A Charming Halloween Tea Party
A Halloween Tea Party is a charming way to celebrate the holiday with a little less freight and a lot more whimsy! With halloween falling on a Saturday this year, I thought it would be fun to do things a little differently and host an afternoon tea party with fine china, pretty flowers, colourful pumpkins, candlelight and scrumptious Halloween treats.
Today’s table is admittedly a bit an odd mix-match, I share my inspiration behind it below, but goal is to inspire you to think outside the box a bit, and not to be afraid to mix colours you might ordinarily put together, especially when you are working with what you have, as I so encourage you to do.
11 More Halloween Tables to Explore
You’ll also want to visit the 11 other tablescape designers, whose links are at the end of this post, for even more Halloween inspiration. As always, many thanks to the lovely Rita from Panoply for gathering us all together.
My Inspiration For The Halloween Tea Party Theme
Sometimes a tablescape comes together exactly as planned and sometimes inspiration meets you where you are.
As we are still waiting to re-build after the lower level of our home flooded, all of my “tablescape closet” is packed away in storage, as are my Halloween bins. Other than my everyday dinnerware which I have used on other Halloween tables, the only plates that are readily available are my good china. Even though the pattern is the dainty floral Royal Albert’s Lavender Rose, I decided to throw caution to the wind and see how I could make it work for Halloween.
While I still love a dramatic, eerie Halloween tablescape like this black and gold table I styled a few years back, this time I took my inspiration for this table from my fancy china and thought: Why not host an afternoon Halloween tea? Perfect for gathering a few friends around the table for tea, treats and little Halloween afternoon fun.
Choosing the Colour Palette
Since I was not willing to spend money on more plates, I needed to make the ones I did have work for Halloween. Rather than trying to hide the pretty lavender rose pattern, I decided to embrace it and build the rest of the table around the colours already found in the china, with pops of traditional Halloween colours.
- soft green gives a nod to the autumn and looks so pretty with the lavender flowers and green leaves in the plates
- black and dark purple add a little drama, while picking up on the darker tones in the china pattern
- creamy tones in the dishes throughout the table adds a softness and helps balance the darker shades
- orange is the traditional colour of Halloween and gives the table a seasonal punch of colour
- brass tiered stand and wood candle sticks bring a warm, cozy touch
Pro Tip!
When you have one element you can’t or don’t want to change, use it as your starting point. Start with something you already have and love and pull colours from it to build the rest of your table like I have done here, as the lavender rose pattern became the unexpected inspiration!
The Place Setting
With no proper charger plates available to use, my black everyday dinner plates became the chargers. The dainty lunch plates are stacked on top, with a floaty dark burgundy gauze napkin arranged to one side. A tiny glass orange pumpkin sits alongside the napkin to pull the orange into the plate setting.
A matching tea cup and saucer is placed at the top right of each place setting, as well as single stemmed glass with a gold rim. It will be filled with delicious apple cider with a citrus twist.
Just a few pieces of gold flatware that include a fork, a knife and a teaspoon. Nothing elaborate or over done. I know the placement of the flatware doesn’t align with the “proper” afternoon tea placement, but I like how it makes things look a little less formal.
The Halloween Centrepiece
With dahlias still in season here, I jumped at the opportunity to choose all the dark and moody varieties at the market this week. I arranged them with some pops of faux orange leaves and a few faux lavender roses that add movement to the arrangement and tie the floral centrepiece back to the china pattern.
My favourite amethyst-coloured glass rose-bowl was the obvious choice for the arrangement. Its’ rich dark purple hue works perfectly with the dahlias.
Decorating the Table
Thankfully, I had kept my autumn decoration bins out of storage which turned out to be a very wise decision, as I found all the pumpkins I needed to truly make this work for the occasion.
TABLE RUNNER – I started with a black and white check table runner, the reverse side is a Halloween print, but I choose the check side because it complements the black and white in the place settings
THE PUMPKINS – I used some of my faux pumpkins in shades of orange, green, burgundy and cream, and arranged them along the table. The mix of colours tie into both the china and the flower centrepiece.
CANDLES – Wood and tarnished silver candlesticks are always on display somewhere around the house, so I simply repurposed a few of them here on the table. Mixing wood and tarnished silver adds warmth and texture without being too formal.
SERVING PIECES – My 2-tiered brass twig plate stand works beautifully for some tea-time treats. A small cream-coloured vintage plate holds more sweet Halloween-themed treats.
THE TEA – Of course no afternoon tea is complete without a teapot, and little bowls of clotted cream and strawberry jam.
Halloween Tea Party Food
The beauty of afternoon tea, not matter what the season, is that the food is uncomplicated, and easy to make. It’s all the perfect opportunity to save time and purchase a few things ready-made. Here is what was on my menu:
Something Savoury
- garlic and herb whipped cream cheese and cucumber on mini brioche buns
- Dijon egg salad sandwich fingers
- tuna salad triangles
Something Sweet
- soft sugar cookies decorated as jack-o-lanterns
- slices of pumpkin roll cake
- mini halloween cupakes
- adorable pumpkin macarons filled with maple cream – from my favourite local macaron maker
Scones of Course
- I whipped up a batch of the best English Scones for the occasion – the recipe was given to me many years ago from an elder at church, and they truly are so easy and so good
- no scone is complete without real clotted cream and strawberry jam
Something to Sip
- a selection of tea bags for guests to choose their favourite
- apple cider
- packets of hot chocolate for the non-tea drinkers
Simple Tips for Hosting Your Own Halloween Tea
- don’t feel the need to purchase Halloween specific tableware
- keep the centrepiece low enough for conversation and use it to tie all the colours of the table together
- pick one or two Halloween elements and repeat them throughout the table – in my case it was the pumpkins
- prepare as much of the food as possible ahead of time – but don’t be afraid to serve store bought
- don’t forget that pumpkins are still very much Halloween – I was worried that the pumpkins weren’t Halloween-y enough, but remembered when I was growing up the humble jack-o-lantern were the only decorations in the neighbourhood
You don’t need a houseful of decorations or an elaborate menu to make Halloween fun! A pretty table, a pot of tea and some festive sweet treats are all you need to celebrate a Saturday Halloween with friends!
More Halloween Table Styling Ideas
Be sure to check out all the links below for even more festive inspiration – everything from cute to haunted!!
Panoply – Skeleton Duet Halloween Tablescape
Life and Linda – Phantom of the Opera Tablescape
Hyacinths for the Soul – Too Cute to Spook
Me and My Captain – Happy Ghosts Visit the Moon of the High Mountain Desert of New Mexico
The Cat’s Whiskerz – A Witchy Halloween Tablescape
Corner of Plaid and Paisley – A Bit of Scare in that Scarecrow
Olla-Podrida – Haunted House Tablescape for Halloween
My Thrift Store Addiction – Charlotte the Spider and a Whimsical Garden Party
Dinner at Eight – There’s a Full Moon Rising . . .
Thrifting Wonderland – All Hallows Eve Thrifted Tablescape
The Bookish Dilettante – Tablescape for Spooky Season: El Día de los Muertos
We love a good tea party
Maureen, I’m a big fan of finding inspiration with what I have on hand and you have blended pretty seasonal-hued accents to create such a lovely tea party. Happy October, Cecilia – My Thrift Store Addiction