I love going to a formal afternoon tea, where everything is prepared for the table, the tea pot is brought out ready for pouring, where relaxing music and beautiful decor is commonplace.
Love Of Tea Parties
Sitting down to an elaborately prepared tea table is a delight for me. I can partake of the pleasures of afternoon tea without all the preparation work. For me, getting dressed up is an uncommon occurrence nowadays. I dress much more casually than I used to do. A spot at the afternoon tea table offers me the opportunity to dress in more fancy attire than what I normally wear. Lately, tea parties with festive party decorations, and fashionable tea party attire have been in the global news. Elegantly dressed people, in beautiful settings, enjoying a cup of tea. Movies as of late have also depicted elaborate afternoon teas set not in the confines of an interior room inside a house. Rather, they are staged outside, on sweeping lawns of green, with tables laden with expertly crafted foods. While I don’t have movie set designers, personal chefs, and a team of party planners at my disposal, I have found outdoor tea parties simple to throw together.
Garden Tea Parties
The reasons for an outdoor tea party can be many, from “the garden looks great right now”, to “it is summer time”, or family reunion time, or graduation time, or the “baby is asleep, I’ll enjoy a cup of tea on the back patio with the baby monitor on.” What ever the reasons for wanting a cup of tea out of doors, I am here to say it can be done, and it can be done very simply, economically, and be a moment of respite for all in attendance.
Where To Have A Tea Party
The choices are endless regarding where to have a tea party. My one caution is to choose a place that ensures the safety of everyone in attenedence and the location is permissible. With that obvious warning adhered to, there are very few exceptions to an outdoor tea party location. The seaside, mountainside, prairie, desert, backyard, or the front porch can all be contenders for outdoor tea time locations. “Make the place you are, the place you want to be” is an unreferenced inspirational quote I have posted in my house. To me, the message is about being content with what you have, and being intentional with what you have and enjoying what you have. Enjoy the outdoors, wherever that may be, and enjoy a cup of tea.
Keep It Simple, Soujurnour
I have been living a little slower of pace lately. Either it has rained, winds of upwards of 30mph, or heat and humidity close to the 90 F’s. The hot and humid days, or gale force windy days, or the drenched days tend to slow everything down. I have decided to be intentional on getting outside, enjoying a nice day when the weather is cooperating. My outdoor tea parties of late have been as effortless as preparing tea in a small tea pot, with a cookie or two, and sitting outside, listening to birds chirping. The point I am reinforcing is the uncomplicated, and unembellished nature of what can constitute an outdoor tea party.
Enjoy what you have and where you are with a cup of tea. That is a wonderful start for an outdoor tea party.
Leslie
About The Author
Leslie Sundberg is a World Tea Academy Certified Tea Specialist, a World Tea Academy Apprentice Tea Sommelier, a Specialty Tea Institute Level IV trained Tea Specialist, and a Tea and Business Etiquette Specialist. On any given day, Leslie can be found teaching, speaking or sharing in the joys of a cup of tea. No matter what Leslie is doing or where she is, one thing remains constant: 4:00 in the afternoon is tea time!
