A seed was planted to have a tea party years ago when my dearly beloved Grandma Lois passed away and I inherited a set of nine lovely tea cups with matching saucers. Summer was just a baby at the time of her passing, but I thought it would be perfect to one day have some of her little friends over for tea and finger sandwiches. Well, the years flew by and suddenly Summer was turning twelve!!
One afternoon a couple of months ago, I took the kids to see the movie Alice in Wonderland and we loved it! It was during the movie that I was inspired to finally have that tea party. I thought I should tell Summer about my exciting plans, but they were met with reluctance. She was worried it might be too childish. WHAT?!? So I decided that she was going to have this tea party now or never and that was all there was to it!! Because my little baby girl will be a teenager NEXT YEAR and goodness knows what is in store for the future.
The day that I took Summer shopping for invitations she became excited about the party. Thankfully! It was such a pleasure planning this party for Summer and her friends and such a joy seeing it come together. I know my Grandma Lois would have been thrilled that her tea cups were so adored and appreciated!!
The official birthday party greeter!
a cheerful table
sweet details…
The girls were given a hat to decorate for the party. Andy caught me in action!
the tea party ladies with their fabulous hats!
my girl!
How adorable is this hat?!?
Such nice manners, Mia.
Marion Peer of Vermont Sweet Tooth in Stowe made the cupcakes which were unbelievably beautiful!! Each and every one was a work of art. They were almost too gorgeous to eat and they were delicious as well! Marion, we adore you and your creativity!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!! xo
Time to make a wish and blow out the candles!
Andy created an Alice in Wonderland themed scavenger hunt for the grand finale.
The goody bags included a tea cup, a coaster and a box of tea. Appropriate for the occasion.
The girls with their found clues.
And last but definitely not least…a heartfelt thanks to my pal Alison Bucholz-Ellis of Floral Artistry for helping me dream up the party details. She devoted an entire afternoon to making tissue paper flowers with Summer and me. Alison, you are so very full of muchness!! xo
p.s. A big thanks to my dear friend Kim Jennings for helping with the party too. It’s always more fun with you around!! xox
by daria
Lauren - WOW!! I love love LOVE this! Makes me wish I had a daughter to have teaparties with! You did an amazing job down to every last detail! Yummy! xoxo
Lucy - This is so much fun! What a fabulous birthday party. You just brightened my dreary week of studying for finals.
Kathleen - This is possibly the most incredible party ever! The details are simply fantastic! Awesome job Daria & Andy! And to Alison and Marion as well. Amazing!! I just want to look at these images and “fall into” the tea party myself! Just like Alice.
Tabitha - How fabulous! Otherwise I am speechless except for… Happy birthday Summer!!
Glee Finnegan - Looks like the dream party of a lifetime. Loved all the special decor items, the colors and the fun. you are right, bob, the cupcakes are unbelievable…i had no idea when you were telling me about them how truly incredible they were…lovesies, mom bob
Alison Ellis - Daria, the table looked gorgeous!!! My heart is smiling at the sight of your great success. Those cupcakes are to die for cute! I am so happy it came together so beautifully for Summer.
Granny Smith - What an inspired idea! Summer is lucky to have such creative parents. I love the picture of the girls with their impeccable manners as they sip their tea. Utterly beautiful decorations.
Amanda Herzberger - So totally adorable and colorful – those girls look so grown up! What a great take on the tea party and it looks like everyone had a very fun time
Caroline Stewart - Daria! WOW! How beautiful a birthday party and What a way to celebrate Summer’s birth!!! Can I book you for August? XXOO
Kim Jennings - I was there to see first hand how beautiful the party was! What a fun time it was for ALL of us!
Ann Irwin - Those cupcakes are too fabulous! What a lucky girl Summer is to have such a dear and talented mom like you. Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow and thanks so much for taking photos at the Jiggety Jog today. Loved having you there. XXOO
deenie - Summer! Happy Birthday, belatedly…..and have I told you what AWESOME PARENTS and FRIENDS you have…..and a pretty cute Yedi, too! WOW! Even the girls were color co-ordinated with the table settings! Thank you special Grandma for leaving the tea cups to the bestest grand daughter, Daria!
Beth - Amazing! Gorgeous all around. Such a visual treat!
Sharon Campbell - Lovely! You captured the colors so well. I love everything especially how happy the girls look to be there.
Sarah Jo - So scrumptious on every level!!! Fabulous, period.
Nicole - Wow… you’re never too old a Mad Hatter party! My 18th Birthday Party is going to be Alice-in-Wonderland themed!
Lewis Carroll’s writing is timeless! 
I love the cheerful colors… definitely very Mad-Hatter-y. I’m focusing more on the darker colors of the Tim Burton version, but that’s just my personality. Honestly very lovely party!
marielle - You made my day!! Summers party must have been wonderful.
All the colors, details and loving dedication from such creative parents.
I can feel the love you share all the way over the ocean! ;D
Best wishes from germany!
Michelle - So fun!! Loved all the colors and I can’t wait to have a tea party with Ruby. We talk about it all the time. My sister bought Ruby her first tea set and she loves it. I still remember my teddy bear tea party as a kid. The pictures are stunning (you have amazing natural light in your home!!!)colors are luscious! It made me want to pull out the tissue and make some flowers but I don’t remember how
Oh the things I’ll re-learn as a parent. Happy Birthday to Summer!!!
Shellee Robbbins - OMG!!!! This has given me the ideas I needed to make my daughter’s Mad Hatter B-day request come true—–
Thank you soo much for putting it out there online!
Shellee Robbins
after her 6th b-day party on the 9-12-2010 I will post pictures on my facebook page, please check them out and see how you inspire us moms
daria - I will do that Shellee! Have a wonderful time creating her party!!
Mary - Great party!! I would love to know how you made your tissue paper flowers!
daria - Hello Mary, happy you liked it! Tissue paper flowers are super easy! Simply make a stack of 5-10 sheets of tissue paper and fold it like an accordian. Take a fuzzy pipe cleaner and wrap it tightly around the center of the accordian. Then using sharp scissors round the ends. Next pull each piece of tissue from the edge up towards the center. Feel free to play with it and each one comes out a very unique and lovely flower. I think I found directions with illustrations on martha stewart’s website. Have fun with it!!
Mary - Thanks Daria!! I’ll be using those for my daughter’s party in two weeks!
Lisa Lyons - I love all your beautiful creations for the Alice in Wonderland party! Where did you find the felt bags you used for goodie bags?
daria - Hello Lisa, Thanks for your kind words. I found the bags for $1 each at the Christmas Tree Shop, as well as the pretty tissue paper that I used for the bags and for some of the flowers. The goody bags contained a little tea cup, saucer and a box of tea that I found at the same shop. Each goody bag was about $6 total.
Brandy - I love this! Those paper poms and cupcakes are amazing! I would love to feature your party on my blog!
Half Baked – The Cake Blog » Real Party: Mad Hatter’s Tea Party - [...] for sharing this lovely Mad Hatter’s Tea Party with us. You can read more about this party HERE on her blog. Be sure to check out more of her amazing photography while you’re [...]
Silvana Basualdo - me encanto ! lindo lindo !! desde Chile un abrazo.
Te Aomarama Anderson - Kia ora. This is absolutely amazing!!! Your party was featured on a blog called ‘Lil Magoolie’ all the way over here in New Zealand. Love the colours- stunning. Will certainly draw inspiration from this for my daughters birthday this year.
Catherine Denton - All those gorgeous colors and patterns in the tissue paper flowers! Gorgeous. I want a tea party now!
Catherine Denton
samantha cox - Love love the flowers!! How did you make them?? ALready know how to make the pom poms but love the huge flowers around the table the ones with like 10-15 colors!! If you dont mind sharing with I would really appreciate that because I am planning my nieces 3rd birthday party and love the idea!!!
Thanks
daria - Hi there Samantha! Sorry, I didn’t see your comment hiding here on the blog until now.
So, if it’s not too late, it’s super easy to make the flowers! Martha Stewart has simple instructions. You can find them here http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/tissue-paper-pom-poms-how-to
Have fun and thanks for the nice compliment!