The fascination with tea parties
goes all the way from little girls and their miniature china sets (I still have
most of my childhood set, less the pieces the post office broke in transit.
Grr.). It reaches all the way up to European royalty and time honored
traditions, and somewhere in between there are charity functions held in
historic houses and slightly bohemian costumer teas.
So, what’s the deal with tea? For
the uninitiated, tea in this sense is not just about a beverage. It is a
sit-down social event involving all sorts of dainty finger foods like small
cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off, small scones, petit fours, cream
puffs, etc. The tea itself is de rigueur, but there may be other beverages such
as lemonade and champagne. Basically, it’s a chance to step away from the
humdrum work-a-day world to play at a different life in a more elegant time.
When a friend of mine who is an
amazing caterer offered to help me put together my next book launch party, I
told him the next book scheduled was a steampunk Victorian detective novel with
werewolves. Before I knew it, I was committed, full steampunk ahead, to a
costume-optional Victorian garden tea.
I was very, very fortunate to
have several advantages to help me pull this off. First of all, I had the
aforementioned catering friend that gave me an incredibly generous deal on his
incredible work. Secondly, I have musician friends who
always donate their services to my launches, and had experience in providing
background for period events. Another set of friends offered the use of their
gorgeous home and their lovely landscaped courtyard. A member of the local
costumer’s guild who has a side business with tea parties to go loaned me
teacups and plates to augment my teapot collection and Goodwill finds. (Thank
you, Bone Shaker’s Tea Parlour). I even had a seamstress friend with costuming
experience who gave me a very reasonable price on a custom steampunk dress for
the occasion.
But even without these
advantages, you can put together an enjoyable tea for a special occasion with
your friends. Card tables, table clothes, and silk or cut flowers can transform
a back yard, or often public parks will rent space. Scones, lemon curd, and
finger sandwiches are all easily made. (Petit fours are another story. Having
seen the process, I personally would leave those to the professionals!) While a
live band definitely adds atmosphere, you can make do with a selection of CDs
or even a good Pandora station. You can go for elegance, or have fun with a
theme, or combine the two. (At work once, we had a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. And
friends of mine put on a tea with the challenge to arrive in the most
outrageously over-decorated hat possible.
And just in case you need some
inspiration, here are some pictures from the tea party we had to celebrate the
launch of A Hunt by Moonlight:
Otter Crossing Music with special guest Diane Lovejoy adding atmosphere with their Irish/classical fusion.
Shawna Reppert is an award-winning author of fantasy and
steampunk who keeps her readers up all night and makes them miss work
deadlines. Her fiction asks questions
for which there are no easy answers while taking readers on a fine adventure
that grips them heart and soul. You can
find her work on Amazon and follow her blog on her website (www.Shawna-Reppert.com). You can friend her on Facebook and follow her
on Twitter, where she posts an amazing array of geekery. Shawna can also sometimes be found in
medieval garb on a caparisoned horse, throwing javelins into innocent hay bales
that never did anything to her.
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