Get your garden camera ready!

The garden is a natural setting for celebrations with friends and family during the summer. In fact, a recent survey about Important Places in the Home from Worldstores.co.uk, the store that has everything for the home,  has found that 9 out of 10 people have attended or hosted a special occasion in the garden. The garden also came out on top as the favourite place in the house when people were growing up, but the most intriguing finding was that 47% of people put down the garden as the place in the home they took the most family photos.

As such, it makes sense to invest some time into making your outdoor space look its best, after all it will be immortalised in all of the photographs you take of your special summer occasion.

How to create a photogenic garden

Jen Stanbrook, award-winning blogger at Love Chic Living, shares her tips on creating a photogenic garden that will look great in photos for years to come: “Creating a garden that works for entertaining isn’t always the same as creating a garden that works in photos. If you want to capture some special occasions in the garden, you may want to consider how to do this in advance:

• Photos come to life with colour so position a seated area in front of a colourful wall or fence and capture some special moments as your friends chat to each other.
• Hide away all of the practical bits like washing lines, lawn mowers and watering cans. You don’t want those in your photos.
• Do the prep. Mowing the lawn, clearing dead leaves and weeding will give your garden an instant makeover and ensure its readiness for the photos. You won’t want to look back on overly long grass and straggly plants in years to come.
• Set up a fun photo area and create a backdrop with cute accessories and potted plants.
• Ensure you have enough seating for guests, including benches, chairs, and deckchairs plus garden beanbags or picnic rugs to incorporate different levels into your photos.
• Position seats in different parts of the garden to help capture all of your space.
• Rattan furniture is brilliant for hosting special occasions; its elegant look means the furniture works well both indoors and outside (perfect for our unpredictable British summers!) and the material is durable and low maintenance. Whether you’re hosting an informal party or a major celebration, these three rattan furniture sets will instantly style up your important garden gatherings.
• If there are small children in attendance, create a play area for the children and give parents and adults somewhere close to sit and watch. Bubbles are great for keeping kids entertained and look fun in photos.
• Make sure there’s enough shade for hot and sunny days. Invest in a parasol or two and move them accordingly throughout the event to avoid camera glare.
• Small details can make a big difference. Decorate the garden with bunting, paper garlands and pom-poms.
• The sun going down doesn’t mark the end of the party; use solar lights or candles in the evening time for softer images.”