One of the chicest ways to celebrate summer is with a picnic at the beach, the park, or your own fabulous backyard.

Picnic-ready gingham checks, fruit and veggie inspired accessories, and garden floral prints are trending this season on everything from sleek dresses to casual matching cotton sets available at South Coast Plaza. Luxe picnic baskets and ice buckets are here, too. Even summer’s favorite aperitivos are ready to wear on Loro Piana’s silk T-shirt and shorts set.

For help with planning, bespoke picnic businesses abound in Orange County. 

“What I love most about food, and what a picnic encourages, is conversation around a table, around a blanket,” said Samantha Savage Breit, owner of specialty gourmet gift basket service The Salt Horse in Laguna Beach, whose favorite picnic provisions include Sorella Collective cheeses, Bread Artisan Bakery baguettes, Farmshop cookies and Weiser Family Farms watermelons. Orange County’s Moulin also offers “party- à-go-go” packages with salads, sandwiches, charcuterie boards and tartes with a French touch.

Dolce Collective can create custom set-ups with lace tents, rattan poufs, white fringe umbrellas, chandeliers and more starting at $350, and also take care of food. “Charcuterie boards are easy because they are great for photos and everyone can graze. We like to do Poppi or Spindrift drinks and lots of flowers,” said Tara Torcaso, who started the business with her sister during the pandemic, with locations in Newport Beach and now Cape Cod, Massachusetts. “We also do cabana setups bringing the popularity of European beach clubs here, with chairs, towels and a picnic,” she said, adding that they even designed a picnic after a Chanel spring 2019 indoor beach runway show. “You can dress cute and not have to worry about a thing.”

Ferragamo