How to Host a Refreshing Summer Fruit Party

Why We Are Having a Party About Fruit: to Sample Delicious Smoothies!

You may wonder, why have a party about fruit? Is a food group really that exciting? Here’s why: summertime is the ultimate season for delicious ripe fruit of all kinds, and it’s the perfect opportunity to blend fresh fruit smoothies! This is especially fun because there are a lot of what are considered ‘exotic’ fruits from other regions of the world that many people haven’t tried. Sharing and sampling fruit smoothies is a great way to introduce these flavors in an easily consumable way and to enjoy drinks (or, arguably, drinkable foods) that are both tasty and healthy. And if you want, depending on you and your friends’ preferences, you can make it a blended fruity cocktail occasion as well! So let’s embrace smoothie season and plan a fun and playful fruit party.

A yellow smoothie and a light green smoothie with matching fruit slices sticking out of the top — Photos by An Nguyen and Rajesh Kavasseri

A yellow smoothie next to a bowl of papaya slices — Photos by An Nguyen and Rajesh Kavasseri

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How to Throw a Fruit Party

1. Create the Scene with Fruit Party Decorations

A clear sundae glass holds a purple blueberry smoothie loaded with blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and bing cherries on top - a delicious fruit party treat — Photo by Suzy Hazelwood

There are lots of options for fruit-themed decorations! It isn’t hard to find fruit decorations – especially in the summer. Fruit décor styles come in all flavours – cute, gaudy, hilarious, or sophisticated, to name a few. Everyone’s party will look different and that’s the beauty of hosting. You can find inexpensive party supplies or, with a little time and motivation, you can DIY your decorations. Whether you go all out or just put up a few decorative touches here and there, small efforts done that are well thought out will go a long way!

Here are some summery fruit-inspired decorations that would perfectly complement your fruit party:

Fruit banner
Bright summer colours garland
Citrus paper fans
Colourful paper circle hanging garland backdrop
Hanging honeycomb strawberries (set of 4)
Tutti Frutti confetti or this Tutti Frutti confetti
Strawberry confetti
Plastic fruit cups (hold 9 ounces)
Plastic fruit cups (hold 12 ounces)
Plastic fruit cups with lids and matching paper straws (hold 16 ounces)

2. Secure Decent Blender and Plan Smoothie Menu

Two blenders contain smoothies, one a darker pink and the other a lighter strawberry pink. You have twice the capacity (and real-time options) at a fruit party with multiple blenders — Photo by Pille R. Priske

First things first: for this party, you need a large and competent blender to batch-make smoothies that you and your friends can all try at the same time. If you don’t have one, you could alternatively use a smaller blender (such as a nutribullet) and serve tiny smoothie samples to everyone (just be prepared to spend more time making additional smoothies).

You can find blenders at most home goods or department stores. The cheapest blenders perform the worst (speaking from experience) so if you love smoothies, or any blended food product for that matter, invest in a decent one. But if you don’t have the budget or literally only want a blender for the occasional party, you can get away with buying a cheap one. Just try to stick to softer fruits and don’t give it anything too ambitious to blend like nuts or other hard smoothie additives.

Smoothie distribution strategy:

Realistically, nobody has the stomach capacity to down six full-sized smoothies in a short period of time (talk about a brain freeze) so you have a couple of feasible options here. You can plan to make several kinds of smoothies that you make one at a time and share sample-sized amounts with each guest. This allows everyone to try the same smoothie at the same time, like you would with wine samples at a wine tasting. Another route you can take is to make each guest a custom full-sized smoothie of their choice, one at a time, and serve each person as you make their smoothie. And then they can always have another after you’ve at least served everybody their first smoothie.

For smoothie-sampling solidarity, the first option seems more fun, but the second option may be more practical if each guest wants their own custom smoothie or is less adventurous when it comes to trying new flavour combinations. It doesn’t matter how you go about this; just do what makes most sense for you and your guests and plan accordingly!

Here are plenty of delicious smoothie recipes to try:

Tropical smoothie or this tropical smoothie
Mixed berry smoothie
Orange banana smoothie
Strawberry banana smoothie
Blueberry smoothie
Strawberry smoothie
Banana smoothie
Green smoothie
Citrus cream smoothie
Raspberry vanilla smoothie
Sunrise smoothie (with strawberries and more)
Immunity smoothie (with blueberries and more)
Brain power smoothie (with blueberries and more)

3. Set the Ambience with Playful Summertime Music

Top down photo of three smoothies topped with a plethora of fruit like strawberries, mandarin slices, blueberries, and more — Photos by Brooke Lark and Brenda Godinez

A fruit party is the perfect opportunity to load smoothies with delicious ingredients and embellish them with large fruit chunks as seen in this photo of three clear glass smoothie cups with a sliced banana in one, apple slices on top of another, and starfruit in another — Photos by Brooke Lark and Brenda Godinez

Background music is key for a party’s vibe. Something fun and tropical would be perfect for a fruit party. Jam to calypso or rock steady while whipping up your smoothies. Or maybe reggaeton or even Jimmy Buffet (you may need to add tequila to make fruit-blended margaritas if you play Buffet). Any genre that you and your friends love is all you need to set a fun party mood, though!

4. Add Fruity Aromas with Scented Candles and Play a Fruit Party Game

No, of course it isn’t enough just to taste all of the delicious fruits you blend in the array of fruit smoothies at this fruit smoothie soiree. Why not take it an extra step and burn a delicious fruit-scented candle to truly immerse your guests in your fruit party! Try any of these to fill your space with a delightful aroma:

And while your guests are sipping on their smoothies or waiting for their next, share this printable fruit trivia for a fun fruit party game!

Checklist of Items You Need

A long section of paper towel is laid across the floor with an array of freshly washed produced spaced out overtop of it to dry, including greens, cherries, avocados, and other vegetables

These are the things you need for your fruit smoothie party:

Competent blender
Lots of produce (enough for the smoothie recipes you will make, and for your guest count)
Any other smoothie ingredients like nuts, juices, alcohol, etc.
Music/speakers
Fruit decorations
Fruit party game
Fruit-scented candle

Preparation Checklist for Your Fruit Party

Top-down photo of two pink smoothies with mint sprigs and straws coming out with blackberries floating on top — Photo by Pixabay

1. First, confirm that people can come on any chosen date:

Choose party date/time, and preferably alternative date(s) as well. June is a great time as it’s when the summer days are longest and most fruits are in season!
Choose guest list and establish minimum number of guests you’d like (to make it worth your effort)
Six weeks out, confirm guests’ interest in the party and availability on chosen party date(s)
If your preferred minimum number of guests confirm interest and availability, have them secure calendar date for your fun fruit smoothie party!

2. Then, proceed with the fun planning:

Schedule time on your calendar for each step of party prep as listed below (securing and/or prepping produce, etc.)
Create invitations with all the details and send them out 4 weeks before the party
Order any party supplies and decorations 3 weeks out (so they arrive in time to prepare and set up)
Shop for any party supplies/decorations you don’t order online, as well as non-perishable smoothie ingredients you may want to add like nuts, frozen fruit, rum, etc.
In your planned time slots, DIY any party decorations
In your planned time slots, shop for all of the produce and juices you will use in your smoothie recipes early enough in advance to prepare in time
In your planned time slots, set up decorations
In your planned time slots, prepare produce (depending on how long things keep): wash, trim, and chop everything into blender-friendly-sized chunks and store in refrigerator (or freezer)

Top down photo of a strawberry smoothie topped with chia seeds and a strawberry slice - sure to be a classic favourite among guests at your fruit party — Photo by Joanna Kosinska

3. Day of Party (in your amply planned time slot):

Chop up any fruits or other ingredients that are too fresh to do any earlier (i.e. avocado)
Set up any quick/easy last-minute supplies and decorations (if not up already)
Prepare ambience (music, candles)
Get dressed in a summery, fruit-inspired outfit – maybe a yellow dress or shirt with green shorts, etc.
Once everything’s ready, do any preferred self-care to get in a good head space if you aren’t already. You want to be a relaxed, energized, and happy host!

Close-up photo of a creamy strawberry smoothie in a square-shaped clear 8-ounce glass — Photo by Tara Evans

Whether you jump on this fruit smoothie party idea because you love preparing and sampling various healthy combinations that will give you and your friends excellent (and delicious) vitality, or whether you are eager to enjoy healthier and heartier versions of blended fruit cocktails, all that matters is that you and your friends love smoothies and have fun with experimenting! With delicious fruits and well-planned effort, you can’t go wrong. Enjoy a delicious fruit party!