How to Host an Afternoon Tea Party: Tips and Must-Haves

Posted on May 31, 2023January 18, 2024 by admin

Afternoon tea parties are a wonderful way to catch up with friends, commemorate a special occasion, or simply relax on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Whether you’re planning an elegant tea party or a casual get-together, hosting one can be a lot of fun if properly planned. In this article, we’ll discuss how to host an afternoon tea party and what essentials you should have on hand.

Plan the Menu:

The menu is the first step in planning an afternoon tea party. The menu should include a variety of sweet and savoury items that are simple to eat and go well with a cup of tea. Finger sandwiches, scones, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, and fruit can all be included. Teas such as black tea, green tea, herbal tea, and flavoured tea can also be included. Check your pantry for milk, sugar, and lemon.

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Set the Table:

The table setting is an essential component of any tea party. A tablecloth, napkins, tea cups, saucers, and teaspoons are required. To serve the tea, use a teapot or a tea kettle. Ensure there are enough chairs and space for your guests to sit comfortably. You can also decorate with flowers or candles.

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Timing:

Afternoon tea parties are typically held from 2 to 5 p.m. Plan for the party to last between 2-3 hours, depending on the number of guests and the amount of food and drink you have prepared. Make sure your guests know when the party begins and ends so they can plan their day accordingly.

Dress Code:

A dress code, such as “smart casual” or “semi-formal,” can be established for your afternoon tea party. This can enhance the party’s ambience and make it feel more special. Make sure you inform your guests about the dress code ahead of time so they can dress appropriately.

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Entertainment:

You can add entertainment to your tea party by playing classical music or playing cards or board games. This can help to break the ice and create a relaxed and welcoming environment.

Must-Haves for an Afternoon Tea Party:

Tea Set:

A tea set is a must-have for any afternoon tea party. A teapot, tea cups, saucers, and teaspoons should be included. You can go with a theme-appropriate set or a classic design.

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Tiered Cake Stand:

For any afternoon tea party, a tiered cake stand is a must-have. It can hold a variety of sweet and savoury items, such as finger sandwiches, scones, and cupcakes. Depending on your taste, you can select a stand with a classic or modern design.

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Napkins and Tablecloths:

Any tea party requires napkins and tablecloths. They should be a complementary or matching colour and design to your tea set and other decorations. Ensure that you have enough napkins and tablecloths to accommodate all of your guests.

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Food:

The main draw of any afternoon tea party is the food. Include a variety of sweet and savoury items that are easy to eat and go well with a cup of tea. Classic options include finger sandwiches, scones, and muffins, while cupcakes and cookies are more modern. Ensure that you have enough food for all of your guests.

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A tea party in the afternoon can be a fun and enjoyable experience for you and your guests. You can create a memorable event that everyone will remember if you follow these tips and must-haves. Remember to plan the menu, set the table, time the event, establish a dress code and include some entertainment. Don’t forget the essentials, like a tea set, tiered cake stand, napkins and tablecloths, and, of course, plenty of tasty food. So, plan your next afternoon tea party and have a wonderful time with your loved ones.

Practise Mindfulness This Holiday Season

Posted on April 17, 2023January 14, 2024 by admin

Festivals, parties, weddings, birthdays! The holiday season is full of them and sometimes the social commitments can get a little too overwhelming. In times like these, it’s essential to pause and reflect. Listening to your mind and body is key and that can only happen in stillness.

We want to ensure that we’re able to be fully present for these social commitments instead of just being there physically while our mind wanders off. We’ve put together a few ways in which you can practise mindfulness to make sure you enjoy the holiday season to the fullest.

Make sure your prioritise

You will be getting a bunch of invites this season, there’s always something or another happening. If they’re not events, they’re plans made by your friends or family to go to different places. We recommend you make a list of everything and prioritise what’s important for you and the ones that would genuinely make you happy.

Yes, you’re right, it may tick some people off, but that will be fine, you come first, always.

Make your own tiny rules

It’s easy to slip with the sweet treats and alcohol when it comes to parties and events. If you end up keeping a blanket rule of eating healthy and rely on your will power, chances are that you’ll give in easily. We all do! Instead, make your own silly rule and follow it.

For example: I will only have 2 drinks at the party and push it to 3 if absolutely needed. After that, I’ll politely decline.

Remove time for yourself

Like any other device, we humans also have a social battery and it tends to run out of charge after multiple social interactions. Let alone the ones that involve alcohol in it. The only way to recharge that is to remove some time for yourself to do things that make you feel happy and fulfilled. It could be spending time in your bed, bingeing a show or playing a sport or taking a trip closer to nature.

Stock up on those vitamins

Vitamins and minerals play an important role in maintaining energy levels in our body and keeping our vitals in check. Consult with your doctor to find out which multivitamin would suit your system the best and make sure you have it regularly as prescribed. The effects of it will magically surprise you.

Move your body

Nope, we don’t mean by dancing at a party. While that’s great too, try to inculcate some form of physical activity in your life, this holiday season. It could be something basic such as taking a walk every week or doing a power yoga session. Choose what makes you feel good and make it a part of your routine.

Having that extra piece of pizza won’t feel so bad afterall.

Here’s a quick handbook to stay healthy this festive season and we promise, your body will thank you later and you can then thank us!

Fun & Adorable Games for Baby Showers

Posted on April 7, 2023January 14, 2024 by admin

So you’ve taken the huge responsibility of throwing your friend or close one a baby shower in India. Food – check, decor – check, entertainment? Well, we understand your woes. While baby showers are all cute, one needs to bring in the much needed entertainment to ensure a fun evening.

We’re going to make life a whole lot easier for you! In the next 200 odd seconds you’ll have, at your disposal, a list of some super fund and adorable games that’ll make the evening a memorable one.

Is that candy?

Here’s a game that’s going to make everyone go ewww, but we promise it’s going to end up in a series of laughs. Here’s what you got to do. Take some popular brands of chocolate, melt them and put it on a clean diaper. Have the guests smell/taste/lick it and guess the brand. If you’re hosting this baby shower in India, make sure you use local chocolates.

Baby? Not me

What’s the most common word heard at a baby shower? Baby! Yes, you got that right. When your guests arrive, attach a safety pin or a cute customized pin on them. Everytime someone catches someone saying the B word, you get to keep their pin. At the end of the evening, the guest with the most pins takes away the prize.

Match the baby

We all love cute adorable images of babies, don’t we? If the first game makes people go eww, this one will make them go aww. Ask the guests to bring in their baby picture and hang up each photo next to a number. Give the guests 5 minutes to match the baby photos to the guests. We say, this makes for a perfect ice breaker too.

Baby food tasting

Yes, you heard that right! In this delicious game, you puree various types of baby food. Think: Pureed bananas. Now that you’ve set up the list, it’s time to put everyone on a tasting test.

Have the guests taste different types of food and write their guess on a sheet. How well do you know your baby food?

It’s time for music, baby!

A more modern game, this one is going to test everyone’s music knowledge, but with a baby twist! Make a playlist with songs that have the word baby in it. Yes, we’re thinking about Baby, one more time by Britney Spears or Baby by Justin Bieber. If you’re hosting this baby shower in India, go innovative and use bollywood music as well. Baby ko bass pasand hai? Yes!

Play the first 5-10 seconds of the song and have the guests guess the tune. The one who gets the most songs right, takes the cake.

So, we got you the perfect starter kit for hosting just the right baby shower! It’s time to get this in motion and watch people trying to book you for their next baby shower.

7 Innovative Date Ideas

Posted on April 3, 2023January 14, 2024 by admin

While we agree, planning a date can sometimes be quite a task – we mean there is so much at stake right? Setting an impression, being thoughtful, finding the middle ground and in the end, wanting to also make someone feel special!

What if we told you, we’re about to make your life a whole lot easier? After a whole lot of research, we’ve put together a great bunch of ideas that are not the regular run-of-the-mill. After this, your date is definitely going to go aww or wow.

The arcade guns come out

Mixing nostalgia and adrenaline is always a good idea! Get on the floor, challenge your date to an intense game of alien attack or just dance your way through on the dance dance revolution stage. To a notch higher on the competitiveness and play a game of bowling or ice hockey!

The joy of winning a toy or those coupons is unmatchable and will definitely make for a fun day or evening out.

P.S. It’s a great way to also find out how your date acts when they lose.

Go close to nature

If you live in the city, it feels great to get a breath of fresh air and just be around something green or blue. If your date is up for it, you could also plan a short hike or a drive to a place 2-3 hours away from the city.

Nature makes for a great place to connect
with someone, away from the hustle and bustle of the city and guess what? It’s absolutely free of cost.

Bring out that bathroom singer

Karoke’s are always fun! Are we right or are we right? Find a spot, get those drinks in and sing your hearts out. Being goofy might just win you some extra points here, so sing straight from your heart.

Make sure you feel that pain when you go – I want it that way!

Show your inner nerd

Remember those museum and planetarium trips that were a part of the school field trip. Back then the proposition of spending a day out of class seemed very fascinating! Find the museums in your city and plan a tour of them. Geek out on knowledge together and find out something you both didn’t know earlier.

A movie hop

Does your date enjoy cinema? The smell of popcorn, the samosas which are weirdly addictive and getting lost in a different world for a couple of hours?

Check out the movies that are playing, create a mix of genres, throw in a surprise one in the bag as well.

Make a meal together

Food definitely brings people closer! Sign up for a cookery class and battle it out in the kitchen with your partner. This also makes a great testing ground for their patience, humility and other skills.

Food hall organizes them quite often and you can check them out here.

Channel your inner artist

Yes, it’s time to flaunt your skills or laugh over just how bad your artistic sensibilities are. Take your partner our for a sip and paint date where you’re given a canvas, a bunch of paints and lots of drinks – yes you read that right!

Check out their instagram page and get planning! – @sipandpaintindia

So yes, date ideas can get exhausting! We mean there is only so much food you can eat and cocktails you can drink! These unconventional ideas are also easy on your pocket and will definitely impress your date if you play all your cards right.

Do you get anxious when you mix your social groups? Here are some fun party icebreakers to ease it.

Posted on January 8, 2023January 14, 2024 by admin

Let’s be real, being a host isn’t exactly guaranteed to be stress-free. This sentiment is amplified tenfold when you’re tasked with mixing two equally cherished friend groups who are more or less strangers to one another.

The thought of having their college friends meet their work friends, or god forbid, be in the same room as their slightly unhinged school friends is pretty much the perfect recipe for disaster (irrespective of the comedy gold it may produce!).

But a good host always has a trick or two up their sleeve to cut through the tension and ease the party with some cool and slick icebreakers. Read on to know about a few fun party icebreaker games for when your two worlds collide!

Two Truths and a Lie

Have everyone in your meeting share two things about themselves that are true, and one thing that is a lie. Then have the rest of the team try to guess which is the lie. There are no rules to this game, everyone’s allowed to let their imaginations run wild and free (as long as nobody gets hurt of course).

Draw Thy Neighbour

A sure-shot way to fish out any Picasso’s in the mix, Draw Thy Neighbour is a fun little activity that applauds everybody’s imagination and pardons everybody’s drawing skills! Just hand out a pencil and sketchbook and let the storytelling begin.

Dream Celebrity Dinner Guests

This is the typical “Who’s my dream dinner guest?” game, with a twist! To add a twist to the game, have each participant explain why they’d like that particular celebrity to come for dinner. Be prepared for some wild answers though!

Charades

It’s a classic that we all know all too well. Charades bring out the competition, laughs, and entertainment that you wouldn’t think a party to be capable of.

Divide the guests into two teams; one member of each team has to “act out” a phrase without speaking, while the other members of your team try to guess what the phrase is. You can add a theme like “Movies”, “Books”, or “Songs” to make it clearer.

10 Things I Like About You

This game is all about finding out who’s destined to be your party pal. Divide the guests into partners with instructions to discover 10 things that they have in common, the pair who gets to it the fastest wins! Alternatively, you can choose to not divide the guests into pairs, and just let them mingle with one another until they find the one they’ve got the most things in common with,

Rock, Paper Scissors Showdown

A childhood favorite that everybody knows how to play, this game is fast, energizing, and uber-competitive in the best way possible!

Just divide the party people into two different teams (if they belong to two or three separate social groups, it’s best to mix them up at random!), and have one member from each team compete against the other in the ultimate Rock, Paper Scissors showdown. The team with the most wins gets a grand party prize!

Party ID Cards

The most straightforward way to ease strangers into mixing at a party is to introduce them to one another. But let’s make this fun by adding fun ID cards that highlight something unique about the person. This can be there own little Instagram bio but in a party edition. For a socials mixer, including “single” & “taken” arm bands is always a plus!