Tea Parties

I'm not sure I've mentioned it before but I LOVE tea.  And everything having to do with tea. For example the following list includes many of the things I love about tea. 

1. Tea Cups - little itty bitty cups and saucers make me sooo happy :)

These are from the Royal Albert 100 Year tea cup collection and I 100% covet them.  

2. Tea Parties - They feel so proper!  And I love getting dressed up

Yes that is me on the right.  Also included is my sister and cousin. We are totally dressed for a tea party.

3. Afternoon Tea - Which is very different from High Tea.  I looked it up.  And you can too here.

It is my dream to have Afternoon Tea at the Ritz Carlton in London.

4. The Duchess of Bedford - She invented afternoon tea, which makes her pretty hot shit in my books.  Apparently she suffered from a 'sinking' feeling mid afternoons because it was so long between meals.  She started having tea and small snacks as a pick-me-up and began inviting her friends, which turned into the lovely tradition we have to day of Afternoon Tea.

In addition to that little fun tidbit, one of my favorite types of tea is actually called "The Duchess of Bedford"

 The Duchess of Bedford.  She is pretty much my hero.

5. Sandwiches with the crusts cut off and scones and all the wonderful tasty delights that come standard with tea parties.

Doesn't all this food look delicious? 

6. China - Which is kinda like tea cups, but different because it can also include dainty little sandwich plates, and serving dishes.

 I love this pattern, Jasper Conran for Wedgewood, Chinoiserie White.  Not for all my china, and certainly not for my full dinner set, but I think its the perfect pattern for a tea party.

7. Tea Trays - The are soo cute and I love that they have different levels and its like having 2 or 3 plates on the table.... but they only take up the space of 1 plate.  Ingenious!!!

 I picked up this tea tray as a gift for my mother when I was in Ireland last year.  Its by Aynsley, which I think is made by Wedgewood.

8. Tea Pots - Ok so this also falls under the 'China' heading... but they are sooo cute!

 This is the tea pot, milk jug and sugar pot that I will be getting from my mother one day.  Its Shelley China. There is also a full set of tea cups to go with the pot.

9. All the different types of Tea - White Tea, Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea, Herbal Tea.  Its all so wonderful and there are so many choices!! I just bought a super awesome tea when I was in Toronto from DAVIDsTEA.  It's called Earls Garden, Berry Bounty and it smells like GUMMY BEARS!!  So exciting (and delicious) 


Anyways one of my really good friends had her birthday party last weekend and it was a TEA PARTY!!  Which is what inspired this blog post and resulted in some of the above pictures.