A Guide to Hosting a Tea Party - Simple, Sweet and Personal

As a little girl I always enjoyed having tea parties with Mrs. Bunny my adorable pink stuffed rabbit, Mrs. Bear with her chocolate brown button nose, and Mrs. Whiskers my stuffed beige kitty. The day before my special event I would create a handmade invitation using my favorite pink and green crayons and deliver it to my best friend Erica, who lived just a few houses away. My mother would bake a special treat and prepare a very light tea with sugar for my tea party. Erica would then come over in one of her summer dresses and I would invite her to sit with our guests. We absolutely loved our sophisticated and "lady like" tea parties. I remember pouring imaginary tea into our stuffed animal guests' elegant plastic tea cups, and then Erica would pour the warm tea into our cups. After the formalities and introductions I would then help my guests with passing around the shortbread cookies that Erica and I would always end up eating. One of our favorite tea party games was to create stories impromptu about Mrs. Bunny, Mrs. Bear and Mrs. Whiskers and their interesting lives. Who did what, what new events were happening in their lives etc.

Now, a few short decades later, we are all grown up and our tea parties have matured just a bit as well. Instead of our wonderful stuffed animal friends we have real friends that attend and are excited to talk about their real lives.

When planning a tea party here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Choose a theme for your tea party and buy the necessary items

Step 2: Create the invitation cards for your tea party or you can buy pre-made tea party invitations

Step 3: Create a menu of treats and drinks to be enjoyed at the tea party

Step 4: Create a schedule for the tea party event

Step 5: Decide on tea party games

Step 6: Conclusion of the tea party

Choosing a theme will set the stage for the entire event. Based on this theme you can create the first important detail the invitations, I prefer creating them by hand especially when the guests are less than 12. It adds a much appreciated personal touch and gives the impression of the tea party. After creating the invitations it's a good idea to create a menu of what will be served at the tea party. Usually finger food both savory and sweet is appropriate. Next create a schedule of the party which can be passed out to guests upon arrival or kept with the party planner to keep things on track. The next step is very important in keeping the party alive and fun, choosing the game. One of my favorite party games of all time is Guesstures. It is such a wonderful, fun, lively, and usually hilarious game that everyone will enjoy. It is a very imaginative game that comes with a word hungry device that times you and cards with things to act out. This game is great for 4 to 12 players ages 12 and up, allocate about 60 minutes for this non-stop fun game.

There is so much that can be done at a tea party. In the end, there is no right or wrong way to go about this. Just remember to have fun, and do not be surprised if it makes you feel like a little girl again, enjoy every moment. If you have not already now is a great time to begin a tea party tradition that you can pass on to friends, family and your little girls in the future. Just remember to have a wonderful time, enjoy the yummy food, the games, the hot tea and have a wonderful time!