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Two Saturdays ago, I had a garden party. We have finally finished two years of backyard renovations, and I wanted to celebrate. (It was
only later that I learned it was the Queen’s Jubilee, which made it even better!) I love garden parties, and tea, and little cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. I found a local bakery that would make some petit fours. Christopher Robin scoured the local thrift stores for teapots and china cups, the more mismatched the better.
For two weeks, we planted and trimmed in the garden. I whispered kindly to the peonies so that they might grace me with their presence, and requested that the chives, which had been putting on quite a show, would hang around in good condition. We found an umbrella for the table that was just right, and I even found a dress I liked and a very small fascinator. I invited my sisters and nieces and mother, and friends from all of my various worlds (the seekers, the teachers, the hikers, the writers) and they were all happy to have an excuse to find a dress and put on a fancy hat. My sister’s granddaughter, aged 2, just could not believe we would drink tea in a garden!
Well, you can guess what happened, can’t you? It rained, starting at exactly two, and finally fizzling out when most everyone was ready to call it a day. Only the most vigourous little girls really wanted to go outside, so we stood under the lip of the roof on the back stairs and admired the lupine and chives and yes, the peonies that had just that very morning shaken out their negligee petals.
But we wore hats. Beautiful hats. And dresses—the little girls were especially fantastic. We served tea and lemonade and cucumber sandwiches on white bread with the crusts cut off. We talked and talked about nothing at all and admired each other and tried not to eat too many cakes.
Sonia's Amazing Hat
A last minute purchase of two sets of doll-sized tea sets, unpainted, proved to be the biggest hit of all. The girls, and even some of the women, painted a cup or a teapot or a tiny saucer to take home.
As CR said, putting mismatched china in a box for Next Time, “It was a very English sort of tea party, after all.” And it was. There will be more.*
Have you had a garden party or a party that was rained on? Do you like having people over? Or, like some people I know, do you like to keep your home private only to you?
* Four days after the party, we had a massive hailstorm that shredded every blossom in the garden. It was crushing, but that’s the way it goes in Colorado.
49 Comments on “I Went To A Garden Party….”
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I love to entertain, though I have not done it much since moving to the Small Town. I hope to rectify that when I get back to civilization. I already have plans for dinners and movie nights and even brunches. (Of course, I will need to build up a group of friends there, but I have faith it won’t take long.)
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:04 am.
I have that faith in you too, Sheridan!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:06 am.
Thanks, Julia! And you know you are welcome to visit any time to join in!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:23 am.
I’ll come to your party, especially as you came to mine!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:54 am.
Excellent! Yours was so lovely, even if it was moved indoors
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:50 pm.
I am not really a party person but I do remember in my early teens having a birthday which was supposed to be spent at a local water park and it had been raining right up to just as my sister, friend and I arrived at the place. It wasn’t a heavy rain but it definitely was there. Within an hour it was totally fine and sunny. Typical Toowoomba weather I guess.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:05 am.
Glad it cleared up for you, just in time!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:54 am.
I would love any excuse to get a fascinator! I really like to have people over, but my problem is my severe kitchen handicap. If you like baked chicken and salad, I am your girl. But anything beyond that, and I am hopeless. I have to get it catered. Just ask my book club.
I want to come to your house, Barbara. I am really good at showing up with booze.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:06 am.
“I am really good at showing up with booze.”
Music to my ears.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:47 am.
**I am really good at showing up with booze** LOL, that SO made me laugh!!
If I’m doing any entertaining at home, I generally take the day before and the day of off work just so I have time to do everything I want to do prior to people coming over. I love to cook and I really like cooking for a lot of people…comes from having a large family, I guess.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:29 am.
Please come to my house and play–and we love to see the booze coming, too.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:54 am.
Ooh, ooh, a tea party topic!! Your party sounds lovely, even with the rain, Barbara! In the YBC period of my life (Years Before Children), my friends and I used to host an annual “Mad Tea Party” –like yours, very English with traditional “tea party” foods, etc. Depending on location, we sometimes played croquet. Most of the friends were reenacters, so the rule was to come in costume, but not from the period one usually wore (hence the “mad” theme). The last few years, we turned it into a Victorian murder mystery tea. Heck, I’m a writer –who could resist? I must harbor some hope we’ll do this again someday, as I still have a box of supplies stashed in my garage!!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:25 am.
That sounds like so much fun, Gail! I’ll have to consider adding the mystery angle to my next party. We tried to set up croquet, but there wasn’t really enough space. And we have some Bocce balls, but I could not locate them anywhere since things are all in new places after the Big Basement Flood of 2011.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:55 am.
I am not really much of an entertainer. I do it on occasion, but that is mostly birthday’s. I enjoy it more when it’s friends and there is no pressure. Do a party for the inlaws and I get very stressed.
I had an end of school party one year for my daughter, and it got stormed on. I had 10 girls expecting fun outside, and I had plenty of outside things bought and planned for them to do, but it wasn’t to be. Luckily, I had some crafts hidden away, and I pulled them out and that entertained them for about an hour. Then I baked some cupcakes and let them decorate them. All in all it turned out all right, just not as I had planned.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:32 am.
That’s a clever response, the cupcakes. I’m sure they remember it fondly.
One of the tricks for me is to realize that the party I have in my head, and the party that actually takes place in the world, are sort of linked, but not really. Just like the book that lives in my head is a soft map of the book that actually arrives.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:57 am.
What a lovely party! And it sounds like lots of fun in spite of Mother Nature showing up uninvited!
I used to entertain quite a bit. I loved throwing theme parties. These days, however, I am either working or writing and never have time to entertain. Running a bakery I do get to participate in party planning and I am always fascinated by the themes people come up with and by the expense people will go to in order to celebrate a child’s birthday party!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:50 am.
Well, running a bakery AND writing would definitely limit the time to throw parties. But I can imagine that the baking gives the girls in the basement lots of time to mull things over. I like having work for my hands when I writing hard–it seems to help.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:58 am.
Your tea party sounds marvelous. Considering I’m down to four plates, two cups, and very little silverware, I’d be hard pressed to give a party of any kind. But I do remember my golfing days and the times our celebratory barbecues were rained out as were the last few holes of play. It started raining on a recent barbecue at the girls and we spent our time running back and forth to the grill. That’s a far cry from a tea party but still a lot of fun.
When I was married, we had several parties but my late husband wasn’t much of a party animal when they were held in our home. Give him a good restaurant or bar and that was another story.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:04 am.
That does sound like a lot of fun. The rain adds a little something, doesn’t it?
My CR is not usually a big entertainer, but he likes to host the Christmas part for his side-business (dogs, naturally) and he had an absolute blast at the tea party. He would never return to England, but he likes English things and foods.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:00 pm.
I’ve never had a garden party, and don’t think I’ve ever been to one, but my memory being what it is lately, I could be wrong about that!
I did have a garden wedding, and the weather was perfect. We were married at sunset, the light shining through the rose petals and the pines casting delicate shadows. My bridesmaids each wore a different color dress, like flowers. It was beautiful.
I guess it was, in a way, a garden party.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:16 am.
Oh, Claudia, what a lovely picture you painted! What a beautiful wedding.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:01 pm.
Here in Seattle, we tend to plan indoor parties, or to always have an “if it rains” alternative. You can probably guess why. Your party sounds like a lot of fun, especially the hats. How wonderful that it took place on the day of the Queen’s Jubilee! What an amazing spectacle that was!
So sorry to hear your beautiful garden was damaged by hail! Mother Nature is a fickle woman.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:18 am.
She is fickle. Things are starting to recover now, at least most of the flowers. Not sure about the peaches.
But that’s how it is, gardening here. Every climate has challenges. That’s mine.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:01 pm.
I’ve never been to a garden party, but did have my wedding in a lovely park with gardens and a creek, so that probably counts.
It had just rained a little that morning, then the sun came out gloriously, so everything looked so gorgeous and green. 
It might be fun to have some stuff available to MAKE a fascinator at the party to wear for the party. Each person can bring a bag of feathers, bag of clips, bag of beads, etc. and the hostess can provide the clips and glue gun. For younger ones, the painting of the minis sound like a lot of fun and they would still get to participate in the crafts.
I had a large extended family growing up and I married into one as well, so when we have people over, it’s a crowd! I love to cook, and when I have people over, I make enough to feed an army.
No dainty little finger sandwiches and petit fours here… My last bunco at my house, we did breakfast for dinner, and I made stuff for breakfast tacos (eggs, crumbled sausage, peppers, onions, bacon, potatoes and cheese for people to put their own together), mini-quiches, homemade biscuits with honey butter and mimosas…it was pretty good, but we were all too full to play, so we each just took our money home. LOL Thankfully, they all have strapping boys at home so I didn’t have too many leftovers. Of course, all the mimosas were gone….can’t imagine why. 
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:37 am.
And, sorry about the hail wrecking your lovely garden.
Especially after you and CR put so much work into it.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:38 am.
Thanks. It’s all right now….and really, after seeing the clips of the ENORMOUS hail in Dallas area yesterday, we feel pretty lucky. That would be really scary.
Hail is such a weird weather. We have a lot of it, but at least it isn’t tornados!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:04 pm.
Often, that’s the kind of food we have around here, too, Julie. And yes, it’s because of the strapping size of some of the men. They need LOTS of calories!
Mimosas do seem to disappear, don’t they?
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:03 pm.
I love garden parties, and was at a couple in honour of The Queens Jubilee…
They are so much fun and whether rain or shine, I have at least a oouple during the summer..
And others I know have them too.. But remember, You can bring the Garden party in the house too on those rainy days… Just have lots of plants and flowers around and tea and cakes and fancy sandwiches.. Ah..
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:11 pm.
Perfect, Kathleen. How fun that you were at a couple of them for the Jubiliee!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 3:59 pm.
I love garden parties, but most backyards in SoCal are too tiny for more than four people. *g*
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:49 pm.
Well, there’s that. Mine is not particularly big, either, especially now that the garden takes up half of it.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:00 pm.
Your party sounded so cute! I’m sure that even with the rain your garden remained beautiful. Your teacups and such made me laugh and think of the “Titanic” bowl in this book I am reading now. I am loving Elsa and “Walking” way too late into the night!
I am pretty much a recluse until I’m invited to a party!
Once in a great while I will have friends over, but I would do it more if we lived closer to each other. My parents would put on 4th of July parties yearly. It was always such a hassle getting everything ready. And sure enough, it being western NY it would either rain, or be cold enough to hear teeth chattering!
If I were lucky enough to be invited to your party I would bring the booze also! I don’t think you’d run low!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:59 pm.
And we could all drink lots and lots of wine!
Happy smile at the Titanic bowl. Loved playing that little joke. So glad you’re enjoying it.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:01 pm.
What a great idea!! Might have to copy that one! I love to have people over, and usually have some sort of gathering at least once a month. During the summer months my friends gather at my place most every Sunday evening for “Sunday Night Supper”–it’s a pot luck and we grill, play games, or just hang out and enjoy the weather.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 1:20 pm.
That sounds like a great tradition, Haley. My ex used to barbeque on Sunday afternoons most weekends in the summertime. In the winter, it was Sunday breakfast, with a groaning table he prepared. My job was to flit around, which being a Gemini, I am quite good at!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:02 pm.
I’m not much of a party person, but when I do give a party, I’ve always been lucky with the weather. In our family parties are more about eating and drinking than anything else, so we take care we put on the table what everyone likes.
But that was mainly when I was young and did have a family of some size. Now there’s only my sister and I, so not much to party, as we have not a lot of friends either.
But I do plan to celebrate the day our family home becomes 100 years old – which will be in 2029. I hope I’m still there by then, as I’d be 73 by then!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 1:48 pm.
I’m sure you’ll still be there when your home is 2029! 73 is young as the morning these days. And that’s a terrific idea for a party.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:04 pm.
What fun!!! I have a small collection of miniature tea sets and would have loved to paint my own. What a clever activity. Who cares if it rained! Although I would not have had a hat because the one size fits all the women’s hats come in don’t fit me.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 2:00 pm.
It’s probably all those brains you have in your head, Madeline. And also, that’s why I like fascinators–just pin and go!
I used to have a tea set that was quite my prize. I didn’t get a chance to paint anything, but the cup above is one I found on the table when everyone had gone. Pretty, and a very sweet memento.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:05 pm.
My sister’s reception was in the garden. Looking out the window, it looked like a beautiful summer day – until you looked at the trees. It was a blustery day. We had to put rocks in the centerpieces to keep them from blowing away. We have a picture of my dad with his tie perpindicular to his body that’s pretty funny.
I don’t get to do much entertaining since my dh isn’t around much because of his job, but when we do it’s a lot of fun. But we haven’t had a garden party. I’ve been to a few. The best ones are at a friend’s house. She’s a gourmet cook and amazing gardener(incredible seamstress and florist, too). She has stuff like lavender shortbread, sugared flowers, or nasturium butter, using the lavender, flowers, and nasturiums from her garden. Once she served watermelon with rosewater, which sounds kind of weird, but it’s delicious!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 2:25 pm.
Oh, my gosh, your friend’s menu sounds absolutely amazing! I might have to steal a few of those ideas. I wanted to make cucumber water, but pitchers ended up being at a premium.
Nasturtium butter! Watermelon and rosewater! My head is dancing with possibilities.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:07 pm.
I have never been to or had a garden party but it sounds so great. And I would love to wear a big hat!
The two big parties we had at my house (high school graduation) we were very lucky and it did not rain. My house is so small we had to clean the garage and move all the crap out so we could have the tables out there. That would have still worked in the rain but there were a lot of people on the back porch and in the yard too.
But I figured I’d worn out my good luck with those parties and elected to have the college graduations at a restaurant right after the graduation. As the boys went to school in towns away from here that worked out better anyway.
I’m sorry about the blooms being crushed. How upsetting.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 3:13 pm.
I ended up having graduation parties out of town, too, Lori. I’m not sure I could get everything out of my garage, even now. Pretty impressive.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:08 pm.
I loathe having people over. My home is mine and mine only (or, you know, technically, my mom’s, but, you know). I can talk to friends at public places like restaurants and stuff, but I don’t like having them come over.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:06 pm.
It’s definitely not for everyone, B. My dad doesn’t like having people over, and if they do come, he can last for about two hours.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:09 pm.
My DH and I used to entertain quite a lot before we had the boys. When we got married we had a big marquee in the garden where we used to live and it was fab. We had an english afternoon tea for our reception and then a BBQ in the evening. the weather was absolutley gorgeous.
On the saturday of the jubilee weekend we went to a friends for a BBq and the weather held off until about 2030 then it rained. Last saturday we went to a friends for a garden party with cups of tea and homemade cakes it was a lovely afternoon.
I must just tell you my youngest son turned 9 on the jubile bank holiday here in the Uk. he wrote a letter to the Queen telling her and wishing her a happy birthday ( her official birthday is in June) he got a letter back on tuesday this week thanking him for his kind thoughts and birthday wishes:) It has made his birthday complete!!
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 4:51 pm.
Oh, that’s wonderful, Paula, that your son got a letter from the Queen! That’s just the kind of thing a royal should do.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 6:07 pm.
I make fascinators, we had a stitch and *itch just recently where I showed my friends and their daughters how to do it. I cheat though, I get my bases at the Hobby Lobby, get a lot of the decorations from the scrapbooking aisle and a glue gun is my best friend.
We call ourselves the Mad Hatters Club, we go to the local tea shop and have tea, they love us there. We gave them a hat to put on display.
We’re going to do our first garden party at the end of the summer and I love your suggestions. I’m going to blatently steal them…and unashamedly take all the credit.
We’re doing croquet as well. (We have some cutthroat croquet players who like to chuckle gleefully as they send someone off the course, and when they become “poison” watch out.)
I think there are some lovely traditions that have just faded away that make you feel just…well girlie, and oh so civilized. Tea is one of them, cotillion is another.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 5:50 pm.
Absolutely, steal away! Not a bit of it was original in teh first place.
Girlie and so civilized. Exactly. I’ve never been to a cotillion (I think it might be a Southern thing?) but it does sound like it would be very civilized.
It’s nice sometimes to just have everything be….nice.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 6:08 pm.