When I first started serving high teas, it was mainly to enjoy the festive formality with my friends and daughters and for the opportunity to use my beautiful teacups! 

I was blessed to inherit lovely teacups, teapots and other tea-related glassware and linens. A few years ago at the annual ladies’ tea at our church, the guest speaker really impacted me when she addressed that all of the items that we possess should be useful or beautiful. She also emphasized that we should use the beautiful ones – not to just let family china, wine glasses or teacups collect dust! Why save those treasures if you are not going to use them? What a joy for you to share memories with your children while using your grandmother’s china!

If you do not own fine china or teacups and want to do tea times, I recommend visiting your local thrift or antique shops. Department and home stores carry teacups, but it is more fun to collect individual, distinct ones. They do not have to match – in fact, the eclectic look of each lady having her own unique teacup can be part of the fun. 

For my teas, I place assorted styles of teacups with saucers on my buffet. As my guests arrive, I allow them to select the teacup they want to use for that day. I usually try to have more on display than the number of ladies attending – just so the last one to arrive is not relegated to the only remaining teacup that no one else had chosen. The teacups not being used can be left to decorate the buffet or tea table.

It does not matter if your teacups are bone china from your great-grandmother or ones you have collected from a street fair or thrift shop! Having tea should surely make you and your guests feel like you have experienced a little pause in time!