Lights, camera, action: How to host a movie night in your garden – in four easy steps

Check out our contribution in this Irish Times article for tips on hosting a cinema/movie night in your own garden: read full article.

On creating the right ambience:

Caroline Gardiner of events company The Party Professionals (partypros.ie) recommends going for a retro American ambience. “Keep it all fun and light,” she says. “If the garden lent itself to hanging decorations, you could put up hanging red, white and blue lanterns. Keep it American.”

“I would be putting festoon lights everywhere,” she continues. “They give that gorgeous atmosphere to any garden, be it a home cinema or not, creating a soft mood lighting. That’s the most important thing.”

“I’d definitely be putting down loads of different-coloured bean bags all over the grass. People want to lie back, eat popcorn and relax,” she adds.

On food-truck hire:

For an alfresco movie party, Gardiner suggests food-truck-style offerings but on a smaller scale: think mini burgers, mini hot dogs and mini fish and chips, served canape-style.

And of course no movie party worth its salt would be complete without cinema-worthy popcorn. Gardiner says people should “definitely consider hiring a popcorn machine”. You can expect to pay about €165 for one from a company such as funfoods.ie.

If you want any advice on hosting your own garden cinema party, feel free to contact us on 01 4370667 or email us on hello@partypros.ie.