By Ashley Horne
Are you looking for a fun and affordable way to get together with your friends? Do you like to entertain, yet want to be able to relax and enjoy time with your guests? Do you have a daughter who would love to have a party for her little girlfriends? Then consider hosting your own tea party!
Typically held late in the afternoon between 3PM and 4PM, a tea party provides a light snack time between lunch and dinner. Follow these simple steps to host your own party and enjoy quality time with your friends:
- Pick a date and time. Consider what will work best for you and your guests. Do your guests work full-time? Are they all in 3rd grade and attend school during the week? Will a weekend day work best?
- Send out your invitations. Be sure to include the date, time and location of the event as well as an RSVP date. If you are hosting a tea party for your child’s friends, let your child design and/or decorate the invitations.
- Purchase your tea – determine a feasible tea selection which includes black tea, white tea, fruit flavored teas, spiced teas, etc.
- Plan your menu – be sure to include both sweet and savory items. A sample menu could include the following: Asparagus & Prosciutto Tea Sandwiches, Cucumber Mint Tea Sandwiches, Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Almonds, Raisin Scones, Clotted Cream, Madeleines and assorted chocolates. If you’re hosting a party for younger children, make food adjustments as you see fit – after all, not all kids will like asaparagus!
- Purchase your accessories – plates, cups, silverware, napkins, milk, cream, sugar and lemon wedges.
- On the day of the tea party prepare all of your items before your guests arrive. You will be able to serve the snacks buffet style or by passing around plates of goodies when all guests have arrived. Be sure to allow enough time to brew your teas. Be knowledgeable about your tea selections so that you can tell your guests a little bit about each tea and its flavor.
- Turn on some relaxing music, sit back and enjoy!
4 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 23, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Margaret Studer
Hello Ashley,
What an interesting and informative article. I like the part about not every child likes asparagus.
I learned as a girl to serve the lemon in slices rather than wedges. Then my great Aunt Dorothy and her husband, my great Uncle Douglas, would argue about whether the tea or the lemon went into the cup first. Uncle Douglas was from England and when he pulled the “I’m British” card the argument was over.
You know what else he always had to have for tea? Celery. That’s right celery and a salt shaker. Apparently that was a big thing in England for his generation. He was old enough to have been around in WWI no less.
I like to plan tea parties. Some of my best childhood memories are of tea parties. Unfortunately my daughters never really got into it. Maybe I will have grandchildren who like tea parties.
Margaret Studer
Tea Examiner
Examiner.com
October 28, 2009 at 10:37 pm
julia
Holding Tea Cup Question:
Could you please assist me finding out if the pinky finger is supposed to be pointed up in the air or held down toward the wrist while holding and drinking a cup of tea. My research says both – so I thought I’d better ask the experts.
Could you please send me something so I could share it with our group?
Thank you and have a great day.
Julia Davis
Cambridge, MD
USA
October 29, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Margaret Studer
Hi Julia,
Well that’s accurate as far as I know. I’ve been reading all lots of different tea etiquette rules on the Internet. Both ways are mentioned on different sites.
This is what I remember, though others could have other opinions. The pinkie is up because it doesn’t fit on the teacup handle and it looks better in that position than having it down. Some people think this looks pretentious, and least that is what I have read, and so they hold it down.
If you look at the paintings of women drinking tea in the Victorian period, their pinkies are almost always pointed up. This would lead me to believe that this is the traditional way for the pinkie to be and that holding it down might me a modern convention.
Many tea practices are a matter of which era you want to follow, but I think if you want the fun of a formal tea, it’s nice to follow the way it was in the Victorian period. It’s like playing dress-up when we were kids. It’s the fun of being elegant if even for a little while. It’s not everyone’s idea of fun, but it is for many tea drinkers.
I tend to be a pinkie up and curved because it’s how my fingers sort of naturally are. I mostly have my afternoon tea at home alone, so it doesn’t matter.
However, if one is having a tea party, one can hold as formal or informal as party as he or she likes. The bottom line in etiquette, whether it is a tea party or any other event is to observe what the hostess does and follow her lead. If the hostess has her pinkie in the air, that’s what you do.
Thanks for asking.
Margaret Studer
Tea Examiner
Examiner.com
January 28, 2010 at 7:14 am
Enrique whitetea
this is my favourite tea, white tea is the best