A Very Merry Un-Birthday Tea Party

Even though I constantly told myself to Keep It Simple, a bit of my Festive Self got out and took over hahaha 😆 This year in Relief Society we are celebrating sisters’ birthdays quarterly at a member of the RS presidency’s home. Spring is my quarter to host, so we planned to have a tea party at my house! With graduations and the last week of school, we ended up having it on a Monday night with a great turnout. Alice in Wonderland has been one of my bestselling designs on my Etsy shop, and I was so excited to finally use them for my own event! I ended up creating a custom square design to text out, post on social media, and print in the newsletter.

I finally got a moss table runner! I’ve been wanting one for ages and hope to reuse it for St Patrick’s Day. This is the first time I’ve tried a balloon garland- a $5 kit from the dollar store! I also decided not to hand wash dinner plates so I found some fancy gilded disposable ones with decorative edging and in a variety of patterns/colors so they looked a lot more real even though they were paper- best use of money there!

The Wonderland theme I had in mind had to be colorful and whimsical and a little over the top! It turns out I don’t have much stuff for this theme, so I borrowed a bunch of things from amazing friends. Those giant flowers are handmade by Sepideh. Tori let me use her fancy gold tiered tray for desserts. I borrowed some big gold pocket watch clocks from Lauren, who loves Alice in Wonderland. I didn’t have enough tea cups / saucers for this many guests, so Danyelle lent me her mismatching tea set and an adorable pansy tea pot so every seating area could have their own. She also brought me some folding chairs, a tiered tray for the tea stuff and biscuits, and even a jar of mayo when I ran out while making the chicken salad sandwiches. I’m so grateful for these ladies.

The whole day was dedicated to this because I hadn’t been able to work on it until the day of 😅. I procrastinated cleaning the bathrooms until the last half hour because honestly it’s my least favorite chore and Jer had said he would do it for me but it didn’t happen. This was also a get to know you type activity, so I put together a small table for name tags at the entrance. Everyone came in their street clothes from running around all day and so we all matched each other haha! Jer took the kids to the library and out to eat, and that was such a big help.

It was fun to see everyone squished in my little kitchen together. My friend Jeanette hadn’t used a tea set before so that was fun to initiate her!

All the ladies shared their favorite birthday memory and we enjoyed chatting over tea and finger food. A couple of the spring birthdays really enjoyed being born near Mother’s Day. Some shared how their families surprised them with impromptu trips or a bunch of people from their life showing up. Others really enjoyed sharing their birthday with loved ones weddings or days in the temple. Ladawn got a scar from climbing a fence to sneak into a closed pool during girls camp she was in charge of for her 30th birthday. Shay who’s born on Star Wars Day but doesn’t like Star Wars, really enjoyed that her brothers tease her by doing something Star Wars for her every year: a yoda cake, dressing up in costume, etc. Maddi for the past 5 years does something she’s never done before on her birthday- donating blood, getting a Brazilian wax, trying an ice bath to name a few! Oakley did a Backwards Birthday with friends, including having dinner food for breakfast. I felt like I really got to see into the heart of these lovely sisters as they shared these beautiful memories.

Love, Kat