The Ultimate Tea Party Guide: The Best Ideas and Buys for Hosting a Grown-Up Tea Party

In many ways, a tea party is the perfect party: There's drinks, snacks and desserts; it can be hosted indoors or out; and it fits any occasion or holiday. Tell your guests you're having a tea party, and be instantly met with a chorus of "Awww!"

It's only an added bonus that the theme doesn't ask too much of its host. Put the kettle on, get out the good tea bags and serve some cucumber sandwiches, and you've got yourself a tea party. So whether you're celebrating Mother's Day, throwing a baby shower or just getting some friends together, see our favorite tea party ideas and shop for tea and accessories for tea lovers.

THE DECOR

A tea party aesthetic can be anything you make of it: Go traditional and classic with thrifted vintage finds and pastels, or opt for an all-black tea set styled with lace and ornate patterns for a perfectly gothy look. Remember: Tea parties aren't limited to springtime!

One of our favorite colors has and always will be pink, so for our tea party, we filled a table with pink teapots, chargers, place mats, flowers and even pink desserts. Pink floral plates, houseplants and a moss tablerunner add a natural touch and bring things back down to earth.

To create a table with depth, we stacked books from around the house to hold plates and vases. Tiered stands create a place for guests to help themselves to treats and snacks while also looking fabulously stylish. We used clear construction adhesive to stack thrifted teacups, plates and saucers to create custom tiered stands that fit the theme perfectly. If you try this at home, use a level so you don't end up with a wobbly stand!

If you’re not a crafter or don’t have time to take on a DIY, check out some of our favorite tiered stand buys that will grace your table season after season.

In lieu of traditional place cards, take a page from California illustrator and hand-letterer Joanna Reynolds’ book and label your guests’ drinks with Lewis Carroll’s famous temptation from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Sure, you could just write out their names instead of "Drink Me" and quotes from the Cheshire cat and the Mad Hatter, but where’s the fun in that?

Fresh flowers brighten up a table no matter the season. There’s no need to spring for a fancy or expensive vase, either. You can use cups, tea pots or even bowls filled with floral foam for a charming, effortless look. Finish filling out the table with thrifted items or borrow items from around the house like books and small statues.

THE TEA

Now that you've set the table, on to the main event: the tea. There are thousands, if not millions, of tea blends out there, from chai to herbal to matcha, with endless customizations. Serve up your favorite tea or let guests serve themselves from one of our favorite sampler options below. We also picked out a few matcha options plus tea cocktails — after all, it is a grown-up party.

For an alternative to honey or plain white sugar to sweeten your tea, try making these flavorful hibiscus sugar cubes. Add a tablespoon of strong-brewed hibiscus tea to 2 cups of granulated sugar until it forms a sand-like consistency, then add the mixture to a silicone mold (we used a heart-shaped molds) and let dry for 48 hours. Once fully dry, pop the sugar cubes out into a serving bowl and they’re ready to be added to a cup of tea. This sugar cube flavor can be adapted to fit your needs: try making sweet orange tea sugar cubes if you’re a fan of Earl Grey, or add a tablespoon of lemon zest instead of tea to brighten up lavender tea.

Give chamomile a kick with a steaming cocktail from Megan Lee at Marble + Rye in Buffalo, New York: Her "Hot Tommy" begins with a pot of tea, then raises the stakes with an ounce of Tommyrotter American Whiskey, 1/2 ounce of Amontillado sherry and a tablespoon of honey. As you’re steeping your tea, add the whiskey, sherry, and honey to a teacup or mug, top with the chamomile and add a squeeze of lemon. Finish with a bit of grated cinnamon, then sit back and enjoy your company’s contented sighs.

Matcha

When you’re ready to take your matcha to the next level, try this cocktail Jon Feuersanger created when he worked as a beverage manager for Denver’s Beast + Bottle: "Honey Made Me Do" It combines 1 1/2 ounces of Don Ciccio & Figli Finocchietto (a savory Neapolitan fennel liqueur), an ounce of lemon juice, 3/4 ounces of honey syrup, 1/4 ounce of aquafaba (the liquid you find in cans of legumes like chickpeas) and 1/4 teaspoon of matcha. Shaken with ice and double-strained in a tea cup, it’s worthy of royalty. If you're a fan, you can now find Jon coming up with creative cocktails at Death & Co. Denver.

Teapots, Infusers + Accessories

For a truly unforgettable gathering, look to Ron and Leetal Arazi of New York Shuk: Their exquisite, all-in-one set includes an engraved Berber tray, a golden Moroccan teapot, a set of six painted glass cups in the jewel tone of your choice, their own blend of spiced mint tea, pistachio halva and Turkish delight.

THE FOOD

Cupcakes, toast and those cute little cucumber sandwiches — tea parties are all about easy-to-eat finger food and sweet treats.

For our spread, we started with toast topped with onion and chive cream cheese watermelon radishes and microgreens for a refreshing but filling bite (Image 1). To make classic cucumber sandwiches (Image 2), add a blend of cream cheese, softened butter, lemon juice plus herbs and seasonings like dill, parsley, salt and pepper to two pieces of white bread, then top it off with sliced cucumbers. Close the sandwich and use a knife or a cookie cooker to cut off the crusts (you can save them to make breadcrumbs or croutons). You can leave them plain or garnish with an extra slice of cucumber.

For more savory options, toast up baguette slices topped with chicken salad and pecans, or for a Southern twist serve up pimento cheese sandwiches (Image 3). And if you love the look of window cookies but aren't a baker, use cookie cutters to make window sandwiches; we added strawberry cream cheese to the bottom slice of bread and topped it with strawberry jam (Image 4).

For dessert, we can't think of anything more perfect than this nostalgia-inducing cake from Baking with Blondie creator Mandy Merriman's new book: her Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bar Cake. Her riff on a beloved ice cream truck treat features a strawberry swirl cake, a strawberry vanilla bean buttercream and a strawberry crumble. Her not-so-secret trick to getting the perfect crunch is toasting crumbled shortbread cookies, then mixing them with freeze-dried strawberry crumbles.

Other tasty candidates include our lemon-lavender tea cake, pillowy mandolins, chocolate mousse served in teacups, macaroons or classic chocolate chip cookies. If you have leftovers once the party's over, freeze the leftovers as a sweet treat for a job well done later. Cheers!