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Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Take your friends for a trip down the rabbit hole with a fun and frivolous Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, inspired by the classic story of Alice in Wonderland.  Oh frabjous day, calloo callay!

Invitations

Try making your own invitations in the shape of a teacup or teapot.  Inspire your guests with some cute words, such as:

Don’t be late!
For a very important date!
Join Alice, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter
For an afternoon of tea, charm and chatter
Bring your best hat to sip tea
And enjoy a touch of madness with me
On [date] at [time]
[address]
RSVP to [host details]

Decorating and styling

An outdoor setting works best for a Mad Hatter’s tea party.  Set your table up under a big tree or among the rose bushes in your backyard.

In Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter explains that he and the March Hare are always having tea because, when he tried to sing for the Queen of Hearts, she sentenced him to death for ‘murdering the time’.  As a result, he and the March Hare continue to have tea as though the clock had truly stopped.  Take this as your inspiration and feature as many vintage clocks as you can find.  Beg, borrow and steal, placing the clocks and watches around the party location.

For a whimsical table, start with crisp white linen as your backdrop and then layer mismatched plates, cups, jugs and teapots with napkins in a riot of colours and designs.  To unify your theme, choose a few key co-ordinating colours, or two designs (say, floral and stripes) and stick with those.  Visit an antiques fair, your local flea market or (with permission!) raid your grandma’s cupboards to pick up plenty of vases and teapots to add personality to your table.  Or, if you don’t fancy scouring the local garage sales, choose a selection of tea party themed plates, cups and napkins from Pink Frosting. 

Pick bunches of flowers right from your garden and fill a collection of decorative teapots to bursting for a charming centrepiece.  If you’re really creative, make a tower of teacups as a centrepiece – just be sure to put the largest teacups at the bottom!  And unify your theme by covering each of your chairs with white fabric and dress with satin ribbons. 

Then, add an extra touch of humour with little tags that say ‘eat me’ and ‘drink me’ alongside the spectacular selection of cakes and drinks.  Curiouser and curiouser! 

Entertainment

A Mad Hatter's tea party is all about chatter.  To encourage your guests to mix and mingle, play the Mad Hatter’s favourite game and call out “change places” at various intervals. 

Another fun idea is to play poetry with words.  In preparation, compile a list of words that tickle your fancy.  Think of words that suit your theme: tea, party, madness and rabbit alongside some wonderful nonsense phrases straight from Lewis Carroll himself, such as Jabberwocky, brillig, mimsy, frabjous and beamish.  Type out the words, print them off and then cut them up.  Place all the words in a bowl or, for extra flair, a top hat and ask each guest to pick out a handful of words.  Everyone must string together a poem from the words.  Great fun!

If you’re really keen to keep with the Alice in Wonderland theme, then play croquet!  Just be careful that you don’t beat the Queen of Hearts, or she’ll have your head!

Menus, catering and cocktails

Serve pink petit fours, watercress sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, mini pastries, fruit skewers, an assortment of muffins, quiches and cupcakes all washed down with tea and pink champagne!  If it’s a hot summer occasion, Pimms and Lemonade is the perfect tea party treat.  And don’t forget the tarts for the Queen of Hearts!

Favors and gifts

The tea party theme is complete with a beautiful teacup favor nestling a tealight candle.  Or slip a selection of your favourite teas into sweet little favor bags so your friends can enjoy a quiet cuppa and think of you!

Pink Frosting's online party supplies shop is brimming with beautiful tea party decorations, invitations, favours and more to help you bring your Mad Hatter's Tea party to life!

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