Whether your birthday is just around the corner, or it is a friend or member of your family who is celebrating in their honor at your home, then what better party than one of the English afternoon tea varieties?
With this in mind, continue reading to learn how to plan and host the perfect afternoon tea party.
Aesthetics Are Everything
Before you even start to consider the food and all-important drink for your afternoon tea party, you should first look to source beautiful and quintessentially English decorations and table decor.
Remember, as with many other investments for the home and garden, you should avoid buying the cheapest things, as such decorations can be reused again and again for a myriad of celebrations throughout the year to come.
The trick to choosing décor for your afternoon party is to make sure it fits the theme of your afternoon entirely, which could take one of the following directions, to name a few:• Fairy Tale• Under the Sea• Sugar Cube Stack• Alice in Wonderland• Rose Gold.
For example, if you are throwing a tea party with an Alice in Wonderland theme it is a fun and exciting way to entertain guests. To make your event extra special, there are many decorating options available – especially if you choose to have your gathering outdoors. You can turn your tea party into a whimsical Wonderland by including creative and unique inflatable decorations that can be personalized with any design that fits the theme. Whether it’s card soldiers, enchanting mushrooms, or Cheshire cats, these made-to-order inflatables will help set the tone for an unforgettable event where the impossible becomes possible.
Food
Naturally, every single one of your guests to your afternoon tea party will be expecting top-notch and truly delicious food,and in keeping with the tradition of afternoon tea, you should familiarize yourself with the key components.
Food should be displayed on the table, for people to pick out the individual elements which they prefer and none of your food should be in one big bulk, and rather, should be in individual, almost bite-size bits. Scones and a couple of different types of pastries are also essential to complete the cake stand.
Invest in several, ideally similar but differently designed, three-tier cake stands and lay different types of foodstuffs on the different levels, ensuring that each stand looks identical when they are set on the table.
The basic elements of a true English afternoon tea include sandwiches with cucumber, egg and mayonnaise, smoked salmon and cream cheese and plain (and fat-free) ham slices. Additionally, always make sure you cut the crusts off the sandwiches and include a mixture of wholemeal, granary, and white bread.
Drink
Now you have the theme of your afternoon tea party firmly set in your mind and have hopefully already started looking for ornate and beautifully intricate cake stands and other items for the table and room, it is now time to choose the right types of drinks to complement your delicious array of food.
As the name itself suggests, an integral part of an afternoon tea experience is that of the tea itself and you must include different varieties of tea from a renowned supplier, such as coopertea.com.
Aside from a rich array of different types of tea, it may well be a good idea to include some coffee for those guests who simply cannot drink tea and be sure to provide any coffeedrinkers with their hot drink of choice in an ornate cup as well. When it comes to soft drinks, cool water with ice on the table is imperative, as are freshly squeezed juices as well.