An Afternoon Tea Party

Hello again friends!

Today is a flashback of my daughter Mary’s sweet sixteen birthday party.  Mary is now nineteen but her afternoon tea party that we hosted definitely is my favorite party I’ve been a part of.  Mary and I spent months going through ideas and recipes in hopes of creating an enjoyable afternoon tea for her and her friends.

First, please forgive me for the quality of photos as well as the lack of photos for this post.  Although I had good intentions to take many photos prior to and during the tea, I stayed so busy hosting and serving that I failed to get many pictures…and the ones I did take were taken on my phone.  I feel so guilty that I didn’t have someone else be responsible for photos.  **TIP—Ask others to take photos during special events and have at least one use a real camera and not a cell phone.

Here’s a group photo.  The girls enjoyed getting dressed up and wearing hats for the party.  I do not have a close up of the tables but you can see from a distance how we decorated them.  Instead of using matching china, we intentionally used a random selection of china patterns and glassware.  Each centerpiece was a two to three-tiered stack of glass trays that had a tea cup and saucer filled with flowers at the top.  On some of the tables, we turned the glass trays upside down for a different effect.

Oh the photo above, the tiers were turned upside down on this table.  I was able to zoom in on it below.

I used pink cloth napkins and arranged them to look like roses.  You can get instructions HERE.

I love to plan parties.  I love to decorate for parties.  I love to dress up for themed parties.  My favorite thing?  Eating at parties!!!  I wanted to share some of my favorite treats that we served at the tea.

Our food menu consisted of:

**Some of these menu items have links to their recipe

• Chicken salad sandwiches on croissants
• Turkey & cheese roll ups
• Pimento cheese sandwiches on white bread cut in triangles
• Cucumber sandwiches
• Individual quiche
• Maple nut scones
• Veggie shot glasses
• Spinach dip with pita chips
• Individual strawberry shortcakes in a glass
• Fruit tarts
• Stuffed cucumber cups
• Pirouettes dipped in chocolate
• Fresh fruit (strawberries and grapes)
• Meringues
• Cubed cheese
• Sweet tea
• Various flavored cold teas (fruit tea and peach tea)
• Hot water in a tea pot was placed at each table with various flavored tea bags
• Sugar cubes and honey
• Milk/cream
• Lemon and lime wedges

 

Our beverage table

 

Here’s a few of the decorations.

We hosted the party in our carport.  To provide privacy from the street, we hung sheer curtains from pvc pipes at the front.  The pergula had Lady Banks Roses growing up and over it which made it seem more enchanting.  A chalkboard sign greeted guests and a table beside it sat with a white ceramic tea pot that served as the guest book with a marker for each guest to sign for the birthday girl.

I had a metal candle chandelier that we stuck ivy, roses and hydrangeas in to make a floating centerpiece to the room.  A little bit of pink tulle was wrapped around the chain holding it.

We wrapped tulle around balloons and then took lace hot glued with silk flowers and attached them to the bottom.  We hung the balloons from clear fishing string that was fed through the tulle.  These actually hang in Mary’s bedroom for over a year after the party.

As a footnote….this was the first tea party I hosted but definitely hasn’t been the last.  The most recent was for the Royal Wedding of Harry & Megan.  We woke up early and had our own tea party.  Crowns were required attire.  I thought I’d throw in a little of that party, too….

Since this most recent tea party began at the crack of dawn, I went very low-key.  Mary made the sugar cookies and iced them the day before.  I bought mini cinnamon rolls and chocolate muffin tops.  The only homemade item was the scones.  You really need warm scones for an authentic brunch.  These were blueberry.  Yum….

The one tea party food item I discovered since that original tea party is Devonshire Cream.  I found a great imitation on a lovely blog called Smashed Peas and Carrots and you can get the recipe HERE.  This is a must-try recipe.  You don’t have to have scones…you can just make this stuff and eat it with a spoon.

The photo below is me and Mary during our royal wedding brunch.  I’m glad I have this girl around…she’s always willing to join me in my adventures.  I don’t remember Mary wanting to have tea parties when she was younger but she always had a great imagination.  As she’s gotten older, she and I find ourselves looking for ways to entertain and dress up.  And for the record, she let me borrow the crown.  She has a collection of them…

I always appreciate you stopping by to Mulch and Paint.  I hope you have a blessed day and remember to always enjoy each day.