How to Host An Old Fashioned Tea Party

There are few events in life that are as unique, exciting, and proper as a tea party. As a little girl I pretended to have tea parties with my miniature tea cups and a tea pot full of water. For some reason the fascination with tea parties never really died for me. I think my sister can say the same because she is the one who came up with the brilliant idea of hosting our own tea party in honor of our mother and grandmothers for Mother's Day. What I love about this idea is that it provides an opportunity for an experience with the honored mothers rather than just giving them a gift. We knew the experience would be heightened if we tried to make the party as close to authentic as possible. This is the list that we used in order to include everything that we wanted in our tea party:

Tea Party 'To Do' List

-Invitations

-Centerpiece
 -Place Settings

-Tea

-Finger Foods

We started with invitations. We wanted the invitations to be dainty and formal so we found a template on our Microsoft Word program and went from there.

We found that using formal wording helped the invitation look official and fancy. We used the text:

"You Are Cordially Invited To
A Mother's
Tea Party
Time: High Noon
Place: Fisher Residence"

We used a graphic that we found online of an old-fashioned tea pot to add  a little detail. After printing out the invitations, we glued them to a piece of card stock, punched a hole in the top, and tied a piece of lace through the hole (as pictured). We put each invitation in a large envelope and put a sticker with a gold rose on the front of the envelope. We delivered the invitations on Mother's Day after our mother and grandmothers had finished eating dinner all together.

Now that the invitations were checked off our list, we moved onto a  centerpiece plan. We found the cutest, EASIEST centerpiece idea.

 The three-tiered refreshment serving dish turned out so cute and fit in perfectly with our china. Which reminds me, using china is a must. If you do not have china, at least invest in a teapot.

The teapots are the cutest part of the whole ensemble and make the experience feel authentic. We also used real napkins for our place settings. We used soft pink ones but after our tea party I found some adorable flowery ones that would add a splash of detail to the table. The last thing I would like to mention about the place settings is the tablecloth. We dived into the linen closet and found the pink gingham cloth shown above. Any table cloth will work as long as you feel that the print and color matches the look you are trying to achieve. Another way to improve the look of the party is by having your guests dress up! I dressed my little lady in an outfit that would match the ambiance of the party.

Now for the tea. My sister and I, along with our family, do not drink black or green teas. So we chose to serve peppermint tea and hot chocolate. We grow peppermint in our yard so we made our own tea. If you do not have your own peppermint plant or you would like to keeps things simple, you can pick up peppermint tea bags at your local grocery store or use dried peppermint leaves. 

Peppermint Tea Instructions
1. Pick the peppermint

2. Wash the peppermint

3. Rub the sprigs and leaves between your hands

4. Place them in the tea pot

5. Pour the hot water into the teapot

6. Let the tea steep (or set) for about 10 minutes

We like to drink our peppermint tea with a little honey. Also, some members of the family (me included) enjoy milk in their tea.

The finger foods were the most time consuming part of the preparations. I would suggest keeping most of the foods simple. We kept all of the food simple except the petit fours.

Our Food List
Fruit Salad
Chicken Salad
Finger Sandwiches
Petit Fours
Shortbread Cookies

I would suggest starting the petit fours way ahead of time. We started the day before by making the shortbread in sheets and letting it cool overnight. We cut, filled, and dipped the cakes the next morning. We timed our preparations to be complete about an hour before our guests arrived. Which allowed us time to freshen ourselves up, put finishing-touches on the table, and greet our guests. When our guests arrived we invited them to sit and visit for a moment while we put the food and tea on the table.

 Once everything was ready we invited our guests to sit at the table and enjoy the tea party. 

If you choose to host your own tea party be sure to relax once everything is complete. You have done all of the work--so enjoy it! Your guests will feel at ease and be able to have a good time if they see their hostess doing so.