Tag Archives: china

How to Decorate for a Graduation Tea Party

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Serve up an elegant graduation tea party complete with old style tea sandwiches, canapé, classical music, and amusing treats like tassel pasta and edible diplomas.

A Graduation Tea Party should be a short sweet and elegant affair where many guests are invited. It is one of the few tea parties where it is quite common to have as many to thirty guests to hundred guests at one time. Of course all of this depends on the number of guests that you want to invite at one time.

As graduation tea parties are quite large in number, it is usual to serve mostly sandwiches to save on mess and preparation time. A soup and Jell-O salads are also served to round out the meal a bit.
For this tea party you will be serving three types of teas

English Breakfast Tea: ironically a Scottish professor who presented the blend to Queen Victoria developed this tea. It is a blend of black teas including Keemun tea.

Earl Grey Tea – This is a very famous English black tea with a heavy bergamot scent (a citrus fruit) that first became popular during the 1830 (during King William’s reign.)

Caravan Tea – This is a heavy dark sweet tea that is often served with a teaspoon or two of honey. jam. Caravan has its origins in imperial Russia, getting its name from the camel caravans that brought the tea (usually a blend of Chinese and Indian black teas) overland.

A cute idea for the invitation would be to give it a tassel just like a graduation cap. Remember to include the menu on the invitation:

English Breakfast Tea
Earl Grey Tea
Caravan Tea
Endive With Tomato Rosettes
Lemon Pineapple Dessert Mold
Bean and Sausage Soup
Champagne Melon with Smoked Trout
Cucumber-Watercress Tea Sandwiches
Curried Chicken Salad Tea Sandwiches
Brie Pear and Walnut Sandwiches
Edible Diplomas
Cream and Currant Tea Scones
Date Bread
Blondies
Maple Blueberry Mousse
Tassel Pasta

On the invitation ask you guests to dress casually but formally. Make it clear that classic music will be on the menu as well as several classic games of strategy and skill – poker, chess, checkers and croquet in the back yard. Winners of these games can expect to receive small party favors such as tiny silver picture frames, pens and bookmarks

The design theme for this party should be black and white to match the formality of the occasion of graduation. A nice touch is to display photographs of all of the other graduates in the family on the walls and pictures from old yearbooks. One contest that could be held is “worst year book “ photograph for which the winner wins some kind of booby prize.

As this party is very grown up, you should use your very best silver tea service and crystal bowls. Square black and white plates also add an interesting touch to a staid looking table. White Oxford China with your laciest white tablecloths would be best.

If you like you could also attempt to make an ice sculpture of your school’s mascot or have on ordered up professionally. You can also give this type of party of personal touch by offering napkins or souvenir matchbooks engraved with a favorite saying or a motto.

How to Decorate An English Afternoon Tea Party

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Throw an authentic English Afternoon Tea Party complete with tasty tea sandwiches, scones, shortbread cookies, cream puffs, English Trifle and tarot and palm readings. Get out the good lace, floral china and silver tea set. Be sure the table is decorated with Victorian placards and bouquets fo flowers.

It is important to not confuse High Tea with Afternoon tea. British High Tea was a more substantial meal that usually included a major dish consisting of meat and fish. It was an early dinner well suited the middle and lower classes after a long day at work. An English Afternoon Tea Party would only involve between four and 20 guests at most and be held at about two or three o clock. So to throw a true English Afternoon Tea Party there will not be a great emphasis on heavy dishes or desserts – just a few sandwiches, cookies and scones.

The English afternoon tea party was also not really that formal of an occasion. It simply happened every day and whoever showed up for tea got served. Invitations are really not necessary for an English Afternoon Tea Party. All that is really required is a phone call and a request from you for your friend to join you for tea and a bit of gossip.

Although the purpose of the afternoon tea party is mainly to catch up on gossip, wit and conversation, you could make it a more major event by transforming it into a Tarot reading or palm reading session. In both the French and English courts a game was played with images featuring popular personalities of the day. In this game of 56 cards, participants were often required to come up with a kind of “soap opera” fiction starring the personalities on the cards. These cards later became part of the 72-card Tarot deck. You could hire a professional psychic or palm reader to read at your afternoon tea or you could be much more casual about it and simply have some tools of divination around so that your guests can amuse themselves should they run out of things to talk out.

The traditional English Afternoon Tea Party of:

Freshly baked scones and crumpets served with Devonshire cream and Country preserves

Afternoon tea sandwiches

Bread and Butter Pickles

Assorted Cheeses

Assorted pastries

Traditional English trifle

Tea (and or coffee.)

At your party, it is suggested that you serve –

Orange Pekoe Tea – This is a soothing mellow orange tea that is actually a hybrid of green tea and Assam plants.

Peppermint Tea – Germany makes some of the most delicious peppermint teas in the world. It is also a digestive that does not contain the caffeine of other blends.

Lapsang Souchang – This is a very strong Chinese Black tea that offers tired types a caffeinated pick me up in the middle of the afternoon.

Remember to showcase high quality teas so you can have the best experience possible.