It’s been a while since I have done a party post on the blog and I have missed it so much! I love throwing parties and entertaining guests in my home. I love all the preparation and organization that goes into throwing a party such as preparing the food, decorating the table, mixing drinks…I just love it! Sometimes I love it almost as much as the party itself! I know…I’m a bit crazy!
While I love hosting a get-together to feed my party-throwing soul, hosting a party also a nice way to show your guests that you care and appreciate them. Sometimes I think this is even better than giving a physical gift for the occasion because you aren’t just giving something physical that may be tossed away down the road, you are really giving them a memory which can last forever.
Now with Mother’s Day coming up this Sunday, I couldn’t think of a better way to show your mom how much you love and care for her than by throwing her an elegant tea party. I mean, what would your mom say if she walked in and saw this spread?!? She would love you even more than she does already! Read on below to see how I prepared for the Tea Party and what tasty treats I made.
Tablescape
I always love a good tablescape. It really sets the whole mood for the party that you are hosting as it adds ambiance and visual interest to your table. For this tea party, I used a beautiful, neutral floral tablecloth on my table to give it a nice soft and homey feel. From there, I added a plain white side plate to each place setting and placed my mix-and-match teacups and saucers on top of the side plate. I love that each place setting is a bit different and really adds some great colour to the table. I would recommend finding some teacups and saucers at a local thrift store or antique shop if you don’t have a full set, or you can even ask your guests to bring their favourite teacup to the party as well!
I casually draped a black and white striped ribbon across the center of the table to add a nice bold contrast to the table. It sort of guides the eye to look up and down the table at all of the delicious food and tea. From there, I added my dishes (one for cheese and a tiered platter) along with my cute elephant teapot that I filled with bright flowers. I also added some plain white tulips to a taller teacup and placed them at each end of the table for balance.
Finally, I added some champagne flutes to each place setting (because moms love to celebrate too!) along with forks and teaspoons so that people can eat with them.
The Menu
Since it’s a tea party we have to have the traditional tiered platter filled with sweet and savoury bites. Now, I just thought that you can place whatever you want wherever on the tiered patter, but after doing some research, I found out that there is actually a “proper” way to order the stand and sequentially eat it. Who knew? If your mom is proper (or British) she would really appreciate this.
On the bottom layer, we have the Classic Tea Sandwiches. I made three kinds of tea sandwiches to satisfy any mom out there. First, I made an Egg & Sprout Tea Sandwich which is like your traditional egg salad sandwich but with an added peppery bite from the sprouts. I made a classic Cucumber Tea Sandwich that is made with a rich and creamy dill cream cheese. I added some extra bite to the sandwich by also adding thinly sliced radishes- yum! Finally, I made what I call a California Tea Sandwich. This is for the moms that are health conscious as it is made with lean roasted chicken breast, avocado, sundried tomato and basil. No cream cheese or butter here…and you won’t even miss it this sandwich is so good.
On the middle layer, you add the scones. I made a really great Traditional Scone recipe that is made in under 30 minutes. The scone is on the savoury side, which I prefer since I like to serve the scones with sweet jam and butter. For this tea party, I am using Bonne Maman Strawberry Jam (since it is Mother’s Day after all!). You can also add any flavourings that you want to this scone recipe to give the scones a bit of a twist. Try out Blueberry-Lemon, Raspberry-White Chocolate, or Strawberry-Rhubarb for a sweet scone or Cheese-Scallion, Spinach-Feta or Cheddar-Apple for a savoury scone. The flavour combinations are truly endless! The only thing with this scone recipe (and many others I have tried) is that they are best served straight from the oven. The longer they sit, the more they tend to dry out, so try to make them as close to when you want to serve them!
Now for the top layer- the dessert! I went all out on the dessert layer and made everything from scratch. That was pretty ambitious for me since it did take a lot of time and effort to make multiple desserts for this party. Of course, you don’t have to make every dessert I did. I would recommend making one homemade dessert and purchasing the rest of the desserts from your favourite bakery. It will save you lots of time, effort (any maybe some tears) and will taste amazing! For my dessert spread, I made a Vanilla Sponge Cake with Coconut Cream Icing, a Mini Strawberry Shortcakes, Earl Grey Shortbread and Strawberry Meringues (gluten free- although the recipe still needs some work!).
If that wasn’t enough food, I also arranged a quick Cheese & Fruit Platter to serve as part of the main meal or even as dessert. I used a beautiful mini brie cheese here, but feel free to use whatever type of cheese is your moms favourite, and served it alongside some fresh strawberries and grapes. Yum yum!
The Tea (and Drinks)
What would a tea party be without tea?! I like to serve a variety of teas and let the guests choose whatever tea they prefer. For a black tea, I like to serve Earl Grey (it also goes great with the Earl Grey Shortbread), green tea (Light Buddah from Great Wall Tea Co. in New West is amazing), and a herbal/fruit tea.
If tea isn’t really moms thing, she may like some Elderberry Cider. I am using a local cider from Salt Spring Island Wild. I love the subtle sweetness of the cider and the bubbles and the deep pink colour make it looks so fancy!
If tea or cider isn’t mom’s thing, you can serve a nice sparkling rosé, prosecco or champagne if you want to be really fancy!
So there you have it- a complete guide to preparing an unforgettable Tea Party. I guarantee that any mother in your life would love to dine in elegance at this beautiful tea party. All the moms definitely deserve some tasty treats on their special day!
Happy Mother’s Day! <3 <3 <3
