Here’s what you need!

Last week, I finally hosted the tea party I’d been talking about for months to anyone who would listen to me. And it was great! I’m very tempted to make it an annual thing.

I started envisioning it sometime in June but it wasn’t till July that I began planning. Here’s how my planning process went.

Budget/Invites: The first thing I did was make a mental budget of how many people I could afford to host. I wrote a list of names, and then texted each person to see if they were free to attend on that day. This was more like pitching the idea to them. With everyone that was free on that day, I made a list of guests to send a formal invite to.

Tea Sets: Once I confirmed my guest list, the next thing I did was buy a tea set. My target budget was 15 people even though I invited 10 people; I love to leave room for chance. (Always better to overbudget than underbudget). So, I needed somewhere I could either rent tea sets, or buy for cheap. I found a collector on Kijiji downsizing for $5.00/set (teacup/saucer). It was such a steal!

Decor: Tablecloth, flowers, cute trays and food bowls, dessert stands, teapot, cutleries, wine glasses, just to name a few other things you’d need to have for a tea party. I incorporated fake vines for decor, and string globe bulbs since it was a garden tea party. Tip: All of these can be gotten from a dollar store or thrift store.

Food: There are traditional tea party foods. Tea, Finger Sandwiches, Scones, Macarons, Cupcakes, Biscuits, e.t.c, all of which I planned to serve at my party. But I also decided to cater specifically to my audience, so I added more bite-sized desserts; meat pies, sausage rolls, fish rolls, puff-puffs. I knew no one was going to be drinking tea so while I offered it (mostly for the aesthetic), my main beverage focus was on wines. Like my desserts, I had an assortment of wines catering to each guest.

Games: Games are the main activity for any get-together. For my tea party, I picked a bunch of low-activity games; tea party bingo, camera hot potato, werewolf card game, taboo, hangman, Kahoot, react and act, memory tray game. Just like food planning, the goal is always to have more, than less.

Surprisingly, we only played the tea party bingo and a truth/drink game that had us talking till the very end. It was amazing.

OPTIONAL TOUCHES:

RSVP: I sent my RSVP about three weeks in advance, using Paperless Post. Would 100% recommend. It offers so many templates to design your invite, keep track of your guests (who’s attending or not, who’s opened their RSVP, who is bringing a +1), send broadcast messages and reminders. It was very useful during the whole party planning process, up till the very hour of the event.

Theme: While you don’t need to have a theme, there are so many tea-party theme options, should you choose to have one. Mad Hatter, Bridgerton, Vintage, A particular colour, Floral, so many. I tried not to be specific so my guests don’t have to go out of their way to buy new outfits, and I chose a very subjective theme- ‘Afternoon in a cafe in Italy’. To amp things up, I let my guests know that there was a gift for the best dressed (according to general vote).

Gifts: Speaking of gifts, what is a party without gifts? Everyone loves party favours. When choosing your party favours, you’d want to go with something cheap as you’d most likely be buying it in bulk. I went with these mini bubble candles from Etsy. Perfect for the occasion, and they fit into the small party favour boxes I got from Amazon. In addition to the best-dressed gift, I wrapped up other prizes for some of the games. -A diffuser -A tote bag -A gel bead facial mask and lip gloss.

Bingo Cards: Another Etsy purchase was the tea party bingo cards I got from Etsy. I printed it out on cardstock paper and placed it on the table with the party favours. It was such a hit!

Place Cards: If you’re anything like me, you’d want to go the extra mile to spruce things up with place cards. This added an extra touch of elegance to the table and my guests loved it.

Margaritas: Initially I planned to make my own frozen pomegranate margaritas from scratch but I ended up going with a margarita mix and 100% pomegranate juice. If you’re looking to save time on the day of the party, this is highly recommended.

Overall, I think a tea party is a budget-friendly option if you’re looking to throw a small aesthetic get-together, and if I had to blow my trumpet, this was definitely a hit.

I hope my tips help you in throwing your own successful tea party or any similar event.