Teatime: It Isn’t Just for Ladies in Big Hats
Strawberries and tea pair well for a lovely springtime celebration. For one, strawberries are in season. And the weather is nice enough to host a pleasant tea party outside without being too hot to drink tea (unless you live in the south, in which case you can comfortably have an indoor air-conditioned tea party). While hosting a traditional tea party is a pleasant way to entertain, your tea party can be as traditional or as unconventional as you please. And we are designating it as an adult tea party so as not to confuse this event with a kids’ tea party, which tends to follow the more traditional format.
Imagine a platter of delicious, ripe strawberries with pastries and a whipped cream/sweet sauce paired with a delectable cuppa. And imagine enjoying this spread, perhaps outside in the sun, while laughing with friends and maybe even with a refreshing mimosa on the side. If this sounds up your ally, then let’s plan a strawberry adult tea party!
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How to Throw an Adult Tea Party
1. Create a Strawberry Scene…or Any Other Decorative Avenue
Classic tea house décor incorporates lots of floral prints – in the tea sets as well as surrounding furnishings and embellishments. There’s often plenty of pink, lace, and feminine touches. While this elegant and old-fashioned look is lovely, it isn’t the only way you can decorate for a tea party. Perhaps your adult tea party is more cosmopolitan. It’s been around the world to all of the other places where they drink more tea than anyone you know. Tea in Morocco, tea in Tibet, tea in Siberia, tea in India. Maybe the traditional decorations of another fellow-tea-drinking culture inspires your adult tea party. On the other hand, your adult tea party could wax very earthy and natural, with dandelion root tisane and strawberry kale salad. You may choose a plethora of houseplants (or your garden if outdoors) as your backdrop. However you choose to decorate, make it pleasant, beautiful and inspiring!
My very first themed party was an Across the Universe party where my roommate and I dressed as hippies, played the Beatles, and served lots of strawberries, à la Strawberry Fields Forever. One strawberry was uncharacteristically large and so it served as our decorative ‘mascot’ in front of our framed poster of the Beatles. There wasn’t much more to it than that, but we thought it was clever!
In keeping with the strawberry theme, you may opt to decorate with plenty of fun strawberry decorations. Or maybe you adore the traditional tea party look. Here are some strawberry and tea-themed decorations for inspiration:
- Strawberry confetti
- Strawberry daisy garland
- Strawberry burlap banner
- Hanging honeycomb strawberries
- Floral paper teacups and saucers (set of 24, only for iced tea and cold bevvies)
- Floral paper tea party plates
- Strawberry paper straws
2. Prepare Teas, Strawberries, and Other Tea Party Refreshments
Time to plan your menu! Tea party fare is typically light and refreshing, and your strawberry-themed adult tea party is no exception here. It isn’t the time to slave away over a special 30-ingredient stew or fire up the grill to cook a pile of raw meat. The main event here is to serve strawberries and strawberry dishes with a variety of delicious teas, and perhaps strawberry juice or other juices along with champagne to make mimosas. For everything else, keep it simple with sandwich bites and simple sweets such as these recipes here:
- Tea party tea sandwiches
- Cucumber party sandwiches
- Tomato tea party sandwiches
- Dreamy fruit dip
- Chocolate covered strawberries
- Strawberry shortcake
- Buttery 3-ingredient shortbread cookies
- Tea party pavlovas
- Strawberry tea
- Strawberry iced tea
- Strawberry mint sparkling tea
- Strawberry tea punch (optional: spike it with rosé, sparkling wine, or rum)
If you don’t already have a tea set for serving tea, you can find a wide variety of tea sets online. Or check antique shops for vintage sets, or go to home good stores for new sets (which are much less likely to contain hazardous levels of lead and cadmium). Otherwise, if you are lacking a proper tea set, just serve tea in your ceramic coffee mugs. It’s your modern adult tea party, after all, and matching teacups aren’t a prerequisite for hosting. Plus, it’s always fun to see who ends up with the super awkward mug you hide in the back of the cupboard. If you don’t have enough to spare, just buy disposable paper coffee cups. Maybe it isn’t as classy, but all that really matters here is that the tea tastes good!
3. Set an Adult Tea Party Ambience with Cheerful Music
Background music always contributes to a party’s happy vibe. For your adult tea party, play anything that’s upbeat enough for positive party energy while also being laid back enough to keep everyone pleasantly relaxed. An adult tea party isn’t about looking incredible or impressing everyone with entertaining wit. It’s simply about enjoying the warm comfort of tea, treats, and friendship. So when it comes to music, consider what music makes you feel good. Play what makes you want to sit around with your friends while sipping, chatting, and playing games. The timeless music choice for traditional tea parties is classical. If you enjoy classical music, play it! Jazz is another great option for background music, and it lends to a more modern adult vibe. But whatever genre you prefer – whether pop, folk, or R&B, anything pleasant that you and your friends enjoy is a win.
4. Add Delicious Tea and Strawberry Scents
We covered the sights, the flavors, and the sounds of a strawberry-themed adult tea party. Now, consider the scents! Immerse your guests in the evocative aromas of strawberries and tea with these irresistible scented candles:
- Teacup candle
- Strawberry boba milk tea candle
- Strawberry candle, sweet strawberry candle, or wild strawberry candle
- Strawberry shortcake candle or this strawberry shortcake candle
5. Plan Adult Tea Party Games
If any guests have trouble shaking off stress from the day/week/month, games are a great way to shed all that dross and relax. While planned activities aren’t necessarily required to make a great party, they can definitely liven things up! And structured fun is especially helpful for more introverted guests, or if intriguing conversations aren’t flowing as easily.
Here are a variety of fun tea party-themed printable downloads:
- TeaTalk conversation card set (this is a physical product)
- ‘Spill The Tea’ game
- ‘Name That Tea Flavor’ game
- Tea party etiquette game
- Tea party 8-game bundle
- Tea party 10-game bundle or this tea party 10-game bundle
- More tea party games
Another fun way to engage people but without as much of an agenda is storytelling. Storytelling is a compelling activity that’s more like conversation but with specific stories/topics to share. People enjoy this as they get to relax and are captivated in a story. There is no pressure to contribute, yet they may be compelled to share their own as well. There’s no better time for stories than over a cuppa. Think of some intriguing questions you may want to ask your guests – such as their idea of a perfect day, or where they would most love to live, or their perfect job, what they love most about their life, or the wackiest job they’ve ever worked.
6. Establish Guest Participation
Guest participation is optional and involves how you’d like your guests to participate or contribute to your party. Maybe you request that they bring a strawberry dish to share (just remember, as the host, to provide at least a couple tasty and filling dishes). Or maybe you invite guests to bring their favourite teacup to sip out of, if they own one. Or perhaps you lean more traditional and invite your guests to dress up in fancy attire. Whatever type of participation you request, make sure you communicate it when you initially invite people.
Of course, always choose your guests mindfully and with their interests in mind. Prioritize friends who you know would most love an adult tea party. But don’t shy away from others who may not drink much tea. You never know, you may make a tea drinker out of them before the day’s through!
Checklist of Items You Need
These are the things you need for your strawberries and tea party:
- Strawberry/tea party decorations (or whatever style décor you choose to embrace)
- Plenty of different teas and tisanes
- Tea party foods, bevvies and serveware (including a tea set or other vessels for tea, as discussed)
- Music
- Tea and/or strawberry-scented candles
- Adult tea party games
Preparation Checklist for Your Adult Tea Party
1. First, confirm that people can come on any chosen date:
- Choose party date/time, and preferably alternative date(s) as well. This is ideally when strawberries are most ripe in your region, such as during May
- Choose guest list and establish minimum number of guests you’d like (to make it worth your effort)
- Six weeks out, confirm guests’ interest in the party and availability on chosen party date(s)
- If your preferred minimum number of guests confirm interest and availability, have them secure calendar date for your unique strawberry-themed adult tea party!
2. Then, proceed with the fun planning:
- Schedule time on your calendar for each step of party prep as listed below (securing and/or making food/drinks, etc.)
- Create invitations with all the details and send them out 4 weeks before the party
- Order any party supplies and decorations 3 weeks out (so they arrive in time to prepare and set up)
- Shop for any party supplies/decorations you don’t order online, as well as non-perishable food/drinks
- In your planned time slots, acquire perishable food/drinks early enough in advance to prepare in time
- In your planned time slots, set up decorations
- In your planned time slots, prepare food/drinks (depending on how long things keep)
3. Day of Party (in your amply planned time slot):
- Prepare any foods/drinks that are too fresh to do any earlier
- Set up any quick/easy last-minute supplies and decorations (if not up already)
- Prepare ambience (music, candles)
- Get dressed in your favourite adult tea party outfit
- Preemptively heat the water – or have the hot water kettle or teapot filled and ready to heat just before the party begins
- Once everything’s ready, meditate or do any preferred self-care to get in a good head space if you aren’t already. You want to be a relaxed and happy host – both for yourself and for your guests, who will pick up on your contagiously good vibe. Teatime should never be stressful, so as long as you put focused thought and effort into your party preparation, don’t worry about minor details – your adult tea party is too grown up for that. Relax, sip tea, and have fun with your friends!
