We adore nothing more than gathering with friends, soaking up the spring sunshine, and vibing out to vinyl – especially when it's the brand-new album from Taylor Swift! As Robin Williams once said, "Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party'," and we took that to heart this past weekend. We hosted a delightful tea party, complete with vintage homeware, The Tortured Poets Department spinning on vinyl, and goodies from some of our favorite local Chicago spots.
From sipping tea to swaying to Taylor, it was as if our Pinterest moodboard had sprung to life. We also did a little craft (everyone made their own floral bookmark) which was easy and adorable! It was an unforgettable, magical little celebration.
We served up some delicious food including:
Homemade Butter. We churned our own butter (with the help of a stand mixer) then added chives, parsley, sea salt, and edible flowers to make it extra aesthetic! It was so yummy and simple, an elevated touch.
Tea Sandwiches. We made a few different English tea sandwiches from these recipes. All of them used Publican Quality bread that we picked up fresh from their bakery in West Town. We had the Malted Rye, Potato Ramp Ciabatta, and their ‘1979’ multigrain loaf.
Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Scones. Our friend Mary was kind enough to make scones and biscuits. She’s such an incredible baker. These scones were not dry at all and were so flavorful.
Mini Quiches. Our friend Alex kindly contributed mini quiches which were lovely little savory bite to compliment all the other sweet treats.
Tea Station. We sourced our teas from two different local spots in Chicago. Love, Maeve is a baker (who made our lemon cake and floral cookies) who also creates her own teas. She custom blended up an Earl Grey/ lavender/ hibiscus and lemon balm tea for us. We also sourced a mint rose Flowerhead tea from The Center of Order and Experimentation, our favorite coffee/ gift shop in West Town.
Our favorite vintage items on display included:
Blue & White Dishes. Over the past decade, we’ve been collecting blue and white dish-ware treasures from all over the world during our travels and vintage-sourcing adventures. If you can believe it, this party marked their long-awaited debut. It is so exciting to see them finally in action.
A glass floral Cake Knife. This was purchased on a whim, for when we would need a beautiful cake knife one day. This was the perfect time to pull it out and put it to use!
Mini Woven Baskets. When vintage shopping, we often look for different shapes and sizes of baskets and containers. We stumbled upon these mini woven baskets and used them to make our tea station.
To us, everything is better when sourced locally. Here’s a list of who contributed to the magic of the party:
Homemade Tea, Floral Pressed Cookies, Lemon Cake- Love, Maeve
Florals- Sprout Home, Cornelia McNamara Flowers
Floral Cards- Pencil & Paper
Blueberry Thyme Jam- All Together Now
Bread- from Publican Bakery
Edible Flowers- Wilderhouse
Blue & White Candle Holders- Molasses
Wooden Floral Spoon- Caroline Shop
Water cup glassware- Tatine Atelier
Our favorite songs off Taylor’s new album:
Meg’s favorite: “I Can Do it with a Broken Heart”
Jess’ favorite: “So Long, London”
What’s your favorite Tortured Poets Department bop? Drop a comment below!
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So beautiful. Such a nice and different way to hang out