Fancy Tea Party for your Birthday Girl

So, my daughter wanted a Tea Party, a real Tea Party, with white tablecloths and napkins, Tea Party food and waiters. Luckily, we were able to pull it off using items we already had in our home.

The first thing I did was determine how many guests she could invite. It's a proper sit down party, so everyone needed to fit around the table in a chair. With all the leaves, and a few folding chairs, we were able to accommodate 10 girls. Then I hit the linen closet and the china hutch. Grandma's old white linen tablecloth was perfect. I even had napkins to go with it that I found at a church tag sale a few years back. Washed, starched and ironed, they made a nice addition to the table. My wedding china so seldom gets used, just too fancy for every day, but perfect for a Tea Party. I also pulled out all of my serving plates and trays, and counted to make sure I had enough to accomodate my menu. Then I made sure every piece was clean and ready to go. If you don't have fancy china or tablecloths, you can try hitting tag or garage sales, even the Goodwill might have the things you need. It doesn't need to match, it should just be fancy, so the girls feel special.

A side note, some people wondered that I let the girls use my "nice" things. Truly, I was not worried. I found that when the girls were presented with a more formal table, they all behaved themselves like mature little ladies. Nothing broke, nothing was permanently stained, and if something had been broken or ruined, the world would not have come to an end. Things are made to be used, not hidden in a closet.

Invitations went out, inviting the girls to tea. Please dress in your finest afternoon tea attire was written at the bottom. My daughter and I printed the invitations on pink card stock, using a fancy font. Very simple to do.

Then we started planning the menu. It needed to be proper Tea Party food. Once we had the menu set, I typed it up, and printed it out on the same card stock that we used for the invitations.

I started baking a few days in advance. Luckily I have a deep freeze, so I could prepare and store things, and not have to make everything the day of the party. Some things are just beyond my abilities, so I went to a local bakery and ordered some special items, like the petit fours. My daughter helped me dip strawberries, and fill tart shells with lemon curd.

The day of the party I set the table early, linen table cloth, plates, cups and saucers, napkins and silverware. We put low vases of pink tea roses on the table. Each place setting got a menu, so the girls would know what to expect. A few bowls of candied nuts went on the table too.

Now, there was no way I was going to do this all myself. I needed help. So, I hired my son and his friend to be waiters. They are 3 years older than the girls, and always in need of cash. They dressed in dark pants and white shirts, and went to work. I had them pass the food trays one at a time. And they also served the drinks. The girls were cute, giggling at the boys, but all in all, it went well, and I could concentrate on being the hostess. The boys enjoyed the attention, were happy about getting paid, and finished up all the leftovers.

The girls loved the food, and had loads of fun being treated like grown ups. The last course was the Petit Fours, I put candles in them, and we all sang Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter.

As a take home gift, we gave the girls little Tea Rose plants in cute containers. A simple pink ribbon around the pot made them look so sweet.

We decided to serve a few courses, beginning with savory, and ending with sweet. All needed to be small one or two bite portions. Finger sandwiches, baked treats, petit fours, chocolate mousse cups, and dipped strawberries all went on the menu.

To drink, we had tea, but we also decided that a strawberry lemonade would be nice for those who don't care for tea.

Savory-
Smoked salmon sandwiches- smoked salmon and a teeny sprig of dill
Stuffed tomatoes- we stuffed them with cream cheese blended with fresh basil
Cucumber sandwiches- with fresh seeded cucumber added at last minute
Chicken salad- in little puff pastry shells

Sweet-
Lemon curd tartlets- with home made or purchased lemon curd, topped with a fresh raspberry
Petit fours- make your own, or order them from a bakery
Chocolate mousse cups- home made chocolate mouse in purchased chocolate shells
Chocolate dipped strawberries- hand dipped by us
Coconut mini cupcakes- with a fluffy white frosting covered in coconut
Mini vanilla scones- frosted with white icing
Raspberry jam sandwich cookies- 2 cookies from your favorite sugar cookie recipe with a generous spoonfull of your favorite jam in between

Serve the treats on pretty paper doily covered serving plates and trays.

Maybe even put the individual treats in fluted baking cups to serve.

Line the treats up neatly, don't stack or crowd them.

You can refill the serving tray if the item is popular, and send your waiter around again.

Decide if you want the guests to help themselves from the serving trays, or if you want to have the waiters put the treats on the guests plate for them.

Make sure you have the right serving tongs or cake servers.

Finally, it might be best to have the waiters pour the tea or lemonade, to cut down on spills.