Spring Tea!

Tea can easily be transformed into a celebration with friends and family, but before enjoying yourself together, there is always a little planning to do. Tea parties, like any other parties require shopping spree before sending away the invitations. Now that the spring is here it seems quite natural to want to enjoy nature to the fullest, so maybe a nature tea party in the garden, park or backyard is the best choice, as tea and nature are in a perfect harmony.

 April Showers Bring May Flowers!

The first step when preparing a tea party is to start designing your tea party invitations or simply decide which model, color and theme to buy and who are the guests, of course. The second step is to plan your menu. A tea party menu isn’t an elaborate one;  tea sandwiches, biscuits and cookies are usually served.  Of course this isn’t necessarily a simple menu as you can plan putting together and cooking more varieties of tea sandwiches and cookies to appeal to all of your guests’ tastes.


A Victorian tea party

 What better way to enjoy spring to the fullest than when combining it with nature’s rebirth and a little bit of history? A Victorian tea party is exactly what you need to get together with a bunch of friends and enjoy tea in a very elegant manner. An outdoor Victorian party would be better as I am sure everyone will enjoy the sun’s gentle touch and will love to dress up a little and to use old style hats.
The tea party planning follows the general guidelines I gave above with a few more additions. For instance, scones are a must for a Victorian tea party with Devonshire cream, lemon curd or jelly or jams. You can find many interesting and simple recipes in cookbooks or the Internet, so it is rather simple to get your Victorian menu started.

The decoration part seems rather complicated when we think about the Victorian age, but it is actually quite simple. You just have to select floral china for your party and crystal serving pieces. To make it feel like spring is here, I suggest you place fresh flowers everywhere and use as support crystal vases and/or teapots without lids. If you’re doing the party indoors, lots of candles are recommended to remind everyone of the time when electricity wasn’t yet a commodity  If you’re doing an outdoor party I suggest replacing the candles with some antique looking lanterns. You should also have pretty napkins on the table as part of the decor and serving.

 Either indoors or outdoors, the tea party should not be stripped of music.

Don’t destroy your Victorian theme by choosing some modern tunes. Keep the atmosphere of spring and history going with some classical music set very low in order not to interrupt conversation. As a final touch to the atmosphere, suggest your guests in the invitations you will send them, to respect the Victorian dress code. I have a feeling that your female friends will be enchanted to do so.