Come To Tea

Nothing says garden party like having afternoon tea outdoors. It's a charming reminder of bygone days when people made more time to relax and enjoy each other's company. Outdoor spaces of all kinds, including balconies, can be successfully adapted to a tea party. Tea parties span generations and will be enjoyed by your most sophisticated women friends and children alike.

What makes an elegant tea party?

Flowers
Plan to hold your tea party when your garden is in it's fullest bloom, or if you'd like to have it sooner or don't have a garden, fill jars or vases with fresh flowers. Perhaps it's lilac time, June roses, or peony season. Be sure to cut some of the blooms for the tea table vases. Your local Farmer's Market is a wonderful place to find flowers.

Invitations
Send handwritten notes by mail (not email!). Your guests will recognize your party as elegant affair and dress accordingly. Tea is usually held around 4 p.m.,perfect for blooming flowers, but earlier tea is quite acceptable. Include an invitation for the little ones to bring along a doll, or specify adults only.

Table Setting
The more elegant, the better. Put away the paper table covering and the plastic glasses. Instead, use a crisp linen tablecloth, pressed cloth napkins and your best china cups and saucers. If it's a little girls' party, you might want to invest in two or three miniature tea sets.

Try to have adequate seating for everyone. Consider setting your straight-back indoor dining chairs outdoors. They add an elegant touch.

Hats
Encourage all of your guests to wear hats. Big-brimmed, floppy and flowered. If the party is for little girls, collect old hats, scarves and silk flowers at a thrift shop, yard sale or discount store. Make decorating the hats a fun activity at the party. You can also include a box of flowery cast-offs for dressing up. Include "grown-up" shoes and old jewelry, anything that will make the little ones feel elegant. Tea time is a fun way to introduce young ones to elegant party manners.

Food
Other than teaspoons, no cutlery should be required at tea. All sandwiches and sweets should be finger food. Try sandwiches of watercress, cucumber, or egg with the crusts removed and cut in quarters. Sugar cookies and petit fours are traditional sweets. You can substitute mini-cupcakes or tiny tarts.

Tea
Tea making is becoming a lost art. Have a few different types of tea for variety. I always like to include an earl grey. Also include an herbal tea of fruits, berries or spices. At a minimum, offer your guests a traditional tea and a caffeine free herbal choice. Have milk, sugar, and fresh lemon wedges available.

Dust off your teacups and your manners and sit down with your girlfriends for a proper tea party!