About Mother/Daughter Tea Parties
- The hostess should have a plan for her mother/daughter tea party. In Victorian times, when a formal or proper tea was held, there were rules of etiquette to be followed. Your guests will find it interesting if you include tidbits of Victorian expectations for tea parties in your invitation. An invitation would state what the guests should wear for the party. This could be garden wear or formal dress. Mention whether a hat should be included. "Delicate" ladies would find it a necessity to wear a hat for protection against the sun should they be expected to sit in the garden or on a veranda. Ladies who were invited may have been asked to bring their own china cup and saucer. This was perfectly normal for well-to-do society ladies during a time when a household could have a shortage of fine china for 20 or 30 ladies. It was an adventure to carry a piece of china in a fancily decorated traveling box to a tea party. You can incorporate these traditions into your own mother/daughter tea party.
- You can make a very special occasion of a tea party for your daughter. Select a day when the two of you can have the house to yourselves. Prepare the dining room table or a patio table with your best tablecloth. Use china for your serving dishes and plates. The teapot can hold iced or steeped hot tea. Encourage your daughter to help you make tiny shaped sandwiches for your private tea party. Crustless round, diamond and heart-shape sandwiches will delight a child. Your menu can consist of egg salad, cucumber, olives and cream cheese or tuna sandwiches. Bake and decorate tiny cupcakes or petits fours that are just right for finger foods. This is a wonderful time to share favorite treats and happy chatter. Mommy can take this time to teach her daughter about the manners that would be required at a fancy party.
- Host an elegant garden tea party for your daughter's birthday. Provide platters of finger foods that your guests will enjoy. Invite mothers and their daughters from your daughter's group of friends and family. The group can spend time in the garden enjoying a buffet of summer foods. Later, move to an area where the group can have an hour of Victorian era crafting or games. Each mother and daughter could paint a teapot from a craft store. The guests can move back outside to enjoy birthday cake. The birthday girl can open her gifts as more tea, milk and punch are served in teacups.
- A tea party is a unique mother/daughter fundraiser. You may raise funds for the local food cupboard, cancer society or the annual Christmas gifts for the needy event. Choose a winter Saturday for the fundraiser. This is the time of year when the excitement of Christmas is over and people are looking for special things to do inside. Advertising and the promotion of prizes will spark interest. Encourage mothers and daughters to attend wearing decorated hats. Offer a prize for the best pair of hats, the oldest hat, the most original and other prize ideas you and your fundraising group come up with. Invite a high school string quartet or other musicians who are willing to volunteer and perform for a certain amount of time during the tea party fundraiser. Some schools require community service, and the students may be happy to complete their service doing something they enjoy for a good cause. if you plan your mother/daughter tea at least several weeks ahead, you will be able to solicit a few donations for prizes. Serve the group tea, punch and dainty desserts such as tea cakes. Remember to include a dessert that is appropriate for anyone who may be diabetic. Make sure you provide lemon, honey and milk for the tea drinkers, along with a fancy bowl or two of sugar.
- A special event for a milestone birthday or Mother's Day is a tea party hosted by daughters. You can have an elegantly decorated table with family china, crystal candlestick holders and bowls of fresh cut flowers. Treat your mom to a feast worthy of royalty featuring traditional tea party fare and her favorite finger foods. Encourage the ladies in your family to dress up. Hire a photographer to take a female family portrait with your mom. Give your mom a day to remember with her special mother, daughter and granddaughter tea party.
