Deconstructing the tea party...

I am on a one woman mission to remove the odious stigma that is associated with the phrase "tea party" - and I'm not talking about that flash in the pan political movement which is really buggering up my "tea party"  google searches! Don't get me going on that! That's a whole other posting in the making. 

Over the last nine years I've catered hundreds of tea parties - which have run the gamut from the traditional to the unconventional.  And believe me I love them all. But most people (especially men)  still tend to  think of tea parties as stuffy, estrogen fueled  social occasions. And that's fine, those occasions have their place on the social calendar. But tea parties can be so much more if  just given a chance to shine!

They don't have to be all doilies and tinkling of tea cups affairs. Think about it, weekend afternoons are usually unclaimed real estate on the social calendar - and unlike a dinner party, where you can only invite as many people as you have chairs for bottoms, you can invite as many people as you like. Plus you can invite people for a fixed time, say between 4-6pm, which leaves both you and your guests with time on their busy social  calendars for their dinner plans (or not).

And it really doesn't matter if baking is not your metier -  go on, cheat!  Use a packet scone mix and just buy jam & clotted cream (Cost Plus is brilliant for all three.)  As for sandwiches, well, really, how difficult is it to slap some filling between a couple of  pieces of bread and then cut the little the beggers into quarters - you don't even have to remove the crusts - tends to make chaps think they are not butch enough. 

Make several pots of fabulous tea, just so that you can call it a "tea party", and then break out the champagne or even better make some cocktails, Pimms cups in the summer or maybe some marteanis?

Music - up to you, vintage tunes from the 20s and 30s are great, Noel Coward is a favorite. I think we should put Brunch on notice,  let people sleep in on the weekends, afternoon Tea Parties are the next big thing!