Whether youāre celebrating your own birthday or planning a party for someone else, a traditional tea party can really bring back the old-school feels.
If you need help with birthday tea party ideas, one of our play experts, Hayley, has all the tea party plan inspiration for you! Check out these fabulous birthday tea party ideas and host the perfect occasion - birthday or not (who needs an excuse?!) We have covered tips on creating the best invitations, buffet food essentials and how to design the perfect table decorations. Take a look!
Iām no stranger to a birthday tea party, I had them most years as a child and now that Iām older, I ask my mum to recreate the nostalgia every September 25th, although more recent years tend to include a bottle of fizz as opposed to a jug of summer fruits squash. (A mix of the two sounds great now I think about it).
A tea party is a lovely way to celebrate; youāve got your closest friends, youāre in the comfort of your own home and youāre enjoying all of the foods that as a child youād go mad for (and perhaps still do).
Planning Your Birthday Tea Party Ideas
Invitations
I recommend posting handwritten invitations. Thereās something special about getting a letter through the post that isnāt some sort of bill or a flyer from your local takeaway (but save the latter for another day).
Your friends will appreciate the effort you have gone to and itās a lot more personal than sending the usual Facebook event notification... 'Decline'.
If youāre hosting a themed tea party, you could decorate your invitations accordingly. For my cabaret theme I wrote on fuchsia pink A6 card, glued a black lace trim around the edge and had a feather sticking out the top (who did I think I was at age 11?)
Itās also worth adding an āRSVPā at the bottom of the invitation. This will give you an idea of the numbers attending so that you donāt over-buy (or worse, under-by) the party food.
Hobbycraft sell loads of bits that you could use to make the invitations, have a look at there website here.
Food Glorious Food
This brings me nicely onto choosing what food to have, thereās nothing better at a party than a good spread.
There are some particular sweet and savoury treats that take me back to my childhood (Iām still only 24 but you get the picture). So when looking for birthday tea party ideas when it comes to food, for me, the following are absolutely essential:
- Finger sandwiches ā Filling options could include, ham, cheese or jam
- Cocktail sausages ā Hot or cold
- Party rings ā A British favourite since 1983
- Chocolate fingers ā A firm favourite in my household
- Cheese and pineapple hedgehog ā See below, youāll get it
- Vegetable sticks ā raw carrot, cucumber and celery. Thereās got to be something with nutritional value on the table!
Ā Of course the options for birthday tea party ideas are endless but hopefully these will give you a starting point.
Table DƩcor
Table decoration choices are simple yet crucial when planning your birthday tea party ideas. Fortunately, you canāt go wrong with a pretty tablecloth and cardboard cups and plates. Keep it simple, you don't need to go overboard with decorations. If youāve decided to go with a theme, have a look online for something that fits in. If you're struggling to find something that matches, then colour scheme tableware always looks aesthetically pleasing.
My "go-to" is always a pink princess theme, I just love how pretty it looks all set out in my dining room. There are however way more exciting, modern birthday tea party ideas for you to choose from.
Purchasing decorative cups and plates also means that there's a lot less washing up to do at the end of the party - bonus!
Hopefully the birthday tea party ideas above have given you all the inspiration you need to host your own Birthday Tea Party. Be sure to tag us @biggamehunters.co,uk so we can see your wonderful pictures. We love seeing what you've come up with and being a little nosey!