Ever since the world began, spring and summer have been the times for romantic event. And when love's occasions are celebrated under the open skies of May and June, they make the heart beat still faster. Love's big moments - weddings, engagement parties, bridal showers, and anniversary celebrations, not to mention a couple's first dinner together - are all the more memorable if held in a garden. And life's small moments, be they Sunday brunches for the neighborhood or intimate candlelit suppers, can take on romantic airs in an alfresco setting. Happily, today's garden designs and accessories can provide the perfect backdrop for romantic outdoor entertaining.
It's always good to begin with nature. Such unabashedly sentimental flowers as fragrant antique roses and old-fashioned favorites like bleeding heart, baby's breath, love-in-a-mist, violets, mock orange, gardenias, camellias, or wildflowers make natural backdrops for a variety of events. Rambler roses, clematis, sweet peas, and morning glories climbing overhead arbors provide both shade and scent. Hedges, trellises, and latticework enclosing apartment balconies and tiny town house patios make perfect hideaways.
Outdoor furniture in a wide range of romantic designs, from intricate Victorian wrought-iron settees or French baker's racks to weatherproof white wicker loveseats, provides a sense of ease and grace. Low-voltage outdoor lighting improves the mood for dining under the stars, and waterproof stereos add an audio dimension. And classic statuary, antique sundials, wall plaques, lavabos, and terra cotta or porcelain planters brimming with ferns can provide lush grace notes for even small townhouse patios and sunless apartment terraces.
It takes nerves of steel to plan a big garden party and accept the possibility that rain may spoil it. For large events, a tent is mandatory if the house can't accommodate the festivities at the last minute. Rain at a garden wedding without a tent is a disaster that the poor bride and groom will be forced to recall at every family reunion for the next ten years.
There are romantic solutions to weather problems. A shady old-fashioned porch with petunias and geraniums spilling out of window boxes and pots on the railings would be ideal for a bridal shower or anniversary tea. A bridal couple might make their vows in a lacy white gazebo screened off from the rain. Cut flowers and plants can be brought indoors and massed in a garden room with walls or roofs of glass that seems to merge with the outdoors. Sheltering loggias or brightly striped awnings can provide covered space for the food and musicians.
Focal Points
A garden party of any kind benefits from having a focal point, something that will frame the ceremony. A gazebo, for example, can be a natural. If you don't already have a gazebo in your garden, you might consider installing one for the big event. It will be a charming, romantic addition to a garden, a structure that everyone will enjoy long after the celebration. Most gazebos now come precut in kit form and can be assembled quickly; catalogs are often advertised in garden magazines.
A wooden arbor or trellis, available for about a hundred dollars at garden centers or building supply stores, is a less expensive solution.
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