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London's Fastest Alcohol Gift Delivery — Same Day in 30–45 Minutes
A garden party lives or dies on its drinks table. Get it right and people settle in for the afternoon; get it wrong and you spend the day apologising for warm wine and a queue at the ice bucket. The good news is that planning garden party drinks is less about spending more and more about choosing things that behave well outdoors, in sunshine, over several hours.
Here's how we'd build the list.
An arrival drink does a lot of work. It gives people something to hold while they find their feet, and it sets the tone before anyone has decided what they actually want. Sparkling wine is ideal here because it is served properly cold and looks like an occasion without requiring any effort from you.
Champagne is the obvious choice for a milestone, but prosecco does the same job at a friendlier price when you are pouring for twenty people. Either way, keep bottles in ice rather than out on a table. Sparkling wine warms up faster than still wine and loses its appeal quickly once it does.
Through the afternoon, most people gravitate to something light and cold. Crisp whites such as Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and unoaked Chardonnay all work well in the heat, as does dry rose, which has the useful quality of appealing to both white and red drinkers.
Red wine is worth having, but keep it to a bottle or two of something lighter rather than a heavy, high-alcohol style. If you do serve red on a hot day, twenty minutes in the fridge before pouring makes an enormous difference. Browse the full wine range if you want to build a mixed selection.
Beer is the drink people return to across a long, warm afternoon, and it is the one most often underestimated. Lagers such as Peroni, Corona, Stella Artois and Heineken suit garden drinking better than heavier ales, and cider is worth including for anyone who wants something cold and less bitter.
The practical point is chilling. Beer needs to be genuinely cold, not merely cool, and a fridge full of bottles takes a couple of hours to get there. If you are running short on time or space, a bucket of ice and water chills faster than ice alone. Stock up from the beer collection.
Cocktails are a lovely idea and a terrible plan if you are making them to order. The fix is to batch one drink in a jug or dispenser and let people help themselves. A gin-based cooler with cucumber and mint, a spritz built on prosecco and soda, or a simple rum punch all scale well and can be made an hour ahead.
Keep the recipe simple enough that someone can top it up without asking you, and leave a bowl of garnishes alongside so guests can customise. Everything you need is in the spirits range.
Something more thoughtful than warm lemonade matters more than most hosts expect. Designated drivers, guests who are not drinking, and anyone pacing themselves in the heat will all thank you. Good sparkling water, a decent soft drink, and one non-alcoholic version of your batched cocktail is enough. Serve it from the same table as everything else rather than tucking it away.
Three things catch people out at garden parties. The first is ice: you will need far more than you think, both for chilling bottles and for serving. The second is glassware, particularly if you are moving between sparkling, white and cocktails. The third is simply running out, which tends to happen around the point the party is going best.
That last one is easy to solve in London. We deliver across the capital in 30 to 45 minutes, 24 hours a day, so a mid-afternoon top-up is a ten-minute job rather than a trip to the shop. Check our delivery areas to confirm we cover your postcode.
If you want a starting point, this covers most gatherings of around twenty people: two bottles of sparkling for arrivals, four bottles of chilled white, three of rose, two of light red, two cases of mixed beer and cider, one batched cocktail serving around fifteen, and a generous non-alcoholic selection. Adjust to your crowd, and always round up on beer and ice.
Ready to order? Browse the full range and we'll have it with you in 30 to 45 minutes anywhere in London, at any hour.
Please drink responsibly. Drinks House 247 operates a Challenge 21 policy - you must be 18 or over to order, and our drivers will ask for photo ID if you look under 21.
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Ice baths beat coolers, salt beats ice alone, and pre-chilling beats everything. A practical guide to keeping beer, wine and spirits properly cold from the first burger to the last round.
