The Mad Hatter tea party

Hello my dears, gosh I have missed our teatimes. 

Have been journeying up and down the country in miserable weather to rather grim places. The one thing that has kept me going is the thought of all those charty shops to ransack and did I find some treats! There should be a way of describing that little skip of the heart when you spy
 a charity shop bargain..a bargain beat? a chazza hic? 

 I shall post some pics of my finds at a later date, suffice to say I arrived home a lot more laden then I left and was rather concerned about how I was going to sneak the boxes of teasets in without the Chap noticing (I didn't).

Anyhoo, whizzing on- here are some pictures from our recent trip down the rabbit hole, otherwise known as the Mad Hats and Moustaches party organized by Mad Hatter Events to raise money for Prostrate Cancer Research..

'Pologies for the pics not being brill, my camera battery deceived me when it said how much was left, so this was all we managed to snap. It was a simply triumphant night, the girls really did outdo themselves with amazing decorations and huge mad hatter and tweedledee and dum photobooths. Hopefully there will be some more official pictures to share later.

Here I am, queen of the jam tart and teacup..

Can you spy the dormouse in the teapot!! Well it was really more of a hedgehog!

A very mad afternoon tea..

Last week, Lina and I had the wonderful pleasure of treating ourselves to an Alice in Wonderland afternoon. What joy!  After a madcap farce of broken phones,mistimed trains and wrong bookings finally we met in London's busy West End and headed for the Sanderson Hotel and their specially devised Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea and what magic awaited us..

We sat in a covered courtyard with palms and a little stream trickling away and tucked into a breathtaking array of goodies - when they brought out the vintage mismatched cakestands - it was almost too cute and quirky to touch. But hunger soon won out! 

With hot to cold pineapple lollipops and rainbow finger sandwiches- we were certainly through the looking glass! Each mouthful was accompanied by oohs and mmmms, with practically all of it devoured. Those scones were delectable.

I kept the crackle cupcake and the White Rabbit's chocolate clock for the chap so he didn't feel left out!

Afterwards we headed to the Alice in Wonderland pop up shop in Selfridges and drooled over the counters full of Alice inspired jewelry, hats, knick-knacks and other assorted goodies.

And if you are anywhere near Selfridges, make sure you seek out the Mad Hatter Tea Party windows- absolutely wonderful and fabulous inspiration for the tea party we will be creating for the Mad Hats and Moustaches party on Saturday. 

And we rounded off the day by watching the film which despite having heard less than favourable reports from certain people( stuck my fingers in my ears!) was FABULOUS!! It didn't disappoint at all. As our pal said, it was such a shame we had to re-enter the world of London when it was over. 

We could have stayed in Wonderland forever!

Don’t be late, win an important date!

If you're just a smidgen obsessed with Alice in Wonderland (like our good selves!) then be sure to enter this Miss Selfridge competition, which gives you the chance to win afternoon tea, a shopping spree and more, but best of all you and your friends will get your own private screening of Alice in Wonderland!

Good luck x

A week of Alice- The very Beginning

If you have read this blog for more than ..ummm.. one post!! you will realise that Alice in Wonderland is an absolutely huge inspiration for us and in celebration of the film coming out this weekend,
we couldn't resist planning lots of Alice posts.

As the song goes; let's start at the very beginning, and I will tell you how Alice in Wonderland has been a constant all the way through my life and the inspiration for our company.
As a little girl I used to listen to cassettes of the story with Jane Asher playing Alice in terribly twee tones and be whisked off to Wonderland from my little bedroom. I still have my very first Alice book from the early 80's although it has been well thumbed and stained.. and lots of the pages are falling out. But I still take it out to have a read frequently.

So when we were planning our wedding invitations, we wanted them to reflect our love of vintage childrens books and pen and ink illustrations and my Alice in Wonderland was the first book I turned to. And there it was, the opening line to the prefacing poem,
"All in the Golden Afternoon"

It was perfect, our invites would resemble a story with chapters and lots of quotes from Alice, to tell the tale of our garden tea party wedding.
We adapted the lines for the front of the invite
"All in the golden afternoon,
In such an hour,
Beneath such dreamy weather"

There I am getting ready! 

The tale of our wedding I will keep for another day.

When the time came to choose a name for our Vintage Tea Party company, that opening line leapt out and so we excitedly decided upon The Golden Afternoon Tea Company.

And a dream came true.

Here is the poem in full, it evokes such wonderful imagery of Lewis Carrol entertaining the Liddell girls with his magical conjouring on a balmy summer's day.

All in the golden afternoon
Full leisurely we glide;
For both our oars, with little skill,
By little arms are plied,
While little hands make vain pretense
Our wanderings to guide.

Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour,
Beneath such dreamy weather,
To beg a tale of breath too weak
To stir the tiniest feather!
Yet what can one poor voice avail
Against three tongues together?

Imperious Prima flashes forth
Her edict to "begin it"--
In gentler tones Secunda hopes
"There will be nonsense in it"--
While Tertia interrupts the tale
Not more than once a minute.

Anon, to sudden silence won,
In fancy they pursue
The dream-child moving through a land
Of wonders wild and new,
In friendly chat with bird or beast--
And half believe it true.

And ever, as the story drained
The wells of fancy dry,
And faintly strove that weary one
To put the subject by,
"The rest next time"--"It is next time!"
The happy voices cry.

Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:
Thus slowly, one by one,
Its quaint events were hammered out--
And now the tale is done,
And home we steer, a merry crew,
Beneath the setting sun.

Alice! a childish story take,
And with a gentle hand
Lay it where Childhood's dreams are twined
In Memory's mystic band,
Like pilgrim's withered wreath of flowers
Plucked in a far-off land.

 

illustration by

Michelle Wiggins

 wedding pictures by the super talented Fjona Weiling

Mad Hats and Moustaches

The Alice in Wonderland countdown begins! 

The Royal Premiere(oooo) is happening right this instant, even as I type, with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter et al tripping down the red carpet to the odeon in  London's Leicester Square.
Harumph, my invite must have got lost in the post.

Invite or not, I was fairly tempted to head down there and brighten up this grim and miserable day with some celeb spotting, maybe hand out some Golden Afternoon Tea Company cupcakes, but even a teamaid has her limits and you would have to be mad as a hatter to stand for hours in this hideous rain!

But in just a few weeks time we get to be part of a real live Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Yes you read that right, Lina and I will be creating a scene fit for Alice at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party-  Mad Hats and Moustaches.

Taking place on the 20th of March at Jamm in Brixton,we are delighted to be part of this club night that promises to be a tiptop night out. 

As well as fantabulous bands and entertaining comedians, there will be  actors dressed up as characters from the book and the Golden Afternoon Tea Company will be creating and serving 'eat me' cupcakes and the Queen of Heart's Jam tarts along with cups of Earl Grey tea-tinis to sip. 

The Mad Hatter himself will be entertaining the guests at our specially created tea party table.

 And the best thing of all about the evening is that it all goes towards raising money for the Prostrate Cancer Charity as part of prostrate cancer awareness month. 

The charity raises money for research into the causes, prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.

So you get to eat cake, drink tea-tinis, dance, wear silly hats and raise money for a fantastic cause, get your ticket from Mad Hats and Moustaches- a mere £7.

Do come along!

Next week, we shall be having a week of Alice inspired posts(so much to choose from) to get us in the mood for the film's release on March 6th.

Oh.. we heart Helena, despite what they say she can do no wrong in my eyes! 

Here she is with that clever Tim Burton earlier at the premiere.

Have a peek at this clip from BBC news, interviews from the red carpet with Johnny Depp, Helena and Anne Hathaway who reveals she based the White Queen on Nigella Lawson!

Oh ok- here's Johnny.... now that's what I call yummy. Where's the spoon...

vintage wedding inspiration

I am head over heels in love with this photo shoot by Jessica Claire of a dreamy vintage, sepia and ruby inspired wedding day.

 It has everything that sends Lina and me into Golden Afternoon Tea Company swoonage;
A delicate flower strewn vintage dress from Unique Vintage,lace and pearls, wild and naturalistic flowers in vintage vases, beautiful tables with mismatched china, cherries and pomegranates and festooned with paper hearts.

What's not to love? Pour yourself a cup of orange pekoe and prepare to be whisked away..
The richly coloured tables remind me of 18th century dutch paintings, overflowing with juicy fruit and  flowers in jewel shades...

 

Paper hearts on the backs of chairs, easily made from wallpaper samples or off cuts of fabric.

See the entire shoot in all it's glory here  via green wedding shoes. 

Lots of vintage inspiration to keep us happy plus the sun is shining outside, finally!

Time for Tea?

Not one to rabbit on........ but as our winter wonderland melts away before our eyes on a grey, dismal day surely the best remedy for bringing a Cheshire cat style smile onto your face (besides tea and cake!) is the prospect that Spring is about to grace us with her presence - I'm thinking of those first crocus blooms and the golden trumpets of the beloved daffodils..........

But also with the arrival of spring this year, comes Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, which in an earlier post I alluded to being, in anticipation of its release, as Mad as a Hatter with excitement - eeek!

And today, through my letterbox did fall the National Trust Magazine, with the Mad Hatter the cover star and a lovely article about the filming that took place in and around Antony, a National Trust property in Cornwall.

And for those not content with just seeing the film, head to Antony between March and October to see the house, garden and estate transformed into Wonderland! With lots of fantastic events taking place you can enjoy tea parties, walk through scenes from the dream-like stories of Alice, and even meet the Mad Hatter!

What better way to spend a Golden Afternoon.......

Holy Moly! I can barely contain myself...........

Eeekkk!!

The marvel that is Tim Burton has taken the marvellous Alice in Wonderland and created a film that is sure to be a veritable feast for the eyes!

Quick quick take a look-see

Alice in Wonderland Trailer

I won't be late for this very important date!

I'm late, I'm late!

Have a look at this darling White Rabbit necklace that the very clever Janine has created and is giving away over on her blog Cherished Trinkets,  pop over and leave your comment and it could be yours. Isn't that a wonderful way to start the weekend?

 Adorable, non?

And would look perfect with a waistcoat and jaunty hat- one could gaze admiringly at it in until you get a proper pocket watch.. Oh no! I have a sudden compulsion for one of those as well!

I am almost as bad as the White Rabbit when it comes to timekeeping, it just seems to slip away from me like a melting Dali Clock.. perhaps this would make all the difference!

(pic)

And what excuse would I need to don an outfit like this I wonder..

The necklace would go perfectly!

Love it! From Look Book.

Tick tock- a whole site devoted to the pocket watch.

Well before I get too distracted by watches and top hats too much, where were we.. oh yes..

Janine's site is such a dreamy place to while away the time , we share a love of vintage bobbins, Alice and pygmy hedgehogs!! I am so green- she's getting a pygmy hedgehog!! I have been asking The Chap if we can get one for months now..maybe Santa will bring me one in my stocking! Look at this snuffly little thing. I would call it Mrs Tiggywinkle. She's already in a teacup, ready for me!

(pic)

Have a peek at her other gorgeous Alice inspired necklaces, an afternoon tea bracelet- just the thing to jangle against your vintage teacup whilst you sip and these tea and cake earrings

(oo can I put in a request for those please, thank you, please.)

Cherished Trinkets can also be found on Etsy and lovely pictures of her work on flickr

Hurrah- we love pretty things.

Am brimming with excitement as work starts on the Golden Afternoon Tea Company  website this week, much as I love our holding page - can't wait to create some magical graphics with my super talented designers. Inspiration will be helped with lots of tea and cake, no doubt!

  I also have a mammoth bake-athon ahead of me. Will be made even more fun by my current obsession with this band and renewing my love for this smooth fella..

Do you find music whilst you bake helps the cakes? I think it fills them with all the good things.

Hope your weekend's full of singing love and blue skies.

Tootle pip!

Tea o' Clock

So following on from Ingrid's question after this post, it set me pondering on what time is the correct and proper time to partake of a cup of tea, a cucmber sandwich and a slice of cake..

As the Golden Afternoon Tea Company prize ourselves on being proper in the most English of ways we had to find out,and donning our best Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat and popping a musty pipe in between our pearlie whites we went off to investigate....

The 7th Duchess of Bedford, Anna Marie Stanhope is credited with inventing the ritual of Afternoon Tea in the early 19th century, 1841 to be precise, in order to avoid that 'sinking feeling' in the late afternoon!  The peckish Duchess summoned her butler to bring her tea and light refreshments to her boudoir and  soon was gathering all the other Duchesses and Marquises and Ladies to join her in a nibble, and la-dee -daa, the Afternoon Tea was born!

Etiquette suggests that tea should be served between 4 o'clock and 5, but I am really of the same opinion as the Mad Hatter who believes it's always tea time.

A bright idea came into Alice's head. `Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?' she asked.

`Yes, that's it,' said the Hatter with a sigh: `it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.'

And as Henry James put it:
'There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.'

Our theme tune.

Without doubt, this is it..
The theme song for the Golden Afternoon Tea Company and of course it comes from, where else but Alice in Wonderland! The book and the glorious Disney film has to be one of our biggest loves in the whole wide world, as you will soon realise.. Not only the inspiration for our little company of Tea but this is the sweetest song - if only all the flowers could sing like this!