Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Fancy Tea Party Hosting 101

I've been planning a tea party for Vaughn in my head for years now. Our little white table, outside under the trees, glass domes covering treats, vintage chandelier hanging above, no pesky bugs, and the perfect day, warm and sunny but not too hot. You know, no big deal.

An opportunity finally presented itself in the form of two of Vaughn's buddies were moving away, and this seemed like the perfect way to send these sweet little sisters off. The end result was a bit different than what I had pictured in my head but it turned out just as great. I looked to Vaughn for the majority of the decisions and she had many tips for what fancy tea parties must have, which lucky for you, I'll share her wisdom.

"A fancy tea party must have name cards" 
(I wrote the girls names on pieces of paper and glued them to larger pink pieces of paper. Tip: calligraphy can be "faked" by making the down stroke thicker than the others.)

"A fancy tea party must have cucumber sandwiches"
(Use cookie cutters for this. Spread a little cream cheese or Boursin cheese onto the bread and slap a cucumber in between. It's unanimous, PB&J's are just as glamorous too.)

"A fancy tea party must have a tablecloth"
(Or at least a runner. Ours is actually wrapping paper found in the sale basket at a craft store which was perfect because we tossed it in the recycling bin when finished.)

"A fancy tea party must have cute napkins and flowers"
(Luck played a big part here as I had already had these little vintage lunch napkins from my mother-in-law. As for the flowers, Vaughn picked them out at Trader Joe's, aka the cheapest place to get fresh flowers.)

"A fancy tea party must have tea or pretend tea if you don't like real tea"
(Our "tea" was Trader Joe's sparkling pink lemonade.)

"A fancy tea party must have treats"
(Again, Trader Joe's is perfect for this as they have a big selection of little cookies and treats that won't break the bank. We picked meringues, lemon wafer cookies, and Speculoos cookies, which if you haven't tried you should because they're the best.)

We also made little fruit kabobs. (Using a big brother to help taste test is optional.)

"A fancy tea party must have fancy hats"
(Or in our case, fancy sun visors. Before sitting down for tea the little ladies decorated the visors with glitter flower stickers and I hot glued feathers where they wanted them.)



I really wanted to drag the table outside but it was just too hot. We went with the next best thing, which was moving the table from the carpeted office down the hall onto hardwood floors because with each life a little tea must fall. 


5 Responses to “Fancy Tea Party Hosting 101”

  1. Anonymous8:07 PM

    Would love to go
    to high tea at the Ritz! Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6:04 AM

    Can you do high tea for your aunt and mom?

    ReplyDelete
  3. One of the reasons I love your blog is how educational it often is for me. This time I enjoyed learning about the musts for today's little girl tea parties from the wisdom imparted by Vaughn. However, I especially appreciated being made aware of Speculoos cookies. Being a big Trader Joe's fan (I actually have a trip planned there for Monday to get some of their fantastic shrimp and yummy cocktail sauce, as well as their equally fantastic French onion soup from their frozen food section which I top with a little extra cheese combo of Swiss and Gruyere which can be found helpfully already shredded in their deli area), I immediately Googled Speculoos cookies. I readd about them first on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculoos) which made them sound, unfortunately, just a little too spicy for me. Actually, it was just the white pepper that put me off and perhaps that's not included in the Trader's Joe version. However, I was still intrigued enough to look them up on the Trader Joe's website (http://traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_id=1322). I admit I got as far as the words "Cookie Butter" before I Googled that delicious sounding delicacy. It was on http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_id=1647 that I learned of three different types of Speculoos Cookie Butter available. Now I have added this item, probably the original version...at least to start with...to Monday's Trader's Joe's list, and I have Vaughn and you to thank for it. :) I'm glad you wrote about her sweet tea party. Likely you and many of your readers have been to actual high teas like I have. I think I would much prefer pink lemonade, fruit kabobs and PB&J's made with cookie cutters for the bread, however. :) Thank you!

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  4. The Speculoos cookies are interesting - I have a hard time explaining them. Not as "spicy" as a gingersnap but perfectly sweet. If you try them, let me know what you think. Hope you like them!

    I have never been to "real" tea before! Guess it's something I should put on my list to do!

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  5. I hope you write about it in your blog if you do. Two things I've learned (just in case you didn't already): 1) It is not proper to extend your pinky when drinking tea. And 2) hats are considered de rigueur. Sometimes gloves too. :)

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