I'm a huge anglophile...
The landscape, the accent, the wellies on a rainy day, the Yorkshire Dale farms with miles and miles of dry stone walls, the sheep - the sheep! All things British...the way they still honor high tea...I could go on. I love everything about tea parties. My sister had a tea party one year for her birthday (I think she was turning 7 ... I was probably 23 - and SUPER jealous.) I love the details - the pressed linen napkins, the tiny jars of clotted cream and lemon curd, the beautiful porcelain tea pots that hold the most delicious teas from all over the world. The towers of finger sandwiches, scones + tea cakes. I love the way it feels to sit with someone you adore and sip tea and talk about everything and nothing all at once.
That being said, I've always dreamed of hosting a tea party styled session, but how? Do I book a table at a tea room and invite people for 20 minute time slots, ushering them through like cattle? NOPE. The best local tea room we had closed a few years ago because of the horrible flooding Old Ellicott City sustained, so that was out. I thought and thought, and realized, why not just host one at my favorite place on earth!
I gathered up all the things I had been collecting over the years ( a tiny table, huge pillows to sit on, quilts, a basket of flowers, tea cups...) and filled it out with the most adorable details I could find! (We were also moving 2 1/2 weeks later, so I couldn't buy too much!) On a hotter than average Wednesday evening in June, two of my sweet LMP families came out with their littles and enjoyed sipping sweet tea ( complete with a slice of lemon + lavender lemon cookies I had made just the day before ). I wanted these sessions not only to be a tea party, but a chance for my people to do something a little different than they normally would, dress up a little + just have fun with each other!
I hope you enjoy some of the sweetest images from that day, and I promise - I plan to add tea party sessions to the LMP repertoire when we return stateside!
xx
