| The best tea party begins
a couple of months before the big day. Choose a day
and time, say on a Saturday from 1-3 or 4-6. List all the people
you want to invite. Eight to 28 guests is do-able. You don’t
need an excuse for a tea party, but tying it in with someone’s
birthday or other milestone can make it extra special. At one
of my recent tea parties, I chose to honor a dear friend on
her birthday. Most of the guests didn’t know my friend,
so I only mentioned the birthday to her friends on my guest
list. This way people didn’t feel obligated to buy a gift
for a stranger, and the gift-giving by her friends took place
after the tea was officially over and the other guests had gone
home. During the party, my friend was introduced as the honored
guest, other birthdays were acknowledged, and, at the end of
the tea, everyone shared a chocolate birthday cake.
Plan Ahead
When hosting a large group of people, call a
rental company early on and reserve enough banquet chairs for
everyone.  This
is especially important in the spring when wedding planners
reserve chairs weeks ahead.
Mail invitations a month before your party.
It’s not important that you make your own.
If you buy invitations, choose colors that coordinate with your
color scheme, and try to find ones with a feminine motif such
as purses, ladies shoes or tea cups. It’s best to hand-address
the envelopes for a softer, more personal touch. Include a phone
number so guests can RSVP.
 Soft
background music is always a pleasure at a party, so keep your
ears open. I chose a CD of flamenco guitar music, no vocals.
I had overheard it on a department store’s sound system.
When I inquired about it, I was very pleased to hear they had
the CD for sale.
Color Scheme and Accouterments
Early in your planning, pick up a couple of
home decorating magazines, or go on-line to view the latest
colors and looks in tableware and linens.  Then
select linens in those colors, or use a white or off-white tablecloth
that will show off the season’s colors in your selection
of quality napkins in cloth or paper, candles, ribbons, and
flowers. Always remember: your guests don’t need to how
where you bought your linens and dishes, or what you paid for
them. If you have a good eye and some artistic flair, you can
put together a gorgeous table to rival anything you see in a
magazine for a fraction of the cost.
When I need a tablecloth, I search out bargains;
a sale at the mall or maybe something vintage at an antique
or second-hand store. When using a dining table with all its
leaves, it’s hard to find the right cloth to cover the
entire length of the table, so I first lay down a large solid
white bed sheet. Then I layer on two or three cloths in pastel
pinks. Any color will work as long as all the tablecloths are
in the same shade. On top of these, I spread out three or four
old lace cloths, holes and all. I strategically place antique
doilies, trimmed in my color scheme, over holes and faded coffee
stains. If you spend time arranging everything, the look is
great! At a fabric store, I found a long piece of off-white
sheer fabric printed with pale pink and lavender flowers. I
sewed a seam all the way down the middle of it and used it as
a runner on the largest table at the party. I tied the unfinished
ends with satin ribbons and let them fall off the ends of the
table. The look was soft, delicate and feminine and helped cover
up imperfections in the lace cloths. When a tablecloth is too
long for a table, use wide wire-edged ribbon to tie up each
corner of the cloth. This will draw up the cloth giving it an
elegant look.
Second-hand stores are good places to find pedestal
plates and teapots, as well as candlesticks and candelabras.
Wash metal candle holders; polish them or repaint them in high-gloss
enamel white. Adorn them with tapered candles in your color
scheme (I chose pastel pink and mint green); add ribbons and
they will make gorgeous centerpieces. Best of all, you can reuse
them year-to-year; fresh flower centerpieces are a costly one-time
enjoyment. The only visible reminders of my friend’s birthday
were the antique post cards with birthday greetings on them
propped against pedestal plates and candle holders. I found
them at an antique show; I selected ones in shades of pink,
rose and lavender; they were incredibly affordable and beautiful,
too.
In searching out great buys, I ran across six
three-tiered plate racks for an incredible deal. I left them
their original pale gold color, washed them and wired silk flower
arrangements and bows to the tops of each. I also bought a dozen
large solid white plates for next to nothing. They looked beautiful
on the racks. They didn’t all match, but their solid whiteness
didn’t clash with my color scheme.
I laid a white paper lace doily on each plate
and stacked on the food: finger sandwiches on the bottom plate,
savories on the middle plate and sweets on the top plate. I
made sure there were one rack of food and a
pedestal plate of scones for every five guests. Invited friends
and relatives loaned their antique cups and saucers for the
event and set them beside salad-size plates and stemmed water
glasses.
I ended up needing 56 stemmed glasses for 28
guests. Purchasing them second-hand meant they cost pennies
on the dollar over buying them new. They were in perfect condition
and, of course, they are reusable. Ribbons and charms looked
pretty tied to each stem, and edible flowers or circles of lime
floating in the water made an elegant statement (no ice, please).
|
The Food
A small white doily was laid in the center of
each salad plate, and a martini glass filled with fresh fruit
was set on the doily.
I served strawberries, blueberries and fresh pineapple. Garnish
with mint leaves and/or real whipped cream (skip the canned
kind).
Because I needed every available table in the
house and on the patio for my party, I set up the ironing board
in the kitchen and draped it with a large plastic tablecloth.
It worked very well as a table.
When guests offered to help in the kitchen,
I let them. They spread up sandwiches, arranged food on serving
plates and compotes and poured up water glasses. Other guests
mingled in the living room and got to know one another. My Shih-Tzu
provided the entertainment.
Sandwiches
I try to keep foods simple:  small
sandwiches spread with canned meats mixed with mayo and pickle
relish; tomato slices with mayo; thinly-sliced cucumbers with
cream cheese; and thinly sliced deli roast beef with just a
little horseradish and mayo spread. Figure on making one whole
sandwich per guest then cut the sandwiches in quarters.
Savories
Savories are appetizers: pop-open crescent rolls
filled with deli corned beef and sauerkraut (grind these up
finely in the food processor) and a little spicy mustard (open
the crescent rolls, fill, seal into triangles, bake  in
oven at 350 degrees until crescent rolls are lightly browned);
heat-and-serve mini quiches; and ready-made mini fillo shells
filled with a teaspoonful of your homemade chicken salad with
dried cranberries and slivered almonds. Plan on providing two
of each savory for each guest.
Desserts
 Desserts
can be anything you like: small homemade cookies and brownies,
special-order petit fours, bite-size éclairs and canolies
(ready-made in the freezer aisle), small scones and lemon tarts.
Figure on one of each dessert for each guest.
Tea
To keep the tea flowing, I used a large kettle
with a lid to boil water. I left it bubbling slowly on the stove,
so when guests ran out of tea, someone from her table or at
her end of the table went into the kitchen and simply ladled
more water into her teapot. It’s okay to use tea bags
instead of loose tea.
It’s much easier to use tea bags when you’re entertaining
large groups Just be sure to add a couple of fresh tea bags
to a teapot each time the pot is refilled with hot water. Also,
have a small plate or two on the tables for guests to set the
used bags. These can be hustled off to the kitchen and into
the trash when more hot water is called for.
Tea Cozies are a Must
Of course, a tea cozy on every pot
is a must. Cozies are as practical as they are attractive. Cozies
keep the tea warm and your guests cool.  A
hot pot radiating among a group of warm bodies can help raise
the temperature at the table, and anyone brushing a hand against
the pot can get a mild burn. When hot water accidentally splashes
while being ladled into a teapot, the cloth cozy will quickly
absorb the water and keep it from running onto your or your
guests’ hands.
Help the Conversation
While guests eat, ask each of them to share
their most amazing life moment with the four or five people
around them. Amazing moments cover everything from romantic
to embarrassing to frightening. Later, ask guests to decide
among themselves which of their groups’ stories was the
best, and ask the storytellers to stand up and share with everyone.
There were a couple of jaw-dropping stories at my party, and
everyone really enjoyed this. I had a small selection of little
gifts that storytellers got to select from after their story:
desk calendars, rubber stamps, and fancy note pads. Before we
all shared in the birthday cake, I asked several older women
to share memories of what they were doing when they were the
birthday girl’s age and of what she gets to look forward
to. That was a lot of fun!
Make Memories
Giving a successful, memorable
tea party takes planning, but every effort is well worth it!
Remember, a great tea party is about your friends, not the food;
about the people, not the props or being proper. Relax and enjoy
yourself and your guests will too! Take plenty of pictures at
your party. Later, frame three or four in a single frame and
hang it on your dining room wall. Frame and hang some thank-you
notes, too. Year-after-year add to the collection. Friends will
love looking back on these very special times in your home.
The
Tea Party Primer & Planner For Every Occasion
- Marilyn's Tea Party Planner is a delightful guide book for
planning special tea parties. |
