vintage china at 'willow springs winery' wedding

V I N T A G E  D I S H 

Style was definitely in the details at this lovely vintage-inspired wedding held just outside Toronto, at Willowsprings Winery. The bride knew exactly what she wanted for her wedding day and created a beautiful celebration.

The venue was a perfect setting for the wedding, a breathtaking 11 acre vineyard and winery. The family-run winery was established in the 1960's – its traditions pasted down now to a third generation of wine makers.

It was an affair rich with style details. Vintage teacup and saucer sets, cake plates and burlap accents created a warm, inviting atmosphere to welcome guests. The flowers all loosely bunched as if they were just picked from the gardens. 

Vintage china was a perfect compliment to such a lovely setting. The traditional elements of the past set a romantic tone as we look forward to the future happiness of the new couple. Congratulations!

Photos: Taylor Jackson Photography

Flowers and Decor: Keepsake Designs and Events, Angelita Ramirez 416-546-0097

Vintage Rental: Vintage Dish Rental

vintage style party invitations

V I N T A G E  D I S H

In planning a proper afternoon tea, thrill your guests with an invitation that sets the stage for the upcoming event.

Consider an invitation that reflects the tone and manner of the tea you plan to host. For your guests, the invitation is the first glimpse of the party – a sneak peek. 

Invitations may be handwritten or computer generated with elegant script typography. The text can be casual and relaxed or more formal to include phrases such as "you are cordially invited".

If ordering printed invitations from a stationer is not in the budget explore the many beautiful options for a 'DIY' project. There are many online sites that offer free downloads of images and decorative patterns for creating your own invitations. Paper doilies, dried flowers, ribbon, floral wallpaper, patterned gift wrap or even tea bags can be incorporated into a DIY original tea party invitation. Vintage or custom postage stamps adds another lovely style detail to your afternoon tea invitation.

Inspiration can be taken from your planned floral arrangements, tea packaging, a favorite color or, of course, vintage china!

Your guests will be talking about the occasion long before the party date arrives.

Photos: Pinterest 

how to host the perfect high tea

V I N T A G E  D I S H

(Reposted from The Australian Women's Weekly, by Debbie Elkind, May 1, 2012)

Type "high tea etiquette" into an internet search engine and you'll find a million rules and regulations from the old-fashioned – "It is not only improper to slice a scone, it is considered common" – to the more modern – "always be sure turn off your mobile phone".

Good manners aside, high tea is a lovely, elegant, and intrinsically feminine way to entertain. While the art of doing it properly need not be stuffy or restrictive, it does require forethought and planning.

"People do expect you to have gone to some effort in terms of decoration and flowers if you are hosting a high tea," says renowned Australian fashion designer Fleur Wood, whose book Food, Fashion, Friends gives styling and entertaining tips for throwing sophisticated events, including an exquisite high tea held in a greenhouse.

"It's a really nice opportunity to get out old china and silver tea pots," says Wood. "That's what I like about hosting these sort of events – you get to use beautiful things we don't use in our daily lives."

Of course, it's also a great opportunity to frock up and look glamorous. Wood recommends a floral frock or vintage dress.

For décor, she suggests mixing it up. "You don't want it to look either too 'old world' or too 'shabby chic'."

She also notes that if it's for a baby shower – a popular event for high teas – you should avoid the traditional blues and pinks.

Flowers are essential – think tea roses or orchids – as is music.

"It's important to have the right music in the background to create a mood," says Wood. "In my book I recommend a French band, Nouvelle Vague. "Ricky Lee Jones is also fitting for this sort of thing, or there's a 'So Frenchy So Chic' compilation that's quite good."

Jill Jones-Evans, owner of The Victoria Room Tea Salon, which provides one of Sydney's finest high teas, emphasises the importance of the menu. "It may sound obvious, but with high tea there really is a lot of preparation involved," she notes. "Give yourself plenty of time if you don't want to be in the kitchen cutting up sandwiches. "That said, it is one of the great things about high teas – you can have pretty much everything done in advance."

The food doesn't need to be traditional either. "You could do an Italian-inspired high tea or make another kind of cuisine the focus, even Indian, for example. My grandmother used to serve high teas in the Scottish highlands in the 1960s and then it was all about the pork pies. "So, feel free to include things like gourmet sausage rolls and pies – it doesn't have to be all sandwiches and scones."

Even the scones can be more modern and creative. The new Victoria Room Tea Salon in Westfield Sydney CBD has a 'specialty scone menu' with ten flavours ranging from lavender or white chocolate and cranberry to savory pumpkin and ginger or cheddar and thyme. Jones-Evans says the biggest seller is the date and orange scone served with Sicilian marmalade.

Correct settings are very important too, of course. "You definitely want to have lovely high tea stands and good tea ware but it doesn't need to cost a lot," says Jones-Evans. "You can mix and match. I think that mismatched vintage look is great. Definitely use real linen, cloth napkins and flowers. Other nice touches are things like sugar cubes with silver sugar tongs."

It also ought to go without saying that good quality loose-leaf tea in pots is essential. "Definitely no tea bags," pleads Jones-Evans. A mix of one black, one herbal and one green tea is a good place to start to make sure all tastes are catered for.

Jones-Evans also suggests a proper invitation in the post, rather than a text or email. "It's all a bit old-fashioned and old school so why not start with that? Just think how excited you are when you get a proper letter or invitation in the post these days."

Reference: The Australian Women's Weekly

Photos: Pinterest 

cool summer tea

V I N T A G E  D I S H

Iced tea and summer just go together. Its not new – we've been drinking iced tea since the late 19th century. The beverage became especially popular in 1904, at the St. Louis World's Fair. The invention has been credited to a tea plantation owner by the name of Richard Blechynden. The story goes that he was planning to hand out samples of his hot tea beverage to fair visitors. But in the hot St. Louis summer not many visitors were interested. Resourceful and creative Blechynden added ice into his tea samples and the drink was a 'hit' at the fair.

Bulk tea, bags, concentrates, powders or in a can – iced tea is a summertime staple. So with the long weekend starting and it promises to be a hot, sunny one here in Toronto, its a perfect reason to serve iced tea. Here is a recipe that sounds perfect if you are entertaining. Perhaps a 'champagne high tea' to celebrate the first long weekend of summer!

Here is a recipe for the tea I'm planning to serve. What kind of tea are you pouring this weekend?

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Green-Jasmine Tea Bubbles

Ingredients

5 green-jasmine tea bags or 5 Tbsp. loose green-jasmine tea

200 ml (7fl oz) just-boiled water

3 tbsp sugar, to to taste

500 ml (18fl oz) cold water

handful of raspberries and blackberries (optional)

1 bottle good champagne

Directions

1) Steep tea bags or loose tea in a measuring jug in the just-boiled water for 1 minute, adding the sugar and stirring until dissolved. Remove tea bags or strain to remove loose tea, then add cold water.

2) Taste tea for strength, adding a touch more cold water if it's too strong, then put in the refrigerator to cool further for 30 minutes. (If you can't wait, add a few ice cubes to speed up cooling process.)

3) Serve in vintage teacups. For a bit of extra colour, put a couple of berries into each cup before pouring.

4) For the alcoholic version, simply half-fill the cup with tea, then top up with an equal measure of bubbly!

 

Reference: History of Iced Tea

Recipe: The Telegraph, UK

Photos: Tea with Raspberries and Blackberries, Tea with Raspberries

vintage china bridal tea in pink and gold

V I N T A G E  D I S H

Pink and gold is a gorgeous color palette for a bridal tea. We are busy pulling out all our china to fit the color scheme. One of our lovely clients is planning a beautiful bridal event for a close friend. She requested her order be filled with pink and gold china from the collection.

Pink, pink and pink – dusty rose, pale pastels and vibrant magenta. An ecletic mix of patterns all related by a common color with gold to add some vintage glam. All so pretty in combination with each other – teacups, dessert plates, teapots, creamers and sugar bowls.

The setting for the bridal tea is an outdoor garden with chandeliers hanging from the tree branches. Elegant. I hope she sends me photos of the party!

Photos: Pinterest