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Perhaps nothing says
"garden party" like having afternoon tea
outdoors. It's a charming reminder of bygone days and
childhood make-believe. Outdoor spaces of all kinds,
including balconies, can be successfully adapted to a tea
party.
Tea parties span
generations and will be enjoyed by your most sophisticated
women friends or all the giggling little girls of your
acquaintance.
What makes an elegant tea
party? Look at these factors.
Flowers
Plan to hold your tea party
when your garden is in its fullest bloom -- perhaps it's
lilac time, June roses, or peony season. Be sure to cut
some of the blooms for the tea table vases. If you don't
have a garden, buy an armful of flowers at a farmers'
market or stop by a country ditch and pick bunches of wild
daisies and Queen Anne's lace.
Invitations
Send handwritten notes by
snail mail. Your guests will recognize your party as an
elegant affair and dress accordingly! Typically, tea is
held around 4 p.m. -- perfect for day-blooming flowers.
Include an invitation for the little ones to bring along a
doll or teddy friend.
Table Setting
The more elegant, the
better. Stash the paper table covering and the plastic
glasses just for today. Instead, use a crisp linen
tablecloth, pressed cloth napkins and your best bone china
cups and saucers. If it's a little girls' party, you might
want to invest in two or three miniature tea sets.
Try to have adequate
seating for everyone. Consider setting your straight-back
indoor dining chairs outdoors. They can add an elegant
touch, whether left unadorned or covered with flowered
chintz.
Hats
Encourage all of your
guests to wear hats -- big-brimmed, floppy and flowered.
If the party is for little girls, collect old hats,
scarves and silk flowers at a thrift shop, yard sale or
discount store. Make decorating the hats a fun activity at
the party. You can also include a box of flowery cast-offs
for dressing up. Include "grown-up" shoes and
old jewellery -- anything that will make the little ones
feel elegant. Tea time is a fun way to introduce young
ones to "elegant party" manners.
Food
Other than teaspoons, no
cutlery should be required at tea. All sandwiches and
sweets should be dainty finger-food. Try sandwiches of
watercress, cucumber, or egg with the crusts removed and
cut in quarters. Sugar cookies and petit fours are
traditional sweets. You can substitute mini-cupcakes or
tiny tarts.
Tea
One of the first things
that I learned in seventh grade home economics class was
how to brew a proper pot of hot tea, but that was many
years ago. I suspect that tea-making is becoming a lost
art.
Tea is actually the common
name of one plant: Camillia sinesis. The three basic types
of tea -- black, green and oolong -- are distinguished by
the amount of oxidization that the tea leaves have
undergone. The more than 3,000 varieties of tea in the
world are all derived from those three basic types.
Herbal teas -- more
properly, tisane or infusion -- are made from a wide
variety of flowers, herbs, barks, berries, fruits and
spices.
At a minimum, offer your
guests a traditional tea and a caffeine-free herbal
choice. Have milk (not cream!), sugar and fresh lemon
wedges available.
So, dust off your teacups
and your manners and sit down with your girlfriends for a
proper tea party. It's a lovely summer interlude!
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About
The Author
Debbie
Rodgers, the haven maven, owns and
operates Paradise Porch, and is dedicated
to helping people create outdoor living
spaces that nurture and enrich them. Her
latest how-to guide “Attracting
Butterflies to Your Home and Garden” is
now available on her web site. Visit her
at www.paradiseporch.com
and get a free report on “Eight easy
ways to create privacy in your outdoor
space”. Mail to debbie@paradiseporch.com. |
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