A Christmas Tea
Make A Christmas Tea apart of your Holiday Christmas Traditions! This season may be hectic, but it’s a perfect time to plan a relaxing get together for A Christmas Tea. Hosting a Christmas Tea is not as involved as a large dinner party. Nor as expensive. You will all be able to get together and enjoy the holidays with old friends and family. This is a perfect “gift” to give to acquaintances, old friends, teachers, the mail-lady, ladies in your Women’s Club, church friends, etc..
In days of Old, Christmas was not so commercialized. It did not focus so much on gifts as it would Church, Family, Friends and Food! Food was the special “gift” that would be given to family and friends in the form of a Christmas Dinner, or a Christmas Tea. Gifts were later introduced as a small token to be given on Christmas.
The Lady of the house would see that the best linens and china graced the table. On Christmas Day, after the children discovered what Father Christmas had left them in their stocking, everyone would enjoy a Christmas Tea in the Afternoon. What a wonderful tradition!
Hosting A Christmas Tea for friends should be done on a day other than Christmas, as this is a special time for family get togethers. I suggest using some of the traditions that have been passed down through the years in your decorating and menu. See to it that your table is set with your best china and linen. Placing decoratively folded napkins at each place setting and a Place-setting Card to make your guests feel special. Put a ‘Christmas Cracker’ at each setting as a favor! In Victorian Days it was common to pull a Christmas cracker before starting a Christmas meal. You ask the person next to you to pull one end, while you pull the other. The person who ends up holding the middle part wins the toy or other small gift which is inside. Victorians would place a riddle, a paper hat, nuts, or small fruits in them. For a centerpiece use a Victorian Feather Tree or a Gingerbread House ! As for the menu: Pick foods such as Plum Pudding, Christmas Fudge, a Victorian Wassail Bowl, along with the Tea Party Sandwiches.
If this tea is hosted for your Ladies Group, you may choose to include a craft in you festivities, such as Decoupage. This was a beloved Victorian hobby and a great way to use last year’s greeting cards. Make a few decoupage tree ornaments or a tea tray. Victorian women loved anything gilded. Gather nuts, pinecones, twigs, etc. and spray them with gold spray paint. Suggest displaying them in a basket, on a mantel, or down the center of the table. Pomaders: oranges and lemons studded with whole cloves, were (and still are) another treasured tradition to add a festive aroma to the home. Let each guest make one or two to bring home as reminder of the special time you shared at your Christmas Tea or make them ahead and grace each place-setting with a Pomader!
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