ats or bonnets at a garden party, and should dress
otherwise appropriately. If a plain, informal affair, the dress should
be simple and becoming, and if games like lawn tennis or archery are
among the amusements, light flannel dresses are suitable. But if
invited to a ceremonious lawn party, where style will prevail,
handsome though simple toilets are required. Picturesque costumes may
be made very effective on the grass and under the trees, and ladies of
taste have a fine field for displaying it upon such occasions.

Many very fashionable people conduct the garden party in the style of
an afternoon tea, receiving and entertaining their guests in the open
air until ready to serve refreshments, when all are invited to the
dining-room to partake of them. This mode is very convenient and quite
pleasant, though it divests the occasion of much of the novelty and
charm belonging to it.

When the refreshments are to be served in the garden or lawn, of
course the dishes must all be cold, and may consist of salads,
_pates_, pressed meats, Charlottes, jellies, ices, cakes, lemonade and
iced tea. A cup of hot tea should always be in readiness in the
kitchen for those ladies desiring it.

[Illustration: A LAWN PARTY.]

Servants should be well trained when in attendance to prevent
confusion. Dishes, knives, forks and spoons should be removed when
used, and put in baskets or trays in readiness for them, and a fresh
supply brought to replace them.

Tables and Refreshments.

Numbers of small tables, with pretty, fancy covers, and colored
napkins, should be set around under trees, near fountains and other
suitable places, with camp-stools for the accommodation of guests when
partaking of refreshments.

Servants should to be very careful in going from place to place with
dishes to be served never to spill or drop the contents on ladies'
dresses.

Gentlemen may help the ladies, if they prefer, and wait on themselves,
requiring the servants only to remove the dishes and replenish the
pitchers with lemonade, milk or water.

Fruits, pineapples, strawberries, raspberries, peaches and grapes are
served at garden parties, and should be of the finest quality.

Ices are a very acceptable addition to an outdoor entertainment, being
light and refreshing for warm weather; they are served in fancy paper
cups, laid on ice plates.

For ladies desiring to give garden parties, the following bill of fare
will be found sufficient:

Cold