Vintage Garden Tea Party - How To High Tea (2024)

Anywhere outside can be made special with the right garden tea party decorations. We love the look of vintage bunting strung between the trees or across the front of your porch.

Stringing fluttering paper butterflies like these ones from Talking Tables is another quick and easy way to decorate your garden.

Perfect afternoon tea begins with the right invitations. These offer your guests an idea of what you have planned.

We love the idea of pretty handwritten invitations sealed in crisp white envelopes. We are loving the range of floral pop-up cards by Liif Stationary like this Purple Wisteria Pop-up Invitation.

In the invitation ask guests to come in their best garden tea party dress (think 1950s retro-glam). Summer tea party hats are also fabulous!

Lace gloves, pearls, and pretty pastel-colored dresses and parasols suit this type of party perfectly.

For a lovely garden tea party, set out tables on the lawn or on your patio.

You might like to use a beautiful long table covered in a beautiful Chiffon Table Runner decorated with fresh fruit, foliage, and candles.

Outside tables can also be covered with floor-length tablecloths in either white or pastel pinks or blues. You can then add a lace table runner or a bright floral runner to bring some more romance to the setting. This White Lace Tablecloth is by Queen Dream

Or set out a selection of smaller tables scattered around the lawn covered in long white tablecloths.

Along the center of the table place vintage teacups and teapots filled with roses and summer flowers in full bloom. We love this Royal Albert Plate Set by Royal Albert.

Fine bone China pieces are the daintiest type to use for this kind of tea party. They are light and fine to use.

These Royal Albert Candy Teacups and Saucers add a sweet floral touch to your garden tea party.

Add more layers of lace on top of the table runner to really turn up the vintage romance style. We love this White Lace Tablecloth by Queen Dream and the cascading bouquet of flowers.

Place Settings:

Have each place setting marked by handwritten Floral Name Place Cards.

At each place setting put a side plate with a teacup and saucer on top, accompanied by a dainty silver spoon on the right.

Matching tea sets are not important, but floral or pastel-colored pieces look best in this setting, like this Floral Teacup and Saucer Set by Royal Albert.

Beside the plate place a knife and linen napkin. We are in love with these Bubble bee Napkin Rings. Perfect for a summer garden party!

If you are serving bubbly wine, also set the champagne glasses above and to the right of the teacup. Pink disposable champagne flutes are perfectly acceptable at a garden tea party.

Food Serving

Serve the food on gorgeous old-fashioned plates and cake stands.

Tiered plates look perfect in this setting. When setting the food on tiered plates, remember to put savory food at the bottom and sweet things on the top plate.

WHERE TO BUY

We love to use these whimsical butterfly decorations everywhere! They look beautifully stunning on tiered cakes with fresh leaves and flowers.

Have large jugs of iced tea and water with mint and lemon at tables for guests to help themselves. This Glass Mason Jar Double Drink Dispenser is by Estilo.

Extra decorations:

Add the next level of glamor by decorating the garden with white birdcages, hanging chandeliers and pearls, and filling the table with old-fashioned silver candlestick holders. We love the pretty glow of candles in these Hanging Glass Globes. You could also fill them with flowers during the daytime.

Mini feta and spinach quiches are an easy choice for a garden tea party. They can be served hot or cold. And these ones can be delivered to your door ready for heating and serving.

Add a mixture of delicious cheeses, grapes, crackers and olive oil to your care-free easy menu.

Get a fresh cheese platter delivered so all you need to worry about is serving it.

We also love to add a Spanish Meats Selection with olives, grapes, chocolate, and cheese. Delicious for eating under the trees in the garden.

Serve Shortbread Cookies with tea to your guests. They will love the sweet crumbly taste of these little treasures.

We were super excited when we found these delightful Decorated Flower Cookies that we could order in different colors. They have been so popular at afternoon teas.

These Alice in Wonderland Small Cake Domes by Talking Tables, instantly add a tea party feel to the garden. You can serve individual cake slices, cupcakes, or sandwiches in these. They look awesome and make a great gift for your guests too.

What is an afternoon tea without lots and lots of cake? We love the idea of using a large cupcake display in the center of your table. Let your guests enjoy all the cake they want!

Add some special fairy magic to your table with these Fairy Cupcake Toppers

Pretty floral plates are perfect for this theme, like this multi-colored Floral Side Plate set. Beautiful!

We think it is perfectly ok to serve bubbly wine at an afternoon tea. Especially if you use elegant long stem glasses like these ones.

It is the little touches that make an afternoon tea so successful. We love to delight guests with these Royal Albert Teaspoons.

Keep the floral theme going with pretty Mismatched Teacups and saucers by BTaT

Serve lemonade in beautiful jugs and tall glasses with lots of ice.

We love to serve pink lemonade.

Add some elegance with a Silver Cake Knife and Cake Slice Set.

Use a pretty pair of Hostess Sandwich Tongs for serving guests their sandwiches or slices of cake.

Serve cakes on Glass Cake Stands with a Dome which adds to the elegance of the event, and keeps the bugs off the food.

You can choose to use formal white plates for your guests to eat from, or pretty mismatched floral plates like this vintage-style set.

Don’t forget the sugar bowls! This pretty Royal Albert Sugar Bowl is one of our favorites in pastel green polka dot with a floral motif on the lid. Sooo pretty!

We love the whole Royal Albert range and all the options they have for pretty Teacups and saucers

Decorate with vintage paper lanterns like these Floral Paper Lanterns by Talking Tables.

Decorate the garden with these gorgeous Butterfly Stakes

And hand out Parasols by Barebeyond to your guests to shade from the sun while looking elegant.

Our The New Vintage Tea Party Book has lots of ideas, recipes, and inspiration for your next event.