One thing Covid-19 has impacted on in a big way over the past six months has been social gatherings with friends and family. And for us this has meant a serious lack of tea parties! And with another period of lockdown perhaps not too far away, now might be the perfect time to have that end of summer tea party with your family or friends.
With this in mind, here are 5 tips to throwing an awesome tea party!
1. Plan Who You Want To Attend
A good plan is essential to any tea party going off without a glitch, and in this case, planning who you wish to invite to your tea party is so important. While Covid restrictions may impact your tea party numbers right now, you can still plan for that big post-Covid tea party blowout by thinking about who you will invite.
Make a list of the friends and family you wish to attend, and consider where you plan to host your tea party – will it be your own home or garden, or are you planning somewhere else. Once you’ve drawn up a list of guests, consider a theme. For us, we love the classic summer tea party, although we’re not always so lucky with the weather here in Northern Ireland.
2. Dressing Your Room
Now that you’ve planned out who will be attending and what your theme is, the next step is to start to consider your setting. We’re big fans of outdoor tea parties which in essence become one giant tea party. Take a look at the supplies you currently have and consider what you may need to buy for your tea party.
Do you need to consider additional furniture or do you simply need to stock up on accessories like bunting, place cards, table decorations and goodie bags. Get your style across by dressing the area in a way that injects your own personality and host a tea party your friends will remember for many years to come.
3. Arrival Drinks
Nothing screams tea party like a warm, friendly arrival, so great your friends with arrival drinks. Whether these are alcoholic, or non-alcoholic beverages is entirely up to you, and you’ll know your guests and can plan accordingly. But having a nice drink to welcome your guests will not only provide a conversation point when they arrive, it instantly relaxes your guests, and lets them know they are in for an enjoyable afternoon.
4. Dress to Impress
So this means two things – firstly, think about your own appearance and what you will wear for your tea party and make a big impression as the host. And secondly, consider how you will dress your tea party area and the table.
We’re big fans of the vintage, classic look for a tea party, so when we’re hosting guests we go for the classics – silver teapots, silk tablecloth and napkins, silver spoons and cutlery, classic china cups and saucers, and serving bowls for jams, chutneys and sugar. For us, a tea party screams class, so consider this when dressing your room.
5. Sweet Treats
Your guests will be expecting to be well fed at your tea party, and one area you simply must impress on is desserts. The perfect way to end a tea party, ensure your guests have plenty of options when it comes to the sweet menu. Again, we’re fans of the classics and homemade scones and buns, but we also like to serve up sweet treats like macaroons, German biscuits, salted caramel squares and Eton mess (perfect for the summer months).
Some other dessert recipes to try out from our own recipes include a chocolate and berry tower and banana donuts.
Got Something to Add?
What is on your menu when it comes to hosting a tea party? Let us know your top tips to a successful party via the comments section below.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
Helen, Nial and Lewis.
Welcome to Pikalily, an award-winning food, travel and lifestyle blog. We are Nial and Helen, a happily married couple from Northern Ireland, who share a passion for food and travel among many things. We became parents to our beautiful boy Lewis in 2017. Follow our adventures through the blog.
