How To Plan A Top-Notch Afternoon Tea Party

An afternoon tea party is an opportunity to raise our pinkies high, and drink delicious tea with great company. You can make it as casual or fancy as you want it to be.

Having planned quite a few afternoon tea parties myself, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. To plan the perfect afternoon tea party, it’s all about the small details. You want to create an inviting atmosphere, choose unbeatable teas, but it’s really about the unique personal touches you can add!

These are the basics to planning an afternoon tea party, and what you can do to really take it to the next level!

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

Hosting the ultimate afternoon tea party comes down to your kitchenware, tea, food, and ambiance. These are my tips for hosting the ultimate afternoon tea party!

Afternoon Tea Party Essentials You’ll Need

Every good tea party will need a few items to insure its success. Some of these kitchenware items might seem like no-brainers for a high tea party, but sometimes the most obvious item can be overlooked if you’re worrying about everything else.

P.S. I made the ultimate afternoon tea party checklist to ensure that you’re as organized and prepared as you can be. I included on the tea party essentials on my list, and a template for your afternoon tea menu and even a guest list.

A Kettle (or Two!)

Without a doubt, the number one item you need when hosting a tea party is a kettle. Otherwise how are you going to make the tea (please don’t heat up everyone’s cup in the microwave!).

It doesn’t have to be a fancy kettle but you need something that boils water. Depending on how many people you are, and the size of your kettle, you might even want more than one kettle.

I really liked my Black + Decker electric kettle (no longer made) for the look but if you’re all about the tea then you’ll want a temperature controlled kettle. Today I use the Cuisinart CPK-17C Programmable Kettle, it’s built for tea and will keep the water warm for your next refill. I also like it for tea parties because it holds 1.7 L of water.

Otherwise, if you’re more interested in the look of the kettle, the Le Creuset Whistling Kettle is gorgeous but it will be loud at your party. So I recommend a goose neck kettle, like this Cosori, although it does hold a lot less water (only .7 L).

Read more: Tea Time Essentials: The Top 5 Best Kettles For Tea

Teacups & Teapots

You’ll also need a way to brew, and serve your tea. The proper way to host afternoon tea is to brew tea in a pot and serve it into smaller tea cups. Having teapot and delicate tea cups are what set an afternoon tea party a part from drinking tea any other day drinking tea from your mug.

You’ll tea one tea cup per guest. The amount of pots you have will depend on how many guests and how many types of tea you want to serve (I’ll go into those logistics a bit later on!).

Read more: How To Make Tea – Brew The Perfect Cup Every Time!

Setting Up Your Table For Afternoon Tea

It’s always nice to have your table set up for afternoon tea. From your serving platters to utensils, and even the decor! This is everything you need to take your afternoon tea party to the next level!

Plates, Trays, & Platters

An easy way to step up your afternoon tea party game is with good serving platters and plates. These add a beautiful element to your table, and tend to make your food look even better! Now everything you’re serving will also have their own place.

If you really want a traditional afternoon tea, make sure to include a tiered plate (you can get either two or three-tiered plates).

Don’t forget it isn’t just about the serving plates, but your guests also need plates to put the food on. My trick for this is to buy fancy paper plates. You’re already to have a lot of dishes to wash after the party, so this just makes the clean up a lot easier.

If you have jams and sauces for your scones, you’ll also need bowls to put them in. And of course, milk and sugar bowls.

What To Serve With

Just as serving dishware is important, so are serving utensils. All the food should be bite sized pieces so your guests shouldn’t need cutlery to eat, but you need a way for guests to pick up the food to bring it to their plate.

This can include serving forks and spoons or even tongs. You’ll also want a serving spoon for any jams and sauces, the sugar, and individual stirring spoons for their tea to mix in milk and sugar.

Afternoon tea Party Essentials on Amazon
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The Decor: Tablecloths & Flowers

Add a little bit of extra decor to elevate your tea party even further. The best thing to add is a tablecloth. A tablecloth makes your table look extra special, clean, and all around more put together (and classy!). It can bring all your elements together. Especially if your plates and platters are all unique and different, I recommend using a white tablecloth for simplicity and to make your serving platters pop.

But! You can also hide some boxes underneath the tablecloth which will add some extra height to your table. No one knows that I had a box of cheerios and Uncle Ben’s rice underneath my platters! 

Another way to add height and liveliness to your table is to add a vase with fresh flowers. This can tie in with your tiered plates adding different levels to your tables look. You want to put these on the sides to frame everything else. Or you can put the taller items in the back of your table.

Extras Items To Think About!

Now that you have your kettle and main serving trays out of the way, there are a few other small kitchen items that you may want for your afternoon tea party. 

Although this is a tea party, you also want to have regular cups if people want water. You can also have a pitcher with a fancy water to serve (I like to make a nice lemon and orange water). I use paper cups for this, it makes it a lot easier to clean up.

You can also add mini labels in front of everything so your guests know what they’re eating and drinking.

Plan the ultimate afternoon tea party: My afternoon tea checklist has everything you need to plan the perfect party. From the appropriate kitchenware and tea essentials to a guest list checklist. Check it out on Etsy.

How To Choose Teacups & Teapots For Your High Tea Party

Is it even afternoon or high tea if you don’t serve your tea out of a tea pot and drinking from an afternoon tea set? Here are my recommendations for choosing the ultimate set.

Finding The Perfect Teacups

The highest of high teas would only serve in matching fine bone china teacup and teapot sets. But that’s very expensive and unnecessary to have all your teacups match.

My favourite place to buy teacups is actually at antique shops and flea markets. This way, you end up with a beautiful collection of mismatched teacups. My guests also always love choosing their teacup, and now there’s no confusion over who’s cup is whos.

You can also find some exquisite mismatched sets online. I love this beautiful set of 6 teacups, or this set of 4 teacups. A more cost effective option is this incredible paper teacup and saucer set (also makes for a lot easier clean up afterwards!).

Choosing The Best Teapot For Your Party

You may need more than one teapot at your party. The number of teapots you’ll have are directly related to the number of teas you want to serve. I like serving a minimum of two teas (a caffeinated and non caffeinated option), which means I need at least two teapots.

The size of the teapot will also dictate how many teapots you’ll need. You can find teapots that serve anywhere form one to eight cups of tea. You’ll most likely want a larger rather than a smaller teapot, this means you won’t have to refill it as often. Keep in mind that teacups are a lot smaller than normal cups. So the teapots will end up serving a lot more cups.

One of my bigger teapots is an Original English Brown Betty. It’s larger size is perfect when you’re a lot of people.

Pro Tip: If you’re making more than one pot of tea, ask your guests which tea they want to try. The most popular tea should be brewed in the largest teapot.

Teapot Accessories (Tea Strainers & Bags)

If you’re using loose leaf tea, you may also need a way to keep the tea leaves out of your tea cup. For example, my teapot doesn’t have a built in strainer (most traditional teapots won’t have, but modern ones will).

If your teapot doesn’t have a built in strainer, the easiest way is to pack your loose leaf tea in a disposable tea bag. strainer. Otherwise, you can have a teacup strainer on your table (if you have more than one teapot, have more than one strainer). These strainers sit on top of your teacup and catch the leaves as you pour out the tea.

Which Tea To Serve At Afternoon Tea

Choosing which tea to serve at your afternoon tea party is a very important decision. No matter how many people, I always like to have minimum two tea options at any tea party. One tea will be a caffeinated tea and the second is an herbal tisane.

Pro tip: Take out a sample of each tea and put it in a small container or bowl. Place them in front of the teapot, or pass it around to your guests. They can smell the tea leaves to know if they’re interested in trying it. If you do this beforehand, it can also let you know which tea is the favourite to know how much to brew. Remember, the one that the most people want, goes in your biggest teapot.

Choosing A Caffeinated Tea To Serve

There are a lot of caffeinated tea options to choose from. It can be a simple black or green tea or you can even serve a white or oolong teas.  

For me, a classic high tea, tea, is Earl Grey. Earl Grey is a black tea blend refreshing bergamot. My favourite classic Earl grey is from Ahmad Tea. But if you want to step it up, try the French Earl Grey from T2 Tea, it adds in sweet fruits, rose, sunflower and hibiscus to the blend for a fresher, and more floral taste.

Green tea is a bit trickier tea to serve because a lot of people can find it to be bitter. If you’re serving a green tea, this is where a temperature controlled kettle will help as you don’t want to use boiling water. I also often chose a blended green to, Jasmine Dragon Pearls for example, for a more floral green tea option.

Read more: Finding The Best Earl Grey Tea: A Comparison Between 12 Brands

Choosing An Herbal Tea To Serve

You can choose anything for your herbal option, but a safe bet is serving a chamomile or mint tea (or if you can’t decide which one, mix both!). 

But you can also have a lot of fun choosing your herbal tea option, especially if you’re celebrating a special occasion. For example, if you’re celebrating a baby shower (or maybe even a gender reveal!) you can choose a tea based on it’s colour. Having a girl? Serve hibiscus tea. What about a boy? Serve butterfly pea flower tea for the rich blue colour.

Tea Tasting Notes & Guide: you might be interested in my digital and printable tea tasting notes & guide to take your tea tasting to the next level. See it on Etsy.

Menu For Afternoon Tea Party: What Food To Serve?

Now that the teas are out of the way, it’s time to decide on the menu for your afternoon tea party.

The number one rule of high tea is that there should be no utensils required, everything should be small bite-sized pieces. Afternoon tea is typically served in the mid afternoon as a light snack whereas high tea is served in the early evening before dinner (so it tends to be a bit heavier with food). But in either case, neither are meant to be a meal, rather a simple snack meant to get you from lunch to supper.

There are three main categories of food served at an afternoon tea party. The first course is traditionally savoury sandwiches, followed by scones and clotted cream, and finally sweet pastries.

The courses are displayed by the three tiered plates, each course being presented on a different level. But if you’re having a larger party, you don’t have to follow the rules of the tiered plate.

Afternoon Tea Savoury Course: Sandwiches

Classic high tea sandwiches are eggs with cucumber, cream cheese with radish or smoked salmon. You can follow a recipe or make up your own sandwiches.

Afternoon tea party sandwiches are also typically crustless. Did you know you can actually buy bread that doesn’t have a crust!? It’s called Tramezzino. This makes it super easy to make those tiny sandwiches. But if you can’t find it, you can also buy thin white bread and cut off the crust.

Pro Tip: Add a personal touch! always like adding in some unique sandwiches for my guests to try. These can be specific to your location or theme of the party. For example, I love including bite-sized bagel, lox, and cream cheese sandwiches with fresh Montreal bagels. Or if it’s for a baby shower I’ve made specific sandwiches based on the mom-to-be’s cravings. Yup, I’ve serve bite-sized peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and they were a hit! Everyone always appreciates a personal touch to cater to your guests as much as you can!

The Most Important Course: Scones

The most important pastry to serve at any afternoon tea party are of course scones. Check out my amazing scone recipe. It’s simple and quick so you can even make them fresh the day of the party.

The recipe is for lemon poppy seed scones but you can also make them plain (just don’t use lemon or poppy seeds!).

Of course a scone course isn’t complete without jam, clotted cream, butter, or even lemon curd (my favourite!).

Afternoon Tea Sweet Treats Course

And now for the final ‘course’: pastries! These will be pretty much any other desserts you want to include at your high tea party.

It can be anything from a light and fluffy cakes to intricate macarons. You can buy desserts at your local pastry shop or try your hand at making your own. Remember though, keep them small and bite-sized! You can even place them in these mini cupcake liners to make it easy for people to grab.

Although this isn’t typical, I also like to serve some fruit on the side. I buy the pre-cut fruit bowl to make it a little bit easier to prepare everything. It can take a long time to cut up all that fruit.

Decorations Around Your House

Keep the decoration simple! This is a classy event after all. But you can add a few items to take it to the next level.

As I mentioned, placing flowers in vases add some life (and colour) to the table. But you can also place the arrangement throughout your house to tie everything together! P.S. To be cost effective the best flowers to get are hydrangeas, I also love filling it up with baby’s breath. 

You may want to also add some potpourri to freshen up your bathroom. See how to make your own. 

Create The Perfect Afternoon Tea Party Atmosphere

The perfect afternoon tea is all about creating the right atmosphere. This includes everything from the serving platters, the tea you choose, the conversation, and music!

So to play music or not to play music?

Your music choice can make or break the party, so be sure to choose an appropriate soundtrack. It’s important to have at any party to add some background sound and can break any awkward silences.

There are pre-curated afternoon tea party playlists, but I recommend making your own – you don’t want any surprises. Find an artist with a slower tempo, maybe plays piano to keep it light and in the background. Some of my favourites are The Paper Kites, The National Parks, or even Diana Krall. Also, try to base it based on what your guests like or if you have a theme for the party!

Extra Afternoon Tea Party Ideas – An Activity

If you’re looking for an activity to do at your tea party, print out tea tasting sheets for everyone. Make your tea party about the tea itself. Encourage a discussion about the different flavour profiles of the tea. You can even do it for each tea you serve to compare the different and unique flavours!

Afternoon Tea Party Basics To Buy

There are a few afternoon tea essentials I always have. First off, you can’t have tea without hot water. I love my Cuisinart Perfect Temp Kettle to boil A LOT of water all at once (1.7 L) and to keep it warm until I need it.

And is it even a real tea party without dainty teacups and a teapot? Plus you of course need a tiered plate to display all your treats!

More Tea Guides Please!

• 21 Items Every Tea Lover Should Have
• Is It Safe To Put Honey In Tea?
• How To Switch From Tea Bags To Loose Leaf Tea
• The Tea Basics: The Different Types of Tea
• 5 Tea To Drink & Avoid on Your Period

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Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any suggestions! I want to hear them. And if you like what you read it would be a real help if you share it.