Party Ideas
Tea Party: A Garden Escape
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Escape for a few hours to a time long gone by with a Garden Tea Party. It provides the perfect opportunity to gather your friends for a few hours and linger under the warm sun while you refresh your mind, body and soul.
And while you can choose to have an extravagant tea party, this was done for a client with a limited budget in her own (albeit well landscaped) backyard and it turned out beautiful and meaningful for both the hostess and her guests.
Remember that you don't need to compromise your budget or your stress level to host a purposeful, fun and memorable party. See below for details on how to pull it all together and some free downloadable items that you can print out and use for your next special occasion.
Set the tone for the party with this beautiful rose accented Tea Party invitation. Simply download the file to your computer (Download Tea Party Invitation PDF) and print out on cardstock cut down to 5"x7" or buy precut and packaged 5"x7" invitations available at many craft stores. The inside panel is presented upside down for your convenience so all you have to do is flip your invite over and the copy will go onto the invite in the correct format. A little gift from me to you - enjoy!
If you are working with a limited budget (and you should ALWAYS know what your budget is no matter what the amount!) here are some tips to follow:
Layer a simple theme throughout the event repetitively. In this case, roses were used in different ways. Roses were on the paper invitations, the paper napkin rings were a ring of roses and roses were repeated on the nametags and take home gift tags. Then plenty of fresh roses were decoratively displayed on garden tables and all around the party. Roses are a great choice because they come in a rainbow of beautiful colors to fit your party color palette, they are easy to buy either locally or online, and they provide a very classy look.
Keep the food simple, yet fun. A tea party lends itself to an array of options. There are the traditional options such as scones and tea sandwiches that are great to include, but from there you can buy and produce what is in season and cost effective. (See How-To Tea Party Menu)
Use what you have in the way of china and linens and don't worry if it
doesn't all match. Also repurpose items. We took basic cans, covered them in complimentary scrapbooking papers and arranged the roses in them for a beautiful, inexpensive look. (See How-To Recycle Cans to Create Flower Containers)Rent additional items that you might not want to have for the long term. We rented folding chairs, extra forks and extra dessert dishes to fill in.
Focus on activities and extra special touches that will add warmth to the party and allow your guests to feel at home and relaxed. To start off on the right foot, nametags are so important, especially if everyone doesn't know each other well. It is so helpful to have that reminder when you can't quite remember someone's name! Also, Include a special activity such as sharing your favorite book or author with the group or include a special craft time to bring out the "inner-child" to play and have fun! We don't get enough of that in our busy lives!
When working with a large space it is especially important that you evaluate and break down the area into smaller spaces with specific purposes. In working with a top deck, lower patio, shaded tent area on the grass and a shaded grass area without a tent I was able to set up areas dedicated to food and tea service tables, two lounge areas, and a craft space.
And don't forget the Powder Room! Simple touches in the powder room are such a fun detail. We added special flowered hand towels, a vase of roses (vase was a plastic jar, wrapped in tulle and tied with a ribbon), a candle and a dish of candies.
A Tea Party menu is fun to create and can be simple and yet satisfying. Serve the food in a couple of courses to slow down the pace of the party and promote lingering. There are so many delectable options out there to choose from, but
my advice would be to work with fresh, seasonal ingredients and create a menu you can make ahead so you can sit and relax with your friends. (See Tea Party Menu How-To for all of the details and recipes.)
For a special touch, add a paper Rose Napkin Ring to wrap your napkins in style! (Download Rose Napkin Ring PDF) Also, checkout the Rose Napkin Ring How-To for more details.
Party Activities are such an important part of the party and should never be overlooked, especially when you want your guests to stay and share and linger.
At this party we made sure to have nametags ready and awaiting the guests arrival. Everyone was routed through the gate into the backyard, so we hung tulle and ribbon and nametags from the gate boards for each guest to pick-up. You can download the nametags (Download Rose Nametag PDF) to your computer, print out and hand write your own guests names. (See Rose Nametag How-To for more details)
We also preplanned to allow for a time of literary sharing during the party. In the Tea Party invitation, everyone was asked to bring their favorite book or author to share with the group. This proved to be very meaningful and fun for all and even the more introverted guests began to join into the discussion and ask many questions!
Finally, we set up a beautiful craft table to decorate grape vine wreaths with ribbons and
flowers. Doing a craft activity is such a neat opportunity for women to sit together and be creative. It is reminiscent of women gathering together in sewing or quilting circles and so overlooked today due to time constraints. I add something like this to a party any time it is appropriate - and sipping tea and crafting is a great combination!
To make the most of our budget, we utilized the Take Home Gift as a decoration. A beautiful, single, long-stem rose was given to each guest with a gift tag attached. The roses were all placed in a large vase with tulle to create the food table centerpiece.
To prep the roses, remove all of the leaves and snap off the thorns. Download the Rose Gift Tag (download Gift Tag PDF), print out and cut. Then punch a hole in each tag, attach ribbon and wrap the ribbon onto the rose stem.
