Planning an Employee Picnic in the Summer

Looking to plan an employee picnic in the summer? Despite its high temperatures, summer is an amazing time of year for company picnics and any other kind of celebration. It’s a beautiful time of year with great weather in many parts of the country, but in places like California or Texas, the temperatures can reach sweltering levels of 100+ degrees easily. Don’t let this scare you off from planning a summer picnic for your employees, though. Here at A Company Picnic, we plan events year-round, and we’re here to deliver you a few ideas on how to beat the heat and ensure a safe and fun picnic for your team.

Safety First!:

Here at A Company Picnic, we’re always very conscious of safety and responsibility, and we want to ensure everyone has a fun time while also looking out for their wellbeing. Heat stroke is an obvious danger any time you’re outdoors in summer, especially in hotter climates. After nearly 40 years of planning summer picnics, we’ve learned a few tricks to help guests stay cool and safe.

For any picnic, we provide a first aid station with trained personnel to look after our guests. This is especially important when outdoors in the heat. We also bring in trained staff to keep eyes on all picnic-goers, and if anyone is showing signs of overheating, our crew knows to pull them aside and give them some assistance.

An essential at any summer picnic is shade, and plenty of it. We bring in plenty of tents, even though we prefer to choose a location with ample natural shade. We also bring in misting tents, umbrella tables, cooling fans, and extra beverage stations so guests won’t get parched. It’s our priority to make sure your whole team has a fun and safe time at any picnic we plan.

girl eating an ice cream at an employee picnic in the summer

Refreshing Foods:

Sno-Cones
Fresh Watermelon
Lemonade
Branded Fresh Coconuts
Ice Cream Sundaes

Cooling Snacks:

For a summer company cookout, we’d recommend planning several cool food options in your menu. Our menus are always customizable, and we’re more than happy to add on or change up anything you’d like during the planning process. For summer, there’s nothing better than having fresh, chilled fruit salad, shaved ice, popsicles, or ice cream. Our novelty ice cream station is always a big hit, with some tasty ice cream sandwiches and other creations. If you want to get fancy, we can bring in some amazing vendors who make a mind-blowing nitrogen ice cream.

As mentioned earlier, refreshments are very important, especially so in warm weather. Besides ice water, we’d recommend cool iced tea, icy slushes, and plenty of lemonade. We always bring in generators for our coolers, to ensure everything stays chilled.

We also do everything we can to ensure the food and drinks stay the optimal temperature. Besides the generator-backed coolers, we can bring in electric refrigerators if need be. If a venue has plenty of shade, we may bring in loads of ice and keep refreshments in the shade or do a mix of both. It really depends on the menu and the sorts of options we’re serving, but we always ensure everything stays the perfect temperature, no matter what.

Getting Splashed at the Big Kahuna Dunk Game at QTC's Splash Zone Themed Corporate Cookout

The Best Summer Themes

Refreshing Games

For a summer company outing, we’d love to recommend our Splash Zone theme package. Even if you don’t go with this particular theme, we recommend choosing games with water features to help keep your guests cool. We love bringing water elements into field games as well, like a classic wet sponge relay, water tag, or a water balloon toss game.

There’s no shortage of options for fun, water-related entertainment. From reverse dunk tanks to a super soaker battle arena, there’s plenty to choose from. We can also bring in gigantic Slip-n-Slides, obstacle courses with water features, or even an Olympic pool for team building activities like cardboard boat building and racing. We’ll find a park with a lake for your boating activities, like William R. Mason Regional Park.

If you’re planning a seaside staff cookout, we can even bring in surf lessons for your team. To our picnic set up company, Los Angeles is the perfect location for surf lessons by the beach. However, Orange County is great, too. Especially in Surf City during Huntington State Beach events!

For a Luxury picnic package at a waterside venue (such as Bonelli Park events boast), we’ve also brought in paddleboards for team building games employees are sure to love. All-around, there’s plenty of amazing, cooling options for picnic entertainment. If you’re looking for a beach picnic company in Los Angeles to arrange all this and more, we’re here for you.

Wet Sponge Relay Field Game at Edwards' Luxury Luau Staff Cookout in Orange County

Cool Branded Handout Ideas

Cooler Bags
Sunglasses
Neck Coolers
Folding Fans
Beach Gear
Paddle Boards
Super Soakers

Picking the Perfect Location

We’ve worked with plenty of amazing venues over the years. For Dallas, there’s no better place than the Arboretum and Botanical Gardens; for Vegas, the Strip; for Southern California, Bonelli Park or Whittier Narrows are the prime picks. Will Rogers State Park events, with the beachfront park location, are also extremely popular. However, all of these venues are so perfect for events that they tend to book out quickly. If your date is already booked, our amazing event planners will help you find the next best location.

For example, at QTC’s splash zone family fun day, we chose the perfect location. To our event planners, Pasadena and its gorgeous Brookside Park were ideal for a summer picnic.

For a summer staff barbeque, we’d recommend finding a location with plenty of shade trees. Bonelli Park and Whittier Narrows both have ample shade and nice grassy lots. No matter where you are in the country, our picnic planners will help you find the perfect venue. We handle every aspect of booking and permissions and everything in between.

Indoor Venue Options

Of course, don’t feel that just because you’re planning a corporate picnic, that it has to be outdoors. We’ve worked in loads of amazing indoor venues for staff and family days over the years, and know plenty of great ones across the country. From the Malibu Community Center to the Carlisle Room in Texas, there is no shortage of great spots to choose from.

Company Excursion Ideas: Paddleboarding at Edwards Lifesciences' Luxury Company Picnic in Orange County, CA

If you’re worried that the heat may be unbearable, we’d be more than happy to arrange an indoor picnic. We’ve even booked venues with windows overlooking the ocean, so guests get the beauty of the outdoors with the benefits of the air conditioning. And, utilizing décor or themes, we can achieve the same feel of an outdoor department cookout without the heat.

Planning the Employee Picnic of Your Dreams

Planning an employee picnic in the summer may seem daunting, but we’re here to help. Whether you’re looking to host indoors or outdoors, our amazing picnic planners will coordinate everything you need. From permits to security to entertainment and catering, we’ll handle every detail for you. We provide setup and teardown for every picnic. After all, you’re a part of the team too. You deserve a break this summer! When you partner with us, we promise it’ll be the company picnic of your dreams.