We have been working on the invitations and the guest list for our annual tea. My oldest sister usually designs, produces and mails our annual invitations. Even though the date for our tea is a standing date (always the Saturday after Mother’s Day) we follow the rules of etiquette and make sure they are mailed at least 4 weeks prior to the event. After all, these Teas began as a fun lesson in etiquette for our daughters. Our daughters were taught how to read the invitation to understand the proper dress for the occasion and how to let the hostess know if they were going to attend or not.
The invitations are the first hint on what to expect at the party and match the occasion in style and theme. The invitations include the day of the week, the date, the time and the location. Our invitations have let the ladies know that “garden” usually means pretty dresses and flat shoes, a “summer” tea means that a sun dress is acceptable and that “under the stars” means a light wrap may be needed. One of our teas was a ‘hat and gloves” tea and we had ladies in fancy hats, hard hats, cowboy hats and baseball hats. If I remember correctly that tea was the first time we allowed the “ladies” to wear pants/slacks to the tea.
Even though these annual events are considered a “Ladies Tea” we have a bit of fun at the end with a “White Elephant” game. The invitations include a small card explaining the game and inviting each attendee to participate by bring a gift-wrapped tea cup. All of us have some very unique tea cups in our collections from these games.
Tea With Rebecca 