It’s My Party: Super Fancy Tea Party
Planning a party is one of the parts of a parent’s job description that can be the most daunting. What’s age-appropriate? Where are the best places to consider as party venues in Huntsville and Madison County? How can you throw a good party and stay within your budget? We plan on helping busy parents find the answers to those questions and more in our series, “It’s My Party”, where we invite real, local parents to share their great party planning experiences with other readers. Whether you’re faced with a birthday, baby shower, adoption, or christening, we hope we can make it easier for you! Our Birthday Party Planner should definitely be in your bookmarks bar – it puts ALL the local party resources here in town at your fingertips!
Do you want to participate and share your personal party experience? Just email me at [email protected].
Big thanks to RCM reader, Helen L., for sharing her wonderful ideas!
Party Theme: “Super Fancy Tea Party” – My daughter wanted “something fancy… with lots of flowers” and a tea party. Having a less than fancy budget, we decided to host the party at home and decorate with inexpensive paper decorations. Friends dressed up as Princess Tiana and Princess Belle to bring an extra fancy frill.
Age & Gender of the Child: Pickle, 5, Female
Party Location & Facility: At home
Facility Rental Cost: No facility costs, but plenty of set-up, tear-down, and cleaning.
# of Party Guests: Five. Indoor at-home party? Yeah, definitely a short guest list.
Invitations: We found printable Anna Griffin wedding invitations for less than the kids’ fill-in-the-blank invites in the stationary clearance section of Target. Pickle loved the shiny gold foil pattern. Less money and no tedious filling out of invitations, plus included Thank You cards? Sold! A quick Google Images search churned up plenty of vintage teacup and teapot art to add.
Cake & Food: The cake was a strawberry cake with buttercream frosting from Publix. I ordered a white cake with a piped shell border, but otherwise undecorated. The decorations were waiting at home! Classic candied violets. Earlier in the spring Pickle and I foraged for violets that were then taken home, sugared, and dried. This took for-flipping-ever to do especially with helpful little hands, but it was worth it. The kids got a kick out of eating real flowers. Fancy, but cheap.
Since the party took place in the afternoon around snack time, we wanted to offer our guests refreshments that would be satisfying without being too heavy. It also needed to be pretty easy to assemble the day of the event, fit the tea party theme, and be appealing to young kids.
- Crustless ham and cucumber sandwiches with a light smear of aioli
- Chicken salad on mini croissants with blackening seasoning on the side for kick
- Lemon, orange, and pistachio macaroons
- Fruit salad
- Kettle corn in little cake cups
- Beverages for the Littles: apple juice, lemon water, hot chocolate
- Beverages for the Grown ups: lemon water and sweet tea
Games & Activities: When guests arrived, Littles went to the playroom and parents had some time to chat. Once all guests arrived, Littles found their names on butterfly place cards and were served food and beverage of their choice. As they finished up their snack and before cake, Princesses Tiana and Belle joined them for a meet and greet.
Decorations: We tried to use whatever we had around the house: craft supplies, recycled decorations from previous parties, and recycled tissue paper and newsprint. Add to that 2 hula hoops and a roll of burlap ribbon for less than $10 and there were the makings of our decorations. We made paper flowers. Lots of paper flowers. Lots and lots of paper flowers. The food table (repurposed patio table) had a decorative ring suspended from a pole. The table’s centerpiece was made using simple tissue paper flowers, scrap fabrics, and a set of frog salt and pepper shakers. Each place was set with a paper doily placemat, a vintage teacup and saucer, and a butterfly place card.
Favors:
- Hats for all: Pickle and I decorated $1 Target Easter hats with pretty floral embellishments we found in our craft box for the young ladies. We did not adorn hats for the young gentlemen.
- Gloves for little ladies
- Vintage teacup with saucer: A dear friend gave me the idea to use vintage teacups and also the wisdom to set some guidelines lest we bring home every teacup in Huntsville. Pickle and I spent the last year visiting thrift stores to collect enough sets for all attendees. It took a while because we had strict rules. The teacup must have its matching saucer, both must be free of chips and cracks, contain some pink, and be $5 or less per set.
- Parting goody bag with notebook and funky chunky crayon
Online Resources You Used to Plan: Evite (initial save the date), Google Images
Do you want to participate and share your personal party experience? Just email me at [email protected].
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