Mother Knows Best

I'm sure you haven't forgotten it's Mother's Day on Sunday.. or maybe you have! If so, don't despair, The Golden Afternoon Tea Company has created a very special Mother's Day afternoon tea to save the day. Mothers are great aren't they? always there with pearls of wisdom and words of advice or offering tea and sympathy. I still think if I swallow chewing gum, it will stick to my heart! What words of wisdom did your mum pass on to you?

With this in mind, we give you the Mother Knows Best afternoon tea!



MENU

'Don't leave the crusts' afternoon tea cucumber sandwiches- we've left the crusts on to make sure our hair curls!



'An apple a day' cinnamon and apple scones with plum jam and clotted cream



And don't forget to Eat your Greens! a Golden Afternoon Tea Company speciality-
Courgette cake.. much nicer than spinach.


That should keep Mum happy..

Drop us a line if you need a helping hand spoiling your mother with our afternoon tea!


pic from here and here and here

He said YES - a leap year proposal and afternoon tea in the woods!

Yesterday, the 29th of February was just the most exciting day chez Golden Afternoon Tea Company- we actually pulled off the Marry Me special leap year proposal afternoon tea ! Well, I didn't do the proposing, that fell to the lovely Kim! I received an email from her, after having been told about this blogpost by a friend who knew she might be proposing to her beau. Luckily, as it was all organised at the last minute and leap day was almost upon us,she didn't have time to change her mind and took the leap.
Here is an excerpt of their story as sent to me by Kim-
'So, the story is that we've been together 11 and a half years and almost 7 years ago we were going to get married but lost momentum. We were living in Greece and didn't want to cause a minor climate catastrophe in the name of our marriage getting everyone out to Greece. What was meant to be 1 year in Greece turned into 6 so the wedding just never quite happened. Now we have beautiful baby alice and we're back living in the UK so i have been pestering him to get married, but he now claims that it's cool to have a kid out of wedlock and he has jokingly said that i would need to ask him to marry him since he's already done it (because of the cold feet last time). So we'll see. If he says no, it will still be a nice way to show him i think he's great, but he might well say yes.. whatever the outcome, it will be fun, a 'will you marry? tea' in the woods'

Absolutely thrilled to get involved(just call me cupid!) I packed up the van with cakes and tables and teacups and off I set to woods very near their home and set up the proposal tea table in a secluded spot surrounded by silver birches. It's a favourite part of their walk, as Kim told me the late afternoon sun always catches the trees beautifully. I was just hoping the sun would put in an appearance in time for the proposal!



Kim and I were full of excitement, laughing away at the crazy goings on as we set everything up, at one point she turned to me and said 'what am I doing?!' But there was no going back now!!
Also present overseeing her mum's big moment was Kim and Tim's gorgeous little girl, Alice.. a serious contender for cutest baby ever! Here they are just before Tim arrived.

Once I had set the tea up, I lurked in the bushes to make sure there were no last minute visits from any passing dogs, Kim went off to meet Tim. I had a tummy full of butterflies so can't imagine how she was feeling.. Tim's laughter filled the air as he came round the corner ( I knew I should have brought my false beard, still hiding in the undergrowth at this point) it was wonderful to hear. Off I snuck, leaving them to it!


Dear reader, he said YES! Apparently he was thrilled and shocked and stunned, there were even a few tears!




Kim and Tim are just the loveliest couple, it was all terrific fun, and such a privilege to be involved in a momentous event such as this! When I rejoined them, they were both beaming with joy..


I love this one, my camera was being rubbish- so is terribly blurry but here is the whole family, Alice and Festi the dog included!

The afternoon tea menu included mini heart shaped victoria sponges, passionfruit cupcakes, scones and cucumber, smoked salmon, brie and cranberry finger sandwiches, all served with teapots brimming with earl grey and peppermint tea for mummy Kim! Even Festi got a sandwich.

So if this has inspired you to take the plunge and propose, don't wait another 4 years - just do it! Or any fella who needs a hand in planning a proposal, drop us a line!

This song was playing on the radio as I drove home, and was the perfect soundtrack to the day!
Wishing you lots of happiness Kim, Tim and Alice.. CONGRATULATIONS!






Thanks to Kim for some of the pics and also Anna and the Ring for her blog post.

Blog relaunch!

Well hello, here we are again!
How've you been?

Thought it was about time I kickstarted the old blogarooo and filled you all in with our adventures and madcap goings on in the world of the Golden Afternoon Tea Company- life has been very exciting I can tell you..

Pull up a chair, we've got something very exciting to get us up and flying again..

Beach Huts and Picnics

So following on from our previous adventures, the Chap and I hotfooted it up to Yorkshire and to our dear friend's birthday celebrations in Whitby. Mrs Lee not only has a fabulous blog full of inspiring finds and mouthwatering recipes but the lucky lady is a proud owner of a scarlet red beach hut called Queenie.

As you can see it was the most glorious day -we were so lucky!
British seasides in the sun just can't be beat and what do you need  for that perfect day on the seaside- why a picnic, of course.
All laid out on a tartan woolie rug,just the right side of scratchy, wicker baskets full of lemonade and ginger beer, and a huge plastic chiller box filled with goodies.. egg and cress sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper, sausage rolls,  a homemade pork pie if you're feeling adventurous,  rolls filled with coronation chicken or ham. Loading melamine plates high and trying to avoid the sand from getting everywhere but of course it always does.
A flask of tea to warm you up after a quick dip in the freezing water, do you remember the Lift Lemon tea? oo that was the taste of seaside picnics for me. Shortbread biscuits, punnets of strawberries preferably bought from a roadside table and a dash to the ice cream van returning with 99's and cornettos for all the family. Now isn't that heaven?

Wouldn't you love to be a bathing beauty on one of these cossies?

The Golden Afternoon Tea Company's vintage seaside picnic is one of our most favourite things to do, we have a number of rugs, vintage deckchairs,vintage hampers and picnic sets to hire, all set with our unique china or melamine for the real retro flavour and packed full with deliciousness, sandwiches, cakes and cordials, there's even a little bottle with the sunshine in. Perfect for a day trip to the seaside.

If you're like me and you adore all these vintage beach pictures, the flickr retro beach group is fab for inspiration and you must look through the Beach Bygones blog for lots of gorgeous pictures and interesting finds. You can even buy your own 1950's costume through her online shop, there are some fantastic styles there, just what you need for lounging on the dunes.

Happy picnicking

          We would love to hear some of your favourite seaside picnic memories, what reminds you of sunny seaside days?

Pictures of Bugsy, baby!

Evernybody loves that man....Bugsy Mal-oohone.

Well we did it and it was such a joy, I haven't stopped singing for weeks!

Our very first Sunday Afternoon Musical was a triumph, we had a rip-roaring time at the Bethnal Green Working Men's Club a couple of Sundays ago. We danced,we sang, we shook our Jazz Hands with aplomb and we sipped ice cool gin in teacups- they went down faaar too easily!

And the cakes.. our gin and tonic cupcakes were a smash, and our famous heart shaped victoria sponge was snaffled up quicker than you could say 'get babyface'.

Here we are behind Bethnal Green WMC's lovely cake-tail bar.

Our musical maestro Peter led us in a spifferoonie singalong, warming everyone up with zzzzings and jazz hands .

And we were introduced to the Blousey Brown break! Unfortunately, poor Blousey Brown was not blessed with the best songs so that was the cue to go to the bar or buy cakes!

So a thousand thanks to you wonderful chaps and dolls that helped serve cake, played piano, danced and sang and to all who came along and made it such a memorable day! We were thrilled!
As the songs goes 'Give a little love and it all comes back to you'
Look out for the next one soon!


(thanks to Jenny May Logan for the pics, see more here)

Sunday Afternoon Musicals.

Finally I have found a way of combining my two most favourite things in the whole world...afternoon tea and musicals!  Since a wee young thing, I have been obsessed with musicals, showtunes,MGM, Fred and Ginger, Judy, and Gene...There really is nothing that cheers the heart as much as spending a Sunday with a wonderful film and a scrumptious tea!

So on the 18th of April, The Golden Afternoon Tea Company will be organising our very first Sunday Afternoon Musical,  and we thought we'd debut with a splurge, the well loved and fun filled,

splurge-tastic  Bugsy Malone!

And as well as watching the film, we will be having a sing-song around the piano to get us in the mood. There will be charleston dancing, a 1920's ' Watch the Birdie' photobooth, cocktails in teacups and of course the most delicious cakes and scones. Too good to miss don't you think?! 

So if you fancy some frolics at Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy, or the Bethnal Green Working Men's Club  do pop down on the 18th of April, we would love to see you! 

Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend.

The chap and I filled it with flowers, a trip to the flower market(the car broke down,  was taken pity on and given a free chocolate bar by a local)then Columbia road flower market on Sunday, traipsed around many vintage clothes shops and stuffed ourselves silly with tons of chocs and cake. Bliss..

My friend, Mrs Lee sent me this most gorgeous vintage Easter card, isn't the picture darling? I bought armfuls of these English grown Narcissi, and with the palest pink hyacinths and snow white lilac the house has been filled with the sweetest perfume.

Best wishes for a sweet and fragrant spring for you all.

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!

Tune in tonight!

Don't forget to tune your television sets to the Good Food channel this evening! 

Market Kitchen- 7pm for our very exciting teacup and teapot tv debut.

Terribly exciting, though it may very well be a blink and you'll miss it moment- who knows? But we will be sitting on the edge of our seats, hoping for a glimpse! I'm bound to get emotional!

Wish us luck and we must all celebrate with fizz in a teacup..

Tootle pip!

(flickr pic)

Our teacups coming to a Television near you

Exciting times at  Golden Afternoon Tea Company hq, in a couple of weeks our vintage china will soon be making make it's television debut!

Yesterday we were super excited to be asked to provide an Agatha Christie style afternoon tea for Kitchen Market, a foodie magazine tv programme on the digital channel, Good Food.
After a very quick turnaround for cucumber sandwiches and fruit scones, I packed up a selection of tea sets, tablecloths, two teapots and the silver tiered stand and off we headed to the television studios in North London. Even the pooches came along for the ride- moral support, of course! It was great fun selecting the teacups and plates to give the perfect look, such a thrill to see the gorgeous china put to good use. Out of the teasets I brought, the producers liked an art deco shaped yellow floral pattern, and matched it with pink gilded plates. It looked delightful. The cake stand was laden with cucumber sandwiches, fruit tartlets and rose fairycakes. Perfectly fit for Miss Marple.

The programme will be all about the intriguing connection between food and crime. Maybe it's Jack the Ripper's favourite sandwich filling or the best grub to fill up on before a bank heist- who knows? You will have to tune in to find out!

The afternoon tea we created set the scene for a discussion with the prolific crime writer, Martina Cole on Miss Marple and Agatha Christie. As quintessentially English as the afternoon tea tradition, Miss Marple,in tweed, always unravels the murder as she sips from her china teacup.
Love this clip- two scenes of tea drinking within nine minutes! And not to mention the sherry...


Kitchen Market will be aired at 7pm on March 16th on the digital channel Good Food, do tune in to see our afternoon tea hit the airwaves!
We may even have a celebratory tea party, put the fizz on ice!

And if you would like to have an Agatha Christie/ Miss Marple afternoon tea party, here's a helpful guide or contact us to provide it all. Although we can't guarantee any helpful detection work if anything goes wrong!

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...