After a big tea party, when we are washing up mountains of dishes, repacking box after box which we will have to lug to the car then back to storage, I ask myself why I do these elaborate tea parties. The answer is multifaceted, like most things in life.

I love the attention to detail that an elaborate event requires. I love the special china and silver that is used. I love how excited guests become when a paper invitation arrives via the postal service. I love preparing the time-honored, precisely-garnished tea foods. I love reaching for excellence and beauty in all my afternoon tea preparations. I love spending a calm, elegant afternoon with people I cherish.

Like the rest of humanity, I am not getting younger. I have to pick and choose where to spend my energy. I’ve conceded that I need more help in bringing my vision of a beautiful tea party to life. Luckily, I am blessed with the most talented, cooperative, and willing friends imaginable.
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Collaboration, letting go of strict control of every detail, has brought not only more enjoyment of the process but has made room for the happy accident and has allowed fresh perspectives to breathe new life into the event.

One of the keys to successful collaboration is to let partners’ interests and abilities guide the choice of contribution. People are usually more interested in either sweets or savories. People who don’t cook or bake may be willing to clean-up or bring flowers. Not everyone is good at everything, and it’s helpful to provide only as much guidance as people ask for. As learned from countless potlucks through the years, don’t ask the chronically late friend to bring appetizers!

Recently, we held an afternoon tea party for eight. I partnered with several friends to bring our springtime celebration to fruition. Suzi and I chose pink and green as the color scheme for our tabletop, in part because our china collection is slanted towards those springy colors.
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In reviewing the list of tea things used for this party, I am again reminded of how very fortunate I am to be included in this group of friends who support my tea party activities. So many wonderful women have contributed to the collection of tea service equipment.

​​The basis of my and Suzi’s collection of tea things was handed down from mothers and grandmothers. Suzi has loved vintage china for many years before shabby chic became popular. We haunted a fantastic flea market in Santa Cruz where we scored many beautiful pieces. I did resist collecting tea cups for a long time because I had something specific in mind. After years of hunting, I found the pattern I’d been imagining, “Alice” from Laura Ashley. Though out of my price range at the time, Aunt Rose gifted me with many pieces of “Alice” for my college graduation. Other friends followed her lead, and I’ve been the loving guardian of the set for many years. Each time I take a piece out of the box, I’m still thrilled by this pattern. It has a charming floral motif in pinks, greens, and other springy colors. The “Alice” teapot and sugar and creamer set worked well with our spring theme.
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We served mimosas in the Perrier-Jouet champagne flutes that are decorated like the champagne bottles, with cherry blossoms and gold outlining. I’d had a pair of these glasses for many years, safely tucked away in the original box with the empty champagne bottle. I now have a whopping eleven flutes because my friend Marie knew I loved them and began actively thrifting for them! We added in traditional china salad plates, lavishly accented with gold, a gift from Marleen, one of our super-thrifter girlfriends. Another wonderful girlfriend, Merlina, had gifted me with a set of three covered miniature flower-shaped dishes which were perfect servers for lemon curd. Our collection of thrifted tea cups and saucers has come from the generous thrifting efforts of Kristin, Ellen, Marleen, Marie, Jayne, Suzi, and Peggy. We chose the prettiest tea cups, most having a floral or rose design for this tea party. Silver flatware, linen tea napkins, and a lace tablecloth overlaid with a pink damask square completed the table setting.
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With so much help in building this collection of tea things, “my” tea parties are always really “our” tea parties. Thank you, dear ladies, for making our tea parties such wonderful events.
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• Yorkshire Gold hot tea
• Peach and orange mimosas by Peggy
• French sparkling lemonade
• Plated raspberry pecan salads with asparagus flans by Suzi and Kath

• A trio of tea sandwiches by Peggy
• Egg salad on dark rye with baby romaine, citrus aioli prawns with butter lettuce on light rye, and marinated cucumber with herbed cream cheese
• Lemon peel scones with lemon curd
• Mango-lime gelatin mold
• Embossed sugar cookies by Suzi
• Jam tarts by Merlina
• Drop cookies by Sheila
• Almond petit fours by Suzi and Kath