7 Key Things to Check the Day Before a Barbecue

As we move full throttle into summer all focus shifts onto entertainment for many of us. Whether it’s for our businesses, a community sports club or just some family and friends coming around for a gathering, the barbecue is the perfect way to entertain.

Organising such an event can be fraught with difficulty though and there’s plenty that can go wrong. To help you out in such a scenario we’ve produced a short guide with 7 top things you should check the day before a barbecue.

Check the Weather Forecast – Let’s face it, in this country you never know when and how it’s going to rain. With all our best intentions, and those of the BBC Weather Forecast, there are occasionally mistakes but you should get a good idea 24 hours in advance. If all goes horribly wrong at least you’ve still got time to work out a contingency. If it’s good news well now you can start really gearing up the excitement.

Check the guest list attendees – Hopefully you should be able to trust that everyone who said they could make it will be coming. The problem is, we all know that doesn’t always happen. At least if you drop some courtesy messages a day before you’ll have a good idea who will be there, save for any emergencies. It may help prevent some unnecessary spending.

Chair Count – There’s nothing worse than getting to the day of the barbecue and finding out your short of space to sit. Much will depend on the size of the group and what you expect the atmosphere to be like but if necessary make sure you’ve got something in place to keep everyone comfortable.

Heaters – If the party is going to go on long into the night it may be worth checking to see if you need some outdoor heating to preserve an atmosphere. These little touches are what makes the event go so smoothly and live long in the memory.

Set-Up for Litter and Smokers – Nobody wants to have to spend the day after the barbecue cleaning up for hours on end, especially if you wake up like a bear with a sore head from having too much fun. Make sure you leave enough bins around to make it easier for people to dispose of rubbish and if necessary cordon off an area outdoors for smokers, making sure they know where to extinguish their cigarettes. A bit of carefully planned signage could go a long way.

Prepare a summer play list – Top quality music will help maintain a fun atmosphere during the night so make sure that the playlist is long and upbeat. To turn the excitement up a notch as the night draws in make sure you’ve got some dancing favourites like The Macarena. Check out one of our other blogs for some more great summer playlist suggestions. To engage your guests maybe ask them to email requests in the build-up.

Ample storage – At some point the day before or the day itself you’ll be stocking up on food and drink. To this end the day before you should probably spend some time reviewing the storage situation. Have you got ample space for food and drink? If you haven’t got enough fridge space could cool boxes or bins filled with cold water and ice accommodate some of the drinks?

So, we hope this list covers it all. Have we missed anything or could you make some other suggestions for what you might need to check the day before?