Our Top Picnic Picks

When it comes to outdoor rugs and cushions, we love waterproof backed picnic rugs - it means you can go on all terrains, the grass won't stick and no soggy bottoms if they British weather decides to turn on us. A simple way to elevate your picnic style is to add some colourful cushions. Our go-to brand is Weaver Green for scatter cushions as they are made entirely from recycled plastic, making them waterproof, stain resistant and good for the environment. They can even be chucked in the washing machine! 

It's totally down to personal preference when it comes to choosing between a hamper, cool bag, wine carrier or a even a combination of them all. We reccomend thinking about how you picnic now, and how you might picnic in the future. Are you more of a wine and a few nibbles type, where a bottle carrier will be more than enough, or do you go the full hog and have a michelin-worthy feast? In which case a traditional hamper with all the kit will be more practical. Hampers are a great option to have everything in one place and ready to go and Willow Direct have great options to suit all styles, requirements and tastes. 

If you decide to add a hamper to your wedding list, then you may not need to get individual picnic plates, bowls and glasses as they will likely be included. However, if you want to build a bespoke basket from scratch, you might want to consider melamine and acrylic picnicware as a way to put a personal touch to your picnic. Melamine and Acrylic picnic wear is ideal for the outdoors as it's durable meaning you don't have to worry about chips or breakages. It's also much lighter than traditional glass or bone china! 

For serveware for picnics, we always recommend bringing a wooden chopping board, large serving bowls for salads and also little nibble bowls to decant snacks like olives and nuts. Not only do they keep food fresh, but they look pretty too!

Don't forget the essentials!! (In our case, a corkscrew). 

If it's allowed in your local park or wherever you take your picnic, bringing a small barbecue can really take your picnic to the next level. 

We hosted a picnic with some of our favourite caterers Doggart and Squash at Coolhurst Vineyards in Sussex last year. Inspired by the spread, here are some of our favourites. 

For drinks we enjoyed an 'English Garden' mocktail which consisted of elderflower, apple, mint and lime. As the day progressed we moved to a delicious fresh strawberry infused gin cocktail. To accompany this we had fresh British strawberries, homemade pork pies, scotch eggs and to finish a triple-layer Victorian cake with peaches, cream and maple syrup.