How to host an awesome tea party

If you want to host a tea party, there are a few things you will need. First off, you will need some excellent recipes, like this one, or this one, or this one. Next, you will need to set the scene, or rather, the table.

If you have some old china, you can set a very pretty table. I found some pretty and inexpensive sets from Ebay and Home Goods. You can mix and match your place settings to make a shabby chic style table. It makes the table a little less formal, but just as pretty.

Next, get your mom involved. She can magically find some of her grandmother's old linens that will work as a lovely table cloth and pretty cloth napkins. She may even be able to find a stack of aprons, too. (I got mine from Target before I found out about our secret stash.)
Our menu included three types of tea sandwiches: cucumber mint, strawberry, and nut; cream scones with Devonshire clotted cream, strawberry jam, and lemon curd; and two desserts: lemon curd tarts and white chocolate and chai tea mousse. These need to be timed right for everything to be served at the same time. The mousse has to be started the night before, and the lemon curd is best prepared in advance since it will need time to set (we learned this the hard way). To help get everything done at the right time, it's best to recruit your guests to join in the work.

Finally, once everything is prepared, add the food to the table and settle in for a delicious meal!