Saturday, February 19, 2011

High Tea - Victorian Style

Last  Saturday  I went  back 150 years  and  for  a  little  while  I  pretended  that  the  year  was  1868...............After  going  to    Her  Majestea's  Salon tea  garden  it  was  really  laid  on my  heart  to do  a  Victorian  tea  party  there,the  place  was  perfect,  the  ambiance  was  great  and  on their  menu  they  actually  serve  a  high  tea,  perfect.    To  "advertise"  the tea,  I had  a  few  minutes  to  talk in church  before  the  church  services,  and  to  make  it  interesting  I created, and  wore   a  hat  and  in  my  best poshest  English  accent  invited  all the  ladies  to  attend........  in fact  when  I had  finished  some  people  clapped, I think  they  forgot  where  they  were,  did  the  minister  laugh,  I think  I  missed  my calling  perhaps  I  should  have  been  on  stage.

It  was  an absolutely  perfect day  and  one of the  great  things   for  me  was   there  was  no preparation  and  when  it  was  over there  was  no  cleaning  up  and   NO DISHES.  We  sold  tickets  to    29  ladies  and  they  were  asked  to  dress  up  Victorian style  but  the  minimum  requirement  for  entrance   was a  hat ,  no  one  would  be  allowed  in  without  a  hat.

The  place looked  absolutely  beautiful,  the  tables  were  stunning  and  the  food  looked  and  tasted  fantastic.

I  was the  MC  and   was  a  cousin  to  "Vicky"  ( Queen  Victoria) I   had  done  some  googling  on  what  was  happening  during  that  time,  what  life  was  like, and  did  a  whole  comedy  skit  on the  current  happenings,  the  casting  of  Big  Ben,  the  first  steam  train  in  London,  the  Imperial  Penny  Post,  I  was  a  personal  friend  of  Frank  Turner  and  William  Wordsworth  was  a  secret  admirer  and  he  wrote  most  of his love poems  with  me in  mind.............. it  was  a  challenge  to  maintain  the  British  accent  and  remember  the  skit,  but  it  turned  out  great  and  everyone  had  a  good  laugh,  I  still haven't  decided  if  they  were  laughing  at me  or  with me.

With "Vicky'  being  a cousin  I  threatened  anyone  who  laughed  at  my "hat  hair" when  I  took  my  hat  off  with  a  beheading,  it  did  not  work,   I  love  hats  but  just  cannot  wear  them.
Noreen  Hart,  a member  of the  church  and  a  phsycolgist  gave  a  talk  on  love,  really   thought  provoking stuff,  during  the  whole  talk  she linked  song   titles such  as  ,  "I  think  I  love you"   "Love  changes  everything"   "Never ending love"  and  movie  lines  like Love  Stories  famous, "Love  means  never  having  to say  your  sorry"  in  to  the  real  world,in  to  real  relationships  and ended  with  the fact  that  love  is  a  verb,  it  is  a  doing  word,  it is  something  we  need  to  work  on,  all day  everyday  in  order  for  it  to  be  a success,   it  was  really very  apporpriate  since  it  was  just  a  few  days  before  Valentines  day.

I  had  everyone  write  a love  note  which  they  would  like  to receive  from  our  Heavenly Father  and  then  when  everyone  left  they  were  each  given someone  elses   note  as  inspiration,  it  was  amazing  how  many  people  received  the  message  that  they  needed.
As  we  were  leaving  I got  my  idea  for the  next  tea................  I  just  love the  way  God  works  never  a  dull  moment.................. we  truly  serve  an  awesome God

14 comments:

  1. This is just brilliant Karen. Perfect idea... and the achievements that you guys made was even better... :-)

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  2. This is awesome! Not only did you make it entertaining, historical, funny, but then so beautifully personal with the messages of love. I do believe these fine ladies got their monies' worth... :)

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  3. Karen, I am sitting her with my mouth open...wow! That is just awesome! You should be a project manager for Donald Trump, (if you know who he is...sorry, that's all I can think of!). You dreamt up a wonderful idea, researched it all, dressed the part, acted it out and planned the venue...amazing! The setting was just beautiful and the hats were the perfect touch! I would have loved to be a fly on the wall and have watched it all....especially to hear your British accent! Can't wait to hear what you're dreaming up next! What an imagination you have!
    Thank you for putting baby Caden on the prayer list...he is having lots of problems and needs them...again, thank you!
    Good to hear what you are up to...glad to see you blogging again!

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  4. What a fun idea and you really went the extra mile to make it super fantastic. Cheerio to you! (that's my best accent, sorry!) I bet that will not be forgotten by those lovely ladies and next event you'll have to move to a bigger building just to hold everyone. Your hat looked very pretty too. I (and Donna) sure understand hat hair...we have it everyday! It's funny to watch us all take our surgery caps off at the end of the day, stare at ourselves in the mirror and then mumble about how bad we look! You asked about the ice melting and flooding. We had a nice warm up this past week and most of the snow and ice are just memory...we did not have any flooding here, but some parts of Ohio had flood warnings out yesterday. But don't be sad, we're suppose to get some more next week...I'm just looking forward to Spring!

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  5. Honey this is just the most wonderful post. I loved reading about your day with the lovely ladies and what a fun time you all had.
    You really know how to entertain and I love the pictures especially of you. Who says you can't wear a hat I think your lovely.
    It seems you are always finding ways to make everyone around you happy and aware of all the beauty there is in life. No wonder we all love you so. Just wish there were less miles between us I would of loved to have been there too.
    Your a sweetheart
    Love
    Maggie

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  6. Wow, you did an amazing job putting that together!!
    It looks like everyone was having a wonderful time. I'm sure the comedy skit was great!
    No preparation, no cleanup...sounds good to me. :)

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  7. Looks like you had a wonderful time together. :) There is a place here that does High Noon Tea. One of the oldest homes in Spokane. They serve you and then tell the story of the home and give you a tour. I went with a few friends for fun a couple of years back. So fascinating to learn about Spokane's history and what life was like back then.

    Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
    Melissa

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  8. WOW! That sounds like a really fun afternoon! I would love to go to a Victorian Tea Party! Neat! I love the inspiring messages too. Beautiful!

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  9. I love Victorian , love the tea party and thanks for following me. Now I am a new follower of your blog

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  10. I'm sure they were laughing with you. What wonderful fun. I would have had a very difficult time with the accent. Once I played Mrs. Boyle, in Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. It was for a community theatre in Gunnison, Colorado. The accent gave me fits. I had to tone down my Western twang and assume the British lack of r's. I'm sure I would have loved to have attended yours.

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  11. Oh the tea sounded just lovely. I wish I could have been there. and to hear a talk about love...how perfect.. the fact that love is a verb! I often think of what life was like back then. I have my father's great aunt's b. 1874 (Scottish)silver coffee urn, sugar and cream, silverware, and hand embroidered table cloth...certainly a simpler time...yes, life is what you make it.
    Take time to have tea with your daughter's and grand daughters. they will love you for it!
    Jennifer aka Gigi

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  12. That sounds like a wonderful time! Off with their heads! I mean hats!!!

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  13. What a great idea! You sound like such a fun hostess! I know that if you were in my Women's Ministry group, we would have a grand time! I think we'd have more fun than those attending the event, though! ;)
    I just love reading about the events you plan! You have a gift!

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  14. How are you my sweet friend? Just thinking about u so wanted to come by and say hello. Hope you have a wonderful week and God Blesses you in many ways
    Love
    Maggie

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