Throwing an afternoon tea party this spring? Whether you are hosting an intimate and traditional party or taking a non-traditional spin, this event planning guide will help you put on the perfect party!
For my party, I hosted a non-traditional, springtime afternoon tea. I had 8 guests, and it was a lovely and beautiful affair with 3 different teas, lots of food, and an afternoon of laughter. Here’s how I’ll break it down:
Other Helpful Links included in this guide
- Springtime Party Invite & Menu Template on Canva
- My Pinterest Board for Inspiration
- All the Recipes used
You can also check out my video here to see a little more behind the scenes! (Link coming soon)
Afternoon Tea Invitations
My Party: For my party, I created and sent a digital invitation I created on Canva. I embraced the springtime theme and also designed my menu and other decorations with the same color scheme. Timing and details will vary, but the following worked perfectly for my party of 8 close friends, some of which were visiting from out of town.
- Schedule:
- Save the date sent ~3 weeks before
- Formal digital invitation with confirmed details sent 2 weeks before
- Confirmed RSVP and reminder sent 1 week before
- Invite Details:
- Title, Date, Time, Location, Attire and Other
Top Tips: For your party, you can adjust the schedule to fit your needs. If you’d like to use my invitation design as a template, you can find it linked here! If you have a different look in mind, Canva, Pinterest, and Etsy are great places to start for ideas or template purchase.
- Schedule: This will vary largely depending on your personal preference and relationship with your guests. I used text for most communications, but email also is a good option. The table below is a guide to give you a starting point, but adjust to your needs as you see fit.
| The Basics | 10+ Guests | Out of Town Guests | |
| Save the Date | (Optional) | Recommended | Highly Recommended |
| Formal Invitation | Required | Required | Required |
| RSVP – text, email, evite, other | Recommended | Highly Recommended | Highly Recommended |
| Reminder | Highly Recommended | Highly Recommended | Highly Recommended |
- Invite Details: Most details are essentials, but the most overlooked extra is attire! I always get tons of questions on what to wear. Including attire or a general vibe helps field some of these questions.
| The Invite Essentials | Extras |
| Title/Occasion, Date, Time, Location/Address | Attire, RSVP method and date, Activities, What to Bring |
Decorations & Table Settings
My Party: Again, I stuck with the springtime theme. I used classic white dishware with a few wooden boards. Although I kept the napkins and name plates simple, I also had a gauzy table runner, flowers, and the food to add splashes of color.
I was lucky enough to have a beautiful white tea set at home, in addition to other platters and boards so no new purchases were necessary. The tiered platters, tea set, and flowers really helped everything come together for a beautiful modern tea party aesthetic.
Top Tips: Before you start decorating, step 1 is to decide your theme. The two most important questions that helped guide me were
- Traditional afternoon tea party aesthetic or untraditional modern twist?
- For a traditional afternoon tea party aesthetic, think white, pastels, and gold colors paired with dainty China and florals. For a modern twist, it can be anything you want!
- Color scheme?
- Your colors should not restrict you, but rather be used as a general guide as you shop or decorate.
After, I recommend finding some inspiration. Pinterest is still my favorite, and you can check out my inspiration board here! Instagram, Tik Tok, and other social media platforms are also great places to look in addition to Google.
Once you have your inspiration, now you get to have fun! Since I did not purchase dishware, I don’t have as much wisdom to share for shopping. If you’re looking for a convenient option, here is a cute tiered platter and tea set I’ve seen and/or purchased for friends though!
Some other recommendations:
- Tiered or tall platters are essential. Adding some height truly adds dimension and life when putting out food.
- Flowers can also be used to add height, but be careful not to make your arrangements too tall. My flowers were beautiful, but we ended up moving them halfway through so I could see people across the table better.
- If you are serving more than one kind of tea, consider having more than 1 cup per person. You can set multiple out on the table, or have extras ready to go in case guests need another.
- Use different platters for serving! When serving your food, don’t use the same shape and size platter or tray for every food item. Change it up to be more dynamic and create a beautiful table.
Afternoon Tea Menu
Traditionally, afternoon tea is paired with a 3-tier platter of food. On the bottom are finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off, such as cucumber sandwiches. Next are scones with clotted cream and jam. The third tier traditionally consists of sweets such as bite sized cookies, tarts, or bars. This food is served with hot tea. Milk, sugar or other add ins are on the side.
My Party: I took a much less traditional approach. I had both savory and sweet options, plus 3 teas.
For the teas, I had 2 cold teas and 1 hot tea. It was a warm spring day in Texas, so my guests enjoyed the cold teas first. After we ate and were chatting for a bit, we switched to the hot tea which worked perfectly. It reminded me of a hot coffee following dinner while you chat.
- The teas: iced green Thai tea with cubes of grass jelly, iced grapefruit green tea with fresh grapefruit, and hot earl grey tea.
For savory foods, although the choices were untraditional, they were all a hit and paired perfectly with the teas! I made sure to offer a variety of options, especially since a couple guests did not eat meat or seafood. The salad was surprisingly one of the favorites, and everyone loved the balsamic dressing I paired with it.
For sweets, I had planned to make a few more options but ran out of time. The panna cotta, although “untraditional,” was the favorite of the day. The cookies and other items were also really yummy when paired with the hot tea.
Check out all the recipes I used below!
| The Recipe | Changes/Additions/Notes |
| Thai Green Tea | Served iced with grass jelly cubes |
| Fresh Grapefruit Green Tea | (Recipe coming soon on the blog) Served iced, simple syrup on the side |
| Earl Grey Tea | No recipe, Tazo brand with milk and sugar on the side |
| Lox Toasts | (Recipe coming soon on the blog) |
| Spinach & Artichoke Pinwheels | |
| Italian Sandwich on Focaccia | Calabrian pepper spread, pesto, deli turkey/ham/salami, provolone |
| Salad + Balsamic Dressing | Romaine/Spinach mix, bell peppers, blueberries, cucumber |
| Panna Cotta | Base from recipe, topped with homemade lemon curd and strawberries |
| Almond Croissant Muffins | Recipe from Tik Tok @Everything.Almas |
| Cookies | No recipe, a gift and homemade by my friend’s mom! |
Putting It All Together
My Party: On the day of, I was scrambling to get everything together. I was unable to prep as much beforehand due to a super busy schedule, which was definitely a mistake! However, everything came together great. I started the morning by buying fresh flowers, and then finished cooking, setting the table, and prepping.
My guests helped me with finishing touches as they arrived, and people ended up staying for nearly 6 hours! We had a great time just catching up and talking, and I left all the food out for us to nibble on while we chatted.
Top Tips: Some of these are general event planning tips, and some are specific to the tea party. Hope these help you!
- TIME
- Prep as much as you can ahead of time! Especially if you have an earlier party time, prepare as much as you can the day before. Even food that you’d like to serve warm can easily be reheated on the day of.
- ALWAYS give yourself more time to cook and set up than you think! Even with helpers, something will always go wrong. Always better to have more time than not enough!
- LOGISTICS
- Seating arrangements are important. While you shouldn’t stress about it, consider how big your table is, and where your guests will sit. Do all of your guests know each other? Is your table small enough where everyone can participate in the conversation, or will someone on the end be left out?
- If you have an activity, consider having an additional table for games/activities. While you can clear your tea party table if you’d like, having another table makes it easier so you don’t have to clean and move everything while your guests are with you.
- MINDSET
- Be flexible! I had 2 dishes I ran out of time to make, but that is okay! Changes in plans are totally normal, and being flexible is a must when you are planning any event.
- HAVE FUN!! When planning an event, it is easy to get worried or stressed. Make sure to take a deep breath and enjoy yourself, both while you are prepping and once all your guests have actually arrived!
Overall, I had a blast throwing my afternoon tea party. I love party and event planning, and I was excited to use my afternoon tea to celebrate my birthday with some of my closest friends. Hopefully this event guide will help you host your event successfully as well. Enjoy and have a blast sipping on tea!!
