Edie and I met in Nashville this last year – briefly. We hope to do some more catching up with each other this next year! I love her flare for hospitality and the spirit of her blog, Life in Grace. She’s a very gracious, beautiful person, and I won’t even tell you how much she reminds me of my brunette friend, Robyn L., who could be Edie’s twin!
Here’s Edie’s story on an elegant party she held in her home …
Hello RE readers! This is the 2nd tea party birthday party I’ve hosted but the first one at my own house. My daughters’ birthdays are close together and they turned 9 and 17 this year. I thought this was the perfect year to combine their parties into a multi-age tea party. I recruited my 19 year old son to be the escort/server.
It was definitely our best party ever! So, here’s my advice on how to host the perfect tea party birthday:
1. Make sure your sister and her darling daughters are available to come (and help—-thank you so much girls!)
2. Invite your daughter’s friends, who just so happen to be beautiful and….
and well-mannered.
4. Assemble the finest vintage tea cups you can from places like Goodwill, antique stores, or T.J.Maxx.
5. Cut some beautiful flowers from your garden to dress up your tables.
6. Advise the bakery to make your cake look like a wedding cake—very formally decorated.
7. Make sure your handsome son (who is always such a good sport) is available to escort the ladies to their tables and serve food and drink—always with a smile of course. We made calling cards (with the girls’ full names on them) and announced the arrival of each girl (thank you Abby) as she entered the foyer.
8. Start setting your tables 2-3 days before the party so that there are fewer last minute things to do. I placed Emme and her friends in the Duchess of Windsor Dining Room (because there were more of them), Caiti’s friends in the breakfast room, and Elea’s friends in the school room. We played a few parlor games and practiced our finest etiquette (after a few short ‘tea’ lessons). This site was very helpful in all things ‘tea’.
9. Serve an eclectic mix of tea sandwiches, pasta salad, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate chip short bread cookies, and of course, a wide variety of teas, both cold and hot. Several of my dear friends and my mother stayed to help in serving and then washing the voluminous dishes that are generated at afternoon tea. And I mean LOTS of dishes.
Sing Happy Birthday…..
blow out candles and finish the day with a great game of Pictionary.
10. Most importantly, RELAX, make sure you take time to enjoy the birthday girls and their friends. I had a list of things that didn’t get done. No one noticed.
We had oodles of fun and it was one of those very memorable parties that will become part of their story—-a story I am so grateful to be part of.
Edie and I would love to hear about your tea party experiences?
(Visit my Life is a Cup post, here, about my special Aunties.)
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