A Poolside Afternoon Tea Party for International Guests
An elegant Austin tea party created for 20 guests at a private residence near Lake Travis in Spicewood, Texas
The contact form came in at high noon on a Thursday. I was about to step out to run some errands when I happened to see the information flash across my phone notifications. The request was normal--a themed tea party--but the DATE jumped out at me. The request was for THAT Saturday, as in 48 hours away.
I thought maybe it was a typo, but I picked up the phone and called immediately, just in case.
The sweet lady who answered the phone was frantic. She worked for a Spicewood family. They had 20 guests visiting from all over the world, and had a formal afternoon tea party planned for them for that Saturday.
AND THEIR CATERER HAD JUST CANCELLED ON THEM!
It was the weekend between Christmas and New Year's, and I had absolutely nothing planned. I was looking forward to just resting and enjoying being at home. But I immediately felt SO sorry for these sweet people!
Fortunately, I was wide open to put this mobile tea party together, even on such short notice. So I said I would do it!
Setting the Mobile Tea Party Menu
She sent me the menu from the former caterer, and interestingly, it was not traditional tea party selections at all, apart from the finger sandwiches. None of it was anything I offered or could do in the time frame. So we agreed on a modified version of my menu, but keeping the same sandwich flavors, as the husband was Italian and was really set on the 'tramezzini' sandwiches. They sounded delicious, so I was very much on board with creating them!
I immediately headed out to the grocery stores and jumped on it! Tea party foods are not difficult to make, but the entire menu is VERY time-consuming. It's such a wide variety, and each one is completely different from the others, so there is no economy of scale. And it is all such small batches - which takes the same amount of time as regular batches. The amount of dishes dirtied up is ridiculous!
One of the sandwiches they asked for was a 'healthy' tuna salad recipe. I was immediately intrigued as it was so low calorie but sounded really delicious. (I am a former bodybuilding competitor and still live that bodybuilding lifestyle, so I'm always looking for delicious 'diet' food!) It turned out SO delicious that I've been making it almost every week since for my husband and me, prepped in big batches for quick meals. Sometimes, wonderful personal benefits happen from helping others!
Tea Party Decor and China
Another saving grace on the time frame is that they already had all their own decor, tiers and china ready to go, since the party was pre-planned. I only had to bring the food. And for freshness, I like to prepare sandwiches and bake the pinwheels at the very last minute, so we agreed I could do all that at their house, and their staff could help me.
Taking the Tea Party on the Road!
The day of the party, I loaded everything up and headed out to Spicewood. Their neighborhood is on the shores of Lake Travis, and WAAAYYY down a lot of winding roads! It was also storming with lots of lightning--eeek! But the forecast called for the storms to move out and be sunny and 80 degrees. Yes, 80 degrees on the weekend before New Years! Welcome to Central Texas!
By the time I arrived at their beautiful home, the clouds had parted and the sun was out. Their back porch beside the pool had a fireplace, which was so nice. They also had live music inside! We set up one large table outside and one inside in their dining area.
The whole family and staff were the nicest people ever, and I had so much fun setting everything up with them. They had made the cutest menu cards and done an amazing job with the decor.
A Perfect Austin Tea Party After a Tour
The party went beautifully. They had arranged for all their guests - many of whom were visiting from Europe, Canada, and other international homes - to have a bus tour of Austin that morning, ending in the tea party at their home.
Everyone had a wonderful time, and the husband surprised me with a generous gratuity to express their gratitude for 'saving' their party.
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