Your Ultimate Guide to Throwing a Tea Party for Adults

Have you ever thrown a tea party? It’s such an easy yet elegant way to get together with your closest friends for a little bonding time! If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got you covered! Check out our ultimate Tea Party guide!

I love the idea of throwing a get-together for a little quality bonding time with my friends. Between work, kids, and family commitments, we just don’t get enough time to sit around chatting, laughing, and catching up with each other. A tea party is the perfect low-pressure gathering that you can do just about any time of the day. While you could pull it off with little more than a few finger sandwiches and a good pot of tea, we’ve got some ideas to make it truly special.

Tea Party Ideas for Adults

 

1. INVITATIONS

One of the first things you need to do when planning your tea party is to send out invitations to your potential party guests. You could just call, email, or even text your friends to give them the details, but if you want to get a little fancier, here are a few great options.

• Canva features Tea Party Invitation Templates, and you can completely customize them to fit your style.
• Zazzle has invites in an array of sizes.
• Minted has Online Invitations for Tea Parties, in a variety of colors, shapes and styles.

2. DECORATIONS

Don’t go crazy with decorations, remember, tea time is a casual event. Here are a few ideas if you want to add a little something extra.

• Amazon features Tea Time Hanging Cutouts Danglers, which features 3- 36” long hanging decorations.
• Amazon also features a Truly Scrumptious Floral Banner, which is a 13-foot party banner.
• You can also grab these Hanging Paper Lanterns, which includes a set of 6 paper lanterns.
• Walmart has Pink, Ivory and Beige Tissue Paper Hanging Tassels, which includes a 15-piece set of 14” long hanging tassels.

Check out this video for some adorable DIY ideas (I love the bird cages):

3. TABLEWARE

While I think you can absolutely scrimp on the major decorations, the table is where you want to shine. After all, the tea is going to be the star of the party, and it deserves a beautiful set. That doesn’t mean you have to go out and buy an expensive tea service set. You can get an elegant look with expensive tableware, too. Check out a few ideas.

• BBC Good Food has a recipe for Cinnamon & Coconut Place Name Cookies. These are personalized cookies you can personalize with the name of your party guests and can use them as table settings.
• Party City has Floral Tea Party Supplies, which features paper tableware, like dessert plates, beverage and lunch napkins, cups with handles and table covers.
• Party City also has In the Garden Tea Party Supplies, which features paper tableware, such as dessert and dinner plates, beverage and lunch napkins, guest towels, cups and table covers.
• Oriental Trading features a Tea Party Pack, which includes 8 dinner plates, 8 dessert plates, 16 beverage napkins, 16 luncheon napkins, 8 cups and 1 tablecloth.
• If you want to add a little whimsy, grab my personal favorite from Amazon: the Talking Tables Truly Alice Alice in Wonderland tea party set.

4. FOOD & DRINK

Of course, tea will be the main focus of your party, but you’ll want to serve food as well.

• Tea sandwiches- Tea sandwiches, also called finger sandwiches, are often served at tea parties. All Recipes features a recipe for English Tea Cucumber Sandwiches, The Spruce has a recipe for Salmon & Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches, My Recipes features a recipe for Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches and Taste of Home has a recipe for Crab Salad Tea Sandwiches. Shish Kebabs are also fun! Set out the ingredients (cubed meats and cheeses along with colorful fruits and veggies) and let your guests customize them the way the like.

• Scones– Scones are the perfect staple for a tea party. The Spruce features several Scone Recipes, including Buttermilk Scones, Ginger-Orange Scones and Strawberry-Almond Scones.
• Earl Grey Tea Cookies– Woman’s Day has this delicious recipe that features Earl Grey tea leaves, which add a speck of color to the cookies.
• Teas– Of course, no tea party is complete without an array of teas. The Spruce has a great list of the top ten teas to serve your guests.
• Tea additions- You’ll want to have tea additions, such as cream, honey, lemon slices and sugar, so your party guests can add them to their tea, if they desire.

5. GAMES

You don’t really need to go all out planning tea party games, just use the afternoon to chat and catch up with friends. If you do want to plan a few activities, here are some of my favorites.

• Birthday Party Ideas 101 features Tea Party Games to Complement Your Adult Tea Party.
• Plum Deluxe features Six Tea Party Games for Adults.
• Icebreaker Ideas features 15 Awesome Tea Party Games for Kids & Adults.
• Learn About Tea features Tea Party Games for Adults.
• New Every Morning features Tea Party Game Ideas.

6. PARTY FAVORS

Of course, you’ll want to send your party guests home with something memorable.

• Lulu the Baker shows you how to make So Sweet Favor Bags, which you can fill with loose tea and a mesh tea infuser ball.
• Target has Tea Time Whimsy Pink Rose Soap, which features a package of 12 scented soap, each in a matching gift box.
• Etsy features Miniature Tea Cup Candles, which come in your choice of 15 scents and 12 colors.

Package up your favorites in these adorable Kate Aspen Teapot favor boxes!

Remember, a tea party is supposed to be a low-key event to help you reconnect with your friends. You don’t have to go crazy with decor, games and favors. Focus on the tea & food, the rest will fall into place!

Have you ever thrown a tea party for adults? Share your tips below!