I was able to throw a wonderful bridal tea, for a cute friend of mine and it was so fun to pull out all of the tea cups and vintage dishes I've collected over the years. I had wonderful ellanewmanphotography take these pretty pictures because she is just the very best! I thought I'd post these pretty pictures on the blog and give you all a few tips and tricks for throwing a tea party as well as some of my favorite recipes.

For the menu I wanted to do something special. I wanted it to feel like a real tea straight from London, and so besides the fact that it was 90 degrees and we didn't have actual tea. I tried to get the food spot on!

Cream scones with butter and jam and lemon curd
Curry chicken salad sandwiches
Cucumber tea sandwiches
Roast beef horseradish sandwiches with watercress
Mini caprese kabobs
Chocolate "petite fours"
Mini mille fuille with raspberries and lemon

A few of my favorite recipes from the day were definitely the scones, the baby mille fuilles and the curry chicken sandwich!!

For the Scones: This is a great recipe I got from a cute friend who is from England, these are the scones she grew up making with her dad. I've doubled the recipe because it makes a very small amount.

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 oz cold butter cut into cubes
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
pinch of salt

In a stand mixer combine the flour, baking powder and salt add the butter and mix until it is like coarse sand, with pieces of butter still visible. In a separate bowl mix the eggs and milk together before adding them to the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, it should be a fairly wet dough. Try to handle as little as possible, turn it out onto a floured surface and pat out to about 1/2 inch thick you can cut them into triangles with a knife or use a round cutter like I did. Place them on a baking sheet and brush with milk. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes or until they have risen and are just turning golden.

For the chicken curry sandwich I used Ina Gartens recipe it is so delicious you can find it here. I then simply put the chicken salad onto a good white bread and cut into little soldiers. I got about four tea sandwiches out of one normal sandwich.

The Mille Feuille was super easy but looks very impressive and is so fun to serve to your friends. Here is what you will need:

store bought puff pastry
store bought lemon curd
raspberries
softly sweetened whipped cream
powdered sugar

To start thaw your pastry in the fridge overnight. Roll out one of the 2 pieces and cut into even squares, I tried to get about 12 so 3 across and 4 down but its alright if they aren't perfect. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Then put another piece of parchment on top and another sheet pan to keep them nice and flat. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes but watch them because they can go brown quickly without you even seeing. Do the same with the next piece of dough so that in total you will have 24 pieces for 12 mille feuille. Once the pastry is cool you can assemble. Spread lemon curd on the bottom 12 pieces along with a small amount of whipped cream and then top with 2 raspberries. Spread whipped cream on remaining 12 top pieces and then place them on top of the raspberry pieces. Place onto your tray and dust with powdered sugar.

When I was planning the table I wanted to start with a neutral base and then just build off of that. I used liberty of london paper products which are always so darling and appropriate for a garden tea. Then I used vintage plates and goblets I have collected with my mom over the years from second hand shops. That was about it, I used mismatched tea plates and saucers to hold jam and butter and the table was ready for a party.

This was such a fun party to host and a great excuse to use all my vintage wares. Happy Wedding Lillian!!