Fun Ideas for Hosting a Brunch Party – Inspiration & Recipes

Want to host a brunch party and need some inspiration? Find brunch party ideas and brunch food ideas below. Hosting brunch can be easy and effortless, and a whole lot of fun. Have a breakfast party any weekend, or make it a special brunch birthday party.

This post is sponsored by Snapfish. 

What better way to enjoy the weekend than with friends over good food and a cup of coffee to catch up on the craziness (or lack thereof) from the week before? Brunch parties are a whole lot of fun as you can get together during the day, and then afterwards you still have the whole afternoon and evening ahead of you.

So how do you host a brunch party? I know hosting a brunch party (or any party for that matter) can be daunting at first thought with all the planning, but hopefully I’ll provide some inspiration and ideas today to make it a smooth and easy event for you. The following is a list of brunch food ideas and brunch party ideas I’ve picked up from my own experience hosting brunches.

1. Take your time to come up with a menu for your brunch party

Brunch parties are relaxed affairs and you can certainly throw together a menu at the last minute. However, if you have the luxury, it helps to be meticulous about planning a brunch party menu. There’s a lot of time management involved if you have many mouths to feed and of course you want to eat with your guests.

Personally, I always start planning my menu for a brunch party about a week ahead. That way I know I have enough time to get all the ingredients and knick knacks (skewers, garnishes, fresh cut flowers for the table). A well-thought out menu will make all the difference when it comes to seamlessly serving your dishes and drinks.

Here’s a sample menu (and some brunch food ideas for you) I created for a pop up brunch party I hosted in the past. As you can see, it includes a variety of food types including:

• a carb dish (berry white chocolate muffins),
• a dish with greens (dino kale salad with lardons and lemon vinaigrette),
• a substantive meat/egg dish (dippy eggs with grilled cheese soldiers),
• a sweet dish (waffles with fresh whipped cream and berries), and
• a fruity dish (yogurt parfait with spiced berry compote).

If you want to have a more elaborate main dish, then make sure you have some easy starters to snack on while you’re putting the finishing touches on the main. Or maybe you want to maximize your socializing time, in which case… see number 5 below for breakfast casserole ideas.

2. If you’re hosting brunch, don’t forget to set up a coffee station

I’m not sure you could actually have a brunch let alone host a brunch party without coffee. It is obviously a MUST, but to make fun and to everyone’s preference, just set up a coffee station that allows each guest to make their coffee to their liking – milk, alternative milks, sugar, creamers.

And if you’re real coffee nuts, set up a couple of different brew methods such as having a bottle of cold brew and a pour-over coffee on display.

I confess I do enjoy wowing guests with an artisanal pour-over coffee like they’re used to seeing in coffee shops. (Learn how to brew coffee using the pour-over method in this detailed post.)

Although a coffee station can be self-explanatory, a placemat like this is a fun way to designate a coffee station (or maybe that hungover friend really could use the signage!).

Additionally, the benefit of a coffee station is it keeps guests occupied with something they’re familiar with while you’re busy socializing or finishing off the brunch meal. As a general rule, the earlier you host your breakfast party, the more coffee you’ll need (duh).

I made this coffee placemat with Snapfish. It’s a budget-friendly table décor that makes your coffee station look like a million dollars!

3. Give your brunch a party feel with some mocktails

People need coffee, but people love mocktails. There’s just something fun about the word and vibes associated with it, like this Good Morning Sunburst mocktail or this Blackberry Ginger mocktail. Who can turn down something that sounds so fun?

4. Don’t neglect your drinks presentation. A brunch party idea: Coasters

Just as plating food makes all the difference for whether something looks appetizing, this brunch party idea will make your table setting a little more lux. Like having saucers for coffee cups, incorporate brunch coasters as part of your juice or mocktail presentation.

These coasters are easily made with Snapfish and the personalisation aspect is unique, making them a wonderful keepsake. Be the good host and send your guest home with one or two or three of them. It’s a fun and meaningful gift that reflects the time you spent together that morning.

If you are hosting a brunch birthday party, these coasters make great treat bags for the guests. You can use any fun brunch sayings that you like, but a few to get you started:

• Brunch Power
• Brunch Squad
• Egg-celle-nt
• Bloom Baby Bloom
• Where have you bean?

5. Include at least one casserole on the menu for your brunch party

I’m not going to lie, but the majority of my brunch parties always involve a casserole of some sort because they are easy. They’re the perfect dish to serve because they offer large portions that are ready to be served at the same time.

Looking for a savory brunch food idea? Try Bacon Breakfast Casserole or English Breakfast Baked Omelette.

Looking for a sweet brunch food idea? Try Pumpkin Breakfast Casserole or Apple French Toast Casserole.

6. Actually, any make ahead recipes are your friend when planning a menu and looking for brunch food ideas

If casseroles aren’t your thing, then that’s OKAY! There are tons of other make ahead recipes that allow you to do most of the preparation before your guests arrive.

For a brunch food idea that guests can snack on, you could try these Oatmeal Energy Balls. For a sit-down brunch party, I’ve found that this Overnight Chia Seed with Yogurt is a popular one.

But the real winner for the brunch food idea that’s also a make ahead recipe is hands down this Healthy Peach Crisp with Granola that can be served warm if baked the day of, or cold if baked the day before.

7. Set out finger foods and brunch canapes so you have time to finish up your main dish

When guests have food and a drink in their hands, you don’t need to worry about them, so make sure you include at least one “brunch appetizer” on your brunch party menu, just in case that casserole needs a bit longer cooking time than anticipated.

A fun brunch-themed canape are these Mini Pancake Skewers, which will be as much a talking point for guests as it is a food. These can be made and assembled ahead of time, and served with little cups of maple syrup for dipping.

8. Try new takes on traditional fresh juices to liven up a breakfast party

Orange juice is always a safe classic to have for a breakfast party, but why not mix it up with a Carrot Orange Ginger juice instead. You’ll still have the orange juice, but you can give your guests a little health and flavor kick to wake them up.

Yes, you can easily buy juices at the store. But if you have a juicer, fresh juice is a real treat to serve at a breakfast party.

If you’re already washing carrots for a Carrot Orange Ginger, wash a few more and also prepare a Black Pepper Mango Juice. With many of these juices, all you need to do before serving to your guests is to give it a good stir.

9. Make a brunch birthday party a thing!

There are so many fun brunch twists on traditional birthday recipes. Think Funfetti waffles or a Strawberries and Cream Crepe cake – how fun is that?

10. Don’t forget the kids at the brunch party

It’d be great if we could just miniaturize everything for kids. But since we can’t, bake mini toddler muffins, which can be made days ahead of time anyway. The kids will feel special having something their size, and happy kids mean happy parents, which means happy brunch.

If you want to keep kids entertained and get them cooking at a brunch party, give them the important job of topping this Red, White, and Blue Breakfast Puff Pastry Tart with all the berries!

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This post is sponsored by Snapfish. If you would like to make the coffee station placemat or the set of brunch coasters, you can use FOODIE40 for 40% off sitewide.