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Tea Party Etiquette
The rules of etiquette for a tea party apply to both children and adults. With children, however, primarily the basics apply and most importantly make sure they have fun!
The first thing you should do is to send out an invitation that not only communicates the time and place, but also if there is any particular requests for your guests such as, if the tea is in your garden, the invitation may indicate to bring a hat.
For a Lady's full tea, usually three courses are served such as scones, tea sandwiches, and sweets. A Light tea will consist of just scones and sweets.
A traditional tea includes Jam/Preserves or Curds which are usually placed on the scone and then topped off with a dollop of clotted cream. Have your guests spoon a small amount of the Jam/Preserves or Curds onto their plate and then add the dollop of clotted cream.
For a children's tea serve flavored teas along with cookies or small tea sandwiches made of cheese or peanut butter and jelly. For a little girls tea party they may want to wear a special hat and dress up with a boa, pearls and purse.
It is always nice when the hostess asks one or two of her special friends to share the duties of pouring the tea. This allows the freedom for the hostess to mingle and entertain her guests. It is always best to alternate pouring the tea so no one person is saddled with that task for the entire time.
Smaller teas and children’s teas are usually given at a table. Larger teas are typically served buffet style, and guests may sit or stand.
For teas at a table, the napkins should be placed on the plate or to the left side. At a buffet, they are placed near the cutlery.
Never blot or wipe your lipstick with a linen or cloth napkin. Lipstick stains rarely come out in the wash.
As a guest, if the tea is at a table, remember to unfold and place the napkin in you lap. If you have to leave the table, the napkin should be picked up by the middle and placed in your chair. Never place the used napkin on the table until the tea is over.
If you are using two teapots fill one pot with very strong tea, and have one pot with just hot water. This way you can allow your guests to request either strong, medium or weak tea. Then you mix the water with the tea to get the right solution.
At smaller teas, once everybody is seated, the hostess pours the tea and always ensures that each guest's cup is full. The hostess then offers milk (never cream, since it is too heavy for tea), sugar or lemon. Lemon is best served in thin slices that can be floated in the cup. Milk and lemon must never be added to the same cup, since citrus instantly spoils the milk.
When stirring your tea, be careful not to clink your spoon against the cup. Gently swish the spoon back and forth without touching the sides of the cup. When you have completed stirring the tea, simply remove the spoon and place it on the saucer behind the teacup and to right of the handle. If the tea is hot, do not blow on the tea. Leave your teacup on the table to cool.
When standing and drinking tea, you can hold the cup and saucer near your chest, then take the teacup off the saucer and bring it to your mouth. If you are sitting and drinking tea, leave the saucer on the table. Hold your teacup by its handle, using a bent index finger and thumb to pinch the handle. Unlike the grasp used with a coffee mug, you never want to ring your finger through the handle. Do not stick your pinky out when drinking tea. Just hold the teacup normally.
If all the courses are laid out on the table, eat them in this order: first the scones or muffins; then the tea sandwiches, and last the sweets. It is okay to eat most items with your fingers at a tea party. If something has a runny filling, then use a fork. Take small bites of the tiny sandwiches. Never stuff the whole thing in their mouth, even though it's small.
If tea is served buffet style, never put dirty dishes or napkins back on the tea table. The hostess should have a designated place for the used dishes, tea cups and napkins.
When the hostess signals the end of the tea party she will place her napkin on the table. At this time, guests do the same.
Most of all enjoy!
The first thing you should do is to send out an invitation that not only communicates the time and place, but also if there is any particular requests for your guests such as, if the tea is in your garden, the invitation may indicate to bring a hat.
For a Lady's full tea, usually three courses are served such as scones, tea sandwiches, and sweets. A Light tea will consist of just scones and sweets.
A traditional tea includes Jam/Preserves or Curds which are usually placed on the scone and then topped off with a dollop of clotted cream. Have your guests spoon a small amount of the Jam/Preserves or Curds onto their plate and then add the dollop of clotted cream.
For a children's tea serve flavored teas along with cookies or small tea sandwiches made of cheese or peanut butter and jelly. For a little girls tea party they may want to wear a special hat and dress up with a boa, pearls and purse.
It is always nice when the hostess asks one or two of her special friends to share the duties of pouring the tea. This allows the freedom for the hostess to mingle and entertain her guests. It is always best to alternate pouring the tea so no one person is saddled with that task for the entire time.
Smaller teas and children’s teas are usually given at a table. Larger teas are typically served buffet style, and guests may sit or stand.
For teas at a table, the napkins should be placed on the plate or to the left side. At a buffet, they are placed near the cutlery.
Never blot or wipe your lipstick with a linen or cloth napkin. Lipstick stains rarely come out in the wash.
As a guest, if the tea is at a table, remember to unfold and place the napkin in you lap. If you have to leave the table, the napkin should be picked up by the middle and placed in your chair. Never place the used napkin on the table until the tea is over.
If you are using two teapots fill one pot with very strong tea, and have one pot with just hot water. This way you can allow your guests to request either strong, medium or weak tea. Then you mix the water with the tea to get the right solution.
At smaller teas, once everybody is seated, the hostess pours the tea and always ensures that each guest's cup is full. The hostess then offers milk (never cream, since it is too heavy for tea), sugar or lemon. Lemon is best served in thin slices that can be floated in the cup. Milk and lemon must never be added to the same cup, since citrus instantly spoils the milk.
When stirring your tea, be careful not to clink your spoon against the cup. Gently swish the spoon back and forth without touching the sides of the cup. When you have completed stirring the tea, simply remove the spoon and place it on the saucer behind the teacup and to right of the handle. If the tea is hot, do not blow on the tea. Leave your teacup on the table to cool.
When standing and drinking tea, you can hold the cup and saucer near your chest, then take the teacup off the saucer and bring it to your mouth. If you are sitting and drinking tea, leave the saucer on the table. Hold your teacup by its handle, using a bent index finger and thumb to pinch the handle. Unlike the grasp used with a coffee mug, you never want to ring your finger through the handle. Do not stick your pinky out when drinking tea. Just hold the teacup normally.
If all the courses are laid out on the table, eat them in this order: first the scones or muffins; then the tea sandwiches, and last the sweets. It is okay to eat most items with your fingers at a tea party. If something has a runny filling, then use a fork. Take small bites of the tiny sandwiches. Never stuff the whole thing in their mouth, even though it's small.
If tea is served buffet style, never put dirty dishes or napkins back on the tea table. The hostess should have a designated place for the used dishes, tea cups and napkins.
When the hostess signals the end of the tea party she will place her napkin on the table. At this time, guests do the same.
Most of all enjoy!
posted by Posh Party Box at
6:04 PM
1 Comments:
My little 5 year old granddaughter and I often play pretend tea parties when she visits. She suggested that we should have a real tea party and I agreed it was a great idea – anything for my little ones. So I went online to search for ideas to help me plan. I came upon Posh Party and thought what luck – the description of the Tea Party package came with everything to make a little girls tea party a dream. I was right! As soon as I received the package I was impressed. Everything was neatly packed in a beautiful large box wrapped with a ribbon. It contained everything to delight any little girl - dolls, tea cups for both little girl and doll, hats, purses, pearls, boas, activities, paper ware, and invitations, etc. I was delighted! My granddaughter and I invited her two other sisters, a couple of other friends, the mom’s and our only gentleman invited was my 3 year old grandson who held the chairs open for each of the little girls. I sent the invitations (which were tasteful and special with ribbons) asking the girls and mom’s to wear a dress. I purchased everything else to set the ambiance; lace tablecloths (I had already), little gloves (they weren’t included in package), candles, flowers, personalized ceramic picture frame place settings, and a large bank picture frame for the girls to pose behind with their dolls. During Tea I served dainty sweet treats, lemonade for the girls, and real tea for the ladies. We talked about table etiquette and after they played with the activity games that came with the package. It truly was an elegant event and I want to say thanks to Party Posh for helping me create a memorable tea party my granddaughters.
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