When life leaves a sour taste in the mouth and love loses its sunshine, friends become more important than ever before. Genuine distress draws out some of the best expressions of compassion and loyalty possible in friendship. Sweeten the sour memories with an afternoon of light, laughter, and love.
Lemons & Love: A Rainy Day Tea
The friends who brighten life or who might need a bright spot in their summer are the guests to invite to this tea party. Send invitations on cheery yellow stationery or cards featuring lemons. This party celebrates the ways in which friendship lightens and sweetens hardships, so prepare to revel in light and sweets. Once RSVPs have trickled back, count the guests and procure the necessary supplies.
Supplies Needed to Host A Themed Tea
- A china tea service (pot, sugar bowl, and lemon dish) with yellow accents or a solid color like white, blue, or green which will compliment the yellow décor of the tea table
- Goblets for ice water
- Place settings, including tea cups, for the desired number of guests
- Yellow tapers, scented lemon candle for the room, floating tea lights
- White linens with yellow napkins
- Floral centerpiece with yellow & white daisies (artificial or real)
- Quotes from literature on the topic of love
- Soothing background music (oldies, classical, movie themes, etc)
- A box of individually packaged Lemon Lift tea bags for party favors
- Ingredients for the Lemons & Love menu
Sample Tea Menu
When considering the menu for a Lemons & Love Tea, offer the palate contrasts between the sweet and the sour. Here is a sample menu:
- Lemon Tea or Green Tea with Lemon (offer with lemon slices and/or sugar cubes)
- Ice water served with a slice of lime
- Mini bagels with brochette and dill cream cheese
- Egg salad served on a bed of lettuce
- Individual fruit bowls of blueberries
- Scones served with lemon curd and honey
- Lemon tart or lemon pound cake
Preparing A Tea Party
The day before the party wash the china and set the table. Arrange the centerpiece and fold a literary quote into every guest’s starched napkin.
Candlelight lends an elusive charm to the tea table. Place unlit candles around the room and arrange so as to have sufficient visibility when overhead lights go off. Purchase any remaining menu items and make the tarts or cake.
On the morning of the party leave at least three hours for food preparation. Scones, the last item to come out of the oven, should slide off the baking sheet only minutes before the first guest arrives.
Celebrating Friends
During the final moments before the doorbell rings, light the candles and hit the music. Then step back and start observing the results of all the effort. Friendship, tea, and candlelight can lighten the darkest day when appreciated and emphasized.
Begin conversation by asking each friend to read the quote hidden in her napkin and then discuss as a group. Do friends agree with the definition of love contained in the quote? Consider what life experience has shown. Guide discussion around the table. Keep conversation as intimate or as vague as needed. Give every guest a chance to talk while transitioning through the courses from sandwiches to fruit bowls to dessert.
Before guests disperse, thank friends for the way they sweeten life and send each home with a Lemon Lift packet as a reminder of how friendship lifts the spirit. Make plans to talk again soon and share another cup of tea.
Josanna Simpson - Josanna Simpson, who holds a BA in Literature, is an aspiring novelist in her late twenties with a passion for British literature and the ...
