The Spring Tea

The Spring Tea is officially behind us and all the work and thought that went into planning is done. It was a beautiful morning to say the least.

It was a few months ago when the ball got rolling for a Spring Tea. Our Pastor's wife asked if my Mom and I would like to plan it all and put it all together and from there it went. We met once for lunch and presented our thoughts and ideas and then it started to come alive.

There were so many details involved - the date, the theme, the decor, tables, and table cloths, the food, this and that, and this and that some more.

The big details were taken care of fairly early. Asking my sister in law, Grace, who has an amazing voice, and another woman in our congregation to do worship. Betina, our beloved Pastor's Wife, being shown that the message was hers to do. And then selecting all the table hostesses.

The theme for the event was "In The Garden" and that's exactly what we did to the community center where our church meets. We turned the stage into a garden setting and all the tables were decorated in spring colors, or spring decor - bunnies, flowers, birds, etc, etc.

The week leading up to the tea, there was the last meeting to go over final details, any changes, etc, and a time of prayer. Two days later, I went with my girlfriend whom I asked to do the food, to Costco, where we shopped for all the food. And Friday, from 8:00 in the morning until mid afternoon, we did all the prep work and made what we could when it came to the food. To say it was a busy week for me would be an understatement.

We were able to get in to the community center where our church meets the night before for one hour. There was a scheduled cleaning crew coming in that night, so we didn't get to completely set up, but the stage was able to get completely done, as were the tables for the food. That alone was a huge relief. The stage, before.The stage, after.
The next morning came early as could get into the community center to start decorating the tables at 7:00am, to be completely set up and ready to go, in preparation for the 9:30 start time of the tea. Soon the seven tables began to be transformed into beautiful tablescapes, each one different and special in their own way.We sold tickets for $15.00 each and we had 52 women sign up! We had seven tables beautifully set and hostesses at each table, some had two hostesses. I was the one that got up on stage and welcomed the ladies and opened up the morning, and I was the one to close it at the end. My Mom did a short message on "The Joys of Journaling", whereas she shared the different journals she keeps and how to make them a special place for keeping verses, prayers, promises, and special things the Lord has shown her. Worship was amazing! My sister in law had asked a friend to join voices with her and the other lady from our congregation, but the day before the tea, the other lady would not be able to make it to the tea, and it left Grace and Michelle to bless us with their voices, accompanied by my brother on the guitar. It was absolutely beautiful. The Lord gave Betina a special message to share with us and she did an amazing job. Following the message, it was time for lunch. We worked hard to prepare a nice lunch for the ladies and that we did! We served chicken salad sandwiches on large crossaints, a nice spring salad, fresh fruit served in little plastic pots, sliced cucumbers with a cream cheese ranch spread, and cheesecake and brownie bites for dessert. And let's not forget the delicious scones and devonshire cream we devoured earlier in the morning. My Mom made almost 200 scones for tea and they were most delicious. We made the cheesecake look that way, drizzling chocolate sauce on the plate and then atop the sliced cheesecake, placing a sliced strawberry atop. I thought this presentation came out looking amazing! Everything tasted great and we heard many a compliments.

The event was A LOT OF WORK leading up to and the day of, but it was an absolutely beautiful morning. It went better than I had anticipated and it moved me to tears during worship when I knew we'd glorified the Lord and blessed the ladies that came.