space. All you need to do to get food on the table is select a simple, sophisticated recipe and they’ll deliver organic ingredients to your door in 30-minutes. Think whole roasted branzino, shrimp larb lettuce cups, and sweet and spicy chicken. For dessert serve their gorgeous, ready-to-eat Olive Cake.

Something to Toast With

Last but not least, the drinks. Need we say more?

Drnxmyth – For fresh craft cocktails delivered cold right to your door, turn to Drnxmyth. To ensure freshness, their passionate mixologists developed a specialized Twist-to-Mix bottle technology and with cold pressurization – no heating, no altered chemicals, and no synthetic ingredients.

Haus – If mixing drinks isn’t your specialty, consider this trendy apéritif. Third-generation wine-making couple, Helena and Woody created Haus with the mission to reinvent the apéritif with a modern spin. Starting with the ingredients themselves, they source herbs and fruit from trusted farmers who also supply Michelin-level restaurants. They have a handful of flavors to choose from that are good enough to either have on the rocks or with a twist. No decision making necessary – they even offer a sampler kit so your guests have options.

Torch + Crown – Torch + Crown “Manhattan’s Brewery” is a production brewery and restaurant located in SoHo. Use their online portal to get beer delivered to your door in under an hour. Plus they’re all local brews!

To get started on your summer gatherings, send us your request through the LIV app, our web portal, or by emailing or ca l ling us directly.

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