This summer picnic article is sponsored by President’s Choice, all opinions remain my own.
Planning a summer picnic with friends the right way
It’s that time of the year again where you wanna spend more time outside than inside to enjoy all the benefits summertime can bring. Personally, I love organizing picnic with friends. It’s always such a fun time to plan from A to Z. Food always bring people together, right?
That’s why I decided to share this summer picnic adventure with you and give you my best tips and tricks.
All the food and beverage in this article have been bought at my local Provigo.

Planning phase of the perfect summer picnic
Even though it might look very easy to throw a summer picnic with friends, it requires quite a bit of preparation and planning. It requires as much planning, if not more, than inviting people over for dinner at your place.
Picking a good picnic location
Choosing the right location for your picnic is crucial to its success. Is there picnic tables on location? Will you be eating on the ground? Will you have access to shade or is it full on sun all day long? Is there any access to water? These are all questions you should ask yourself when planning your perfect summer picnic.
Personally, I chose this specific location for that picnic because of the view and the fact there is plenty of picnic tables. I wanted my friends to have a memorable experience.

Also, many outdoor locations throughout major cities prohibit consumption of alcohol. Check out your your city website to abide with the local laws. For Montreal, I found the information here.

Choosing the right food and beverages for your summer picnic
First of all, ask your friends if they have any allergies or intolerances before doing any research for your menu.
After you asked your friends if they have any allergies or intolerances, it’s time to plan what your guests will eat and drink. Finger food is always a good idea and since you’re gonna be in an outdoor setting, consider your guests might be standing, so a full meal you can only eat with a utensil is probably not a good idea.
You also want food that is going to be easy to prepare or assemble in an outdoor environnement. If you plan on making food that is a little bit harder to prepare in an outdoor environnement, prepare ahead of time at home and then assemble and serve on location.
If a grill is involved in your picnic, make sure you can use it at your picnic location. It’s good to have a second plan if you plan on using a grill, you never know what can happen: we arrived at our picnic location to find out our lighter didn’t work at all. Luckily, I had plenty of food that didn’t need any cooking that I could serve to my guests — we later relocated the picnic to one of the guests’ house to use the BBQ grill.


Our perfect summer picnic menu
I divided the menu in three: appetizers/snacks, main and dessert. I also added a beverage section to my menu planning.
Summer picnic appetizers
Nachos plate with axiany tomatoes, avocado on PC Lime & Habanero Chili Flavour Kettle Style Tortilla Chip


Crab canapé made with PC Chunk Crab Meat, mayo, sesame oil, sesame seeds, chive and a little bit of sriracha spice for a tiny kick.


Summer picnic main
PC Thick & Juicy Beef Burgers on PC Brioche Buns with old cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and PC Smoky Bonfire Double-Smoked Bacon. Optional but very good: PC Not-So-Secret Spread and Dip





PC Garlic & Herb Grilling Raw Butterflied Shrimp


Dessert for your summer picnic
What better way to end this fabulous picnic than with a scrumptious smores session on the grill? It’s easy and everyone loves it!

This one is a bit more tricky because it might be hard to keep it in its original shape throughout the picnic because of the heat, but these PC Superfruit Skyr Lactose-Free Icelandic-Style Yogurt Bars are so good.

Beverages
Always have a good selection of beverages that will please everyone. I opted for a few favourites of mine:
PC Watermelon Lemon Naturally Flavoured Sparkling Soda

PC Sicilian Lemon Italian Soda & PC Tangerine Italian Soda

PC Cold Brew Nitro Black Coffee
Don’t be shy to tell your guests to bring their own alcohol if they want some.
Entertainment
Keeping your guests entertained throughout the picnic is a must. Bring a Bluetooth speaker, games, a frisbee and whatever floats your boat to have fun.
On picnic day



On your summer picnic day, make sure you have everything settled a few hours before leaving your house. I personally use the checklist feature in Notes app on my iPhone so I can keep track of what I have and what’s missing.
Be ready to deal with the unexpected. Really anything can happen from a malfunctioning BBQ grill to a rainstorm, be ready and have a second plan handy.
Enjoy your perfect summer picnic with your friends!

This article is sponsored by President’s Choice, all opinions remain my own.
These are really lovely ideas to plan a perfect picnic in summer. Thanks for sharing.