From growing up in an entertaining household to becoming a seasoned hostess herself, Lauren Petit has a plan—and playlist—for every occasion.
Mar 2022
Even while living in a city condo in Chicago, Lauren Petit and her husband, Bud, were always the go-to couple for hosting and events. “I've always been an entertainer,” she says. “When I lived in Chicago a lot of my friends didn't have family there, so I was always the one hosting.” But her entertaining roots run much deeper. “I was raised on it because of my mom,” she says.
“My mom's always been a big entertainer and hostess making everything from scratch. Keeping it simple but making everybody feel welcome.” Now back in southwest Missouri, Lauren, Bud and their two children, Olivia and James, regularly welcome friends and family out to their spacious farm compound.
From Halloween Boo Brunches to spring crawfish boils, Petit is an expert in turning possibility into perfection. For this classic Americana summer barbecue, friends gathered for a laid back, shoes off, come-as-you-are summer soirée.
When it comes to entertaining advice, Petit encourages everyone to keep one thing in mind: “Before you even begin to plan your menu or make your list of things that you need for the day, I just want to remind everybody that anytime you have an event, it's not a time to impress. It's just a time to make people feel welcome in your home and just get those people together that you love.” With that in mind, Petit does encourage would-be entertainers to have as many of the details ironed out ahead as possible to ensure maximum enjoyability.
“Of course, you have to be prepared,” says Petit. “You need to have your full menu and your drinks, whether you want to outsource anything, if you want to do a playlist or if you want to have just like a little string band come—lay out all of those details ahead of time.”
For this party, those details included a specialty cocktail truck, a Kudo grill and a petting zoo and horseback rides for the kids—and let’s face it, adults too.
