Top tips for throwing a garden party
Garden Party Protocol
Customarily the Royal Family enter their annual English tea party to the tune of 10,000 upturned voices singing 'God Save Our Queen'. Follow in their footsteps at your garden party by making a grand entrance! If the prospect of the vocal outpour of your guest list unnerves you, consider playing a chunky track over an impeccable sound system to lighten the mood.
Capturing the essence of the occasion through a music ensemble (live music jig) will only help to captivate your garden party guests. Enlist a local band or take heed from tradition: a jazz band quartet is bound to go down a merry storm.
Garden Party Faux Pas
It is a time-honoured custom and ancient insurance policy against stilted conversation that the hostess converses with the guest to her right first. Lewis Hamilton famously 'forgot' his etiquette at the royal table when he attempted to engage HRH in conversation as the first course was served, despite being seated to her left. Needless to say Mr Hamilton was sharply reproached before being greeted once more by her elegant, royal back.
English Garden Party Food and Drink
Important items on a Garden Party menu are delectable dainties: perfect crust-free tuna and cucumber sandwiches, British strawberries, Queen Victoria's sponge and jam pennies (crust-free jam sandwiches the size of an old English penny). To wash it all down? Take an Earl Grey Martini over champagne any day. To make, let 1 cup of Earl Grey tea cool off and then place 2 oz. gin, 1.5 oz. Earl Grey tea, 3/4 oz. lemon juice, 1/2 oz. sugar syrup and 1/2 of an egg white into a cocktail shaker and shake well.
An English Tea Party Tent
Even in midsummer, your English tea party should prepare for every possible weather system.
And as the epitome of English heritage, honouring William Morris is the perfect way to set the scene of your English tea party. Morris' sensitivity to natural beauty and his fascination with Medieval and Arabic art have been brought to life in the Arabian Tent Company's William Morris Marquee. The marquee's dedication to fine craftsmanship, its Eastern influences and crisp ivory and sage interior, make the William Morris Marquee the quintessence of English garden party charm.
Alternatively, for a true English garden party to be celebrated in all its glory, entwining Eastern style with English practicality comes in the form of the Oyster Pearl Tent. A crisp white canvas allows touches of elegance to be added, all whilst safe in the knowledge that British engineered frames will shape the geometrical architecture that is synonymous of the Oyster Pearl.
With all that said, why not invite William Morris, an Oyster Pearl, and HoH to preside over your English Garden Party this summer and celebrate your big occasion in style in 2016!
William Morris link: arabiantents.com/tents/frame-tent-collection/william-morris/
Oyster Pearl Tent Link: thepearltentcompany.com/
Customarily the Royal Family enter their annual English tea party to the tune of 10,000 upturned voices singing 'God Save Our Queen'. Follow in their footsteps at your garden party by making a grand entrance! If the prospect of the vocal outpour of your guest list unnerves you, consider playing a chunky track over an impeccable sound system to lighten the mood.
Capturing the essence of the occasion through a music ensemble (live music jig) will only help to captivate your garden party guests. Enlist a local band or take heed from tradition: a jazz band quartet is bound to go down a merry storm.
Garden Party Faux Pas
It is a time-honoured custom and ancient insurance policy against stilted conversation that the hostess converses with the guest to her right first. Lewis Hamilton famously 'forgot' his etiquette at the royal table when he attempted to engage HRH in conversation as the first course was served, despite being seated to her left. Needless to say Mr Hamilton was sharply reproached before being greeted once more by her elegant, royal back.
English Garden Party Food and Drink
Important items on a Garden Party menu are delectable dainties: perfect crust-free tuna and cucumber sandwiches, British strawberries, Queen Victoria's sponge and jam pennies (crust-free jam sandwiches the size of an old English penny). To wash it all down? Take an Earl Grey Martini over champagne any day. To make, let 1 cup of Earl Grey tea cool off and then place 2 oz. gin, 1.5 oz. Earl Grey tea, 3/4 oz. lemon juice, 1/2 oz. sugar syrup and 1/2 of an egg white into a cocktail shaker and shake well.
An English Tea Party Tent
Even in midsummer, your English tea party should prepare for every possible weather system.
And as the epitome of English heritage, honouring William Morris is the perfect way to set the scene of your English tea party. Morris' sensitivity to natural beauty and his fascination with Medieval and Arabic art have been brought to life in the Arabian Tent Company's William Morris Marquee. The marquee's dedication to fine craftsmanship, its Eastern influences and crisp ivory and sage interior, make the William Morris Marquee the quintessence of English garden party charm.
Alternatively, for a true English garden party to be celebrated in all its glory, entwining Eastern style with English practicality comes in the form of the Oyster Pearl Tent. A crisp white canvas allows touches of elegance to be added, all whilst safe in the knowledge that British engineered frames will shape the geometrical architecture that is synonymous of the Oyster Pearl.
With all that said, why not invite William Morris, an Oyster Pearl, and HoH to preside over your English Garden Party this summer and celebrate your big occasion in style in 2016!
William Morris link: arabiantents.com/tents/frame-tent-collection/william-morris/
Oyster Pearl Tent Link: thepearltentcompany.com/