So now for my first post! If the title grabbed you, then I hope you enjoy reading about my first Pinterest-inspired birthday/belated Valentine's Day/welcome to spring tea party!

where to start

A Special Occasion

Ever since the new year kicked off to a rocky start, I decided to do something special for my birthday as a project to invest in and look forward to. Due to spending a ridiculous amount of time on Pinterest, I decided on a DIY tea party. Fortunately my mother, who is an expert interior designer, was on board to help!

Since my birthday is two days after Valentine's Day, we figured it would be easy to tie the Valentine's Day theme into the tea party. After thinking through the details and checking in with my friends' schedules, we scheduled the party for the last Saturday in February. We wanted to incorporate a floral, early spring vibe to the classic decor and theme.

The good news about living in a Victorian home is that we already had the perfect setting for a classic tea party. All we needed to do was set the table, supply the refreshments and add a little extra pizazz to the already formal room.

Now let me walk you through the party!

Invitations

Any good tea party starts with the perfect invitations. I knew I wanted the theme to be classical and feminine with pink and purple colors to keep with the Valentine's Day mood.

Pinterest inspired the doilies pasted onto purple card stock paper, and from there I added little flowers to the center. The back of each invitation listed all the details of the date, time, location and dress code of the tea party. I encouraged my guests to wear anything floral and feminine (and all but my mother did!)

Place Settings

Aside from mandatory doilies (small and large), we found incredible napkins and a tablecloth that fit perfect with the theme at our local party store. The napkins we choose are of a 19th century ballroom scene, which go fabulously with the Victorian setting of our dining room.

Once we picked out this iridescent pink tablecloth, the rest of the display came naturally. Home Goods supplied us with brightly colored teacups as well as mini chocolates with cupid design wrappings.

Silverware

I absolutely LOVE anything and everything rose gold, so when I saw this rose gold plastic silverware at the local party store I had to have them. I thought they went great with the gold undertones in the pink tablecloth.

Centerpiece

Every table needs a killer centerpiece. In this case I wanted to make mine. Since I have a small obsession with paper flowers, it seemed appropriate to use them as a centerpiece. II found a wire wreath at Michaels Crafts that served as the perfect setting to wrap paper flowers around.

Bowls and Name Tags

We found little, pastel-colored serving bowls at Anthropologie that were the perfect size to house candies, Red Hot Hearts, and jellies around the table!

Pinterest inspired me to cut doilies into halves and glue them onto paper for name tags. I used pink paper to match the table and hand lettered everyone's name on each tag.

The Tea Set

And now for the showstopper--this amazing cat and mouse tea set! I lobbied for this cat teapot from Anthropologie ever since I ordered the mouse cream and sugar pieces a year ago. So you can imagine my enthusiasm when I opened this gorgeous cat teapot on my birthday!

Fresh Flowers

One of the easiest ways to jazz up the table and serving area is to display a variety of fresh flowers in different arrangements.

Tea Sandwiches

We went with Caprese, Egg Salad with fresh dill, Ham and Cheese and the classic Cucumber Mint for our tea sandwiches. Lucky for me, my grandmother (who is the best cook I know) contributed chicken salad puffs, which were quite a hit! (Since one of my guests and I eat gluten-free, we easily applied these sandwich recipes to gluten-free bread and served them separately).

Desserts

We decided to go with Bundt cakes as our main sweet. A fabulous bakery near us called Nothing Bundt Cakes supplied us with a great variety of both gluten-free and regular Bundt cakes. People loved them! We found them as a refreshing alternative to cupcakes and the small, palm-sized portions they offered were just enough to satisfy but not bloat my guests. We also supplied a variety of cookies, scones and chocolates to make sure nobody was wanting!

Crystals and Doily Garland

One of the benefits of having the tea party in our dining room is the raw material we had to work with. My mom had these gorgeous crystal decanters that provided the perfect, ethereal backdrop. All we had to do was light some candles!

I couldn't resist adding more doilies to the mix through making this Pinterest-inspired heart doily garland using white ribbon.

That’s a wrap for this post! I hope you enjoyed the virtual walk-through of my first official DIY tea party. This activity was equally as gratifying to plan as it was to host and I would gladly do it again. The only aspect I might change is catering the sandwiches instead of making them to save on time and energy. Feel free to comment below, ask questions or share your own tea party story!

In full disclosure—I am very new to the blogging world and open to tips and suggestions for improvements as this is a learning experience for me.