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Hey Delights!
I recently hosted an afternoon tea for some of my Chicago blogger boos that was co-sponsored by Contessa of
Plus Navigator and we had a really lovely time. There was lots of conversation and laughs and I wanted to share some of it with you.
The theme I created was centered around tea and bouquets, two of my favorite things. So I set up a bouquet bar and an ice tea bar along with hot tea & sweets and eats served at the table. Here is the bouquet bar. It was so lovely to have the big picture windows with the trees in full bloom framing it.
Lightbox (last seen
here) | Gold Foil Sheets (last seen
here) | Flowers: Trader Joe's | Bucket {was red and I painted it gold with this
Rustoleum spray paint, which I am obsessed with and also used it to change the color of the 3 tier trays on the table (below)} |
Vases:
Dollar Tree (amazing at $1 each & I loved being able to order them in bulk online and picking them up already boxed to go).
The bar was supplied with gold foil sheets to decorate the vases, something that I do quite a bit (see my
5 minute vase tutorial) and some crazy affordable but super nice
vases from Dollar Tree along with twine, and some cool floral gel water beads that allow you to hydrate your flowers without a lot of water. They are also from
Dollar Tree which has a nice selection of
floral supplies.
Although we were late getting set up, I was very pleased with the way it all turned out. And while we set up the ladies chatted, snapped pictures at the "photo station" & created their bouquets.
I purchased
this set of photo props and
blow up frame to add a little fun to the photo station. I also snagged a cute "gather" banner (see
here) from the
Target dollar spot.
I lugged all of the decor from my apartment to the location and it was a lot of stuff but it was so worth it. You know, when you have a vision there is nothing better than seeing it come to life. And many thanks to Contessa for all her help lugging it down/up my 3 flights of steps!
The place settings were simple
kraft paper, something that I love to use in a variety of ways. And can you believe that
this flatware is plastic? They are so beautiful and I am so glad that I found them because while
I own gold flatware, I do not own enough for all the place settings we had. And I will seriously be using them the entire holiday season and beyond because of course there will be lots of gold in my decor.😊
I snagged the gorgeous mugs from
Burlington (a couple of similar sets,
here and
here) and the glasses are a part of my collection. I love them and this was actually my first time using them. The small plates are from
Dollar Tree and the napkins are from
H&M home, another site I love for home decor accents. I last featured some of their products during
my holiday displays.
And these 3 tier trays that I purchased at
TJMaxx were rose gold when I purchased them and they were really beautiful but rose gold isn't really my decor color, so I had to spray paint them.
And speaking of the location, it was a gorgeous
Breather space. Never heard of
Breather? I love their spaces and how easy they are to book and use. It's so easy and I have used them for meetings, podcast recordings, photo shoots and this time for tea with my curvy girls. They are located in lots of cities and
you can save $45 with my link.
I also purchased this
electric kettle and I don't know how I have lived this long without one. It heats the water in a flash and made it so much easier to fill the teapots, both of which are a part of my collection of tea pots. You can spot more on my
#DecorateMyFlat hastag.
Shout out to the fabs who joined me. I really enjoyed your honest, open conversation and I look forward to hosting you again.
And finally, a major shout out to Joe for putting all the food, which was all vegan (with the exception of the macaroons which were from Trader Joe's) together. Finger foods can be so time consuming and I really appreciate her for making it all happen.
I missed hosting, something I used to do really often so much and I will definitely be doing lots more of it, so stay tuned 😊
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