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We all know the importance of celebrating our achievements. It gives us time to let the moment settle before moving on to the next project, and time to reflect and rejoice. A theme party is a unique and rewarding way to celebrate an achievement, and a Mad Hatter Tea Party for adults is the perfect choice!
Throwing this celebration from the heart is simple with my easy six-item approach to party planning:
Element 1: Theme, Mood, and Color – Create the background for the party
The Mad Hatter Tea Party theme is all about using quirky, mismatched items to create a fun and whimsical atmosphere. Bright, bold colors like sunshine yellow, tangerine orange, purple, lime green and sky blue are the order of the day, with a unifying black and white checkerboard pattern to tie your color scheme together. and create a festive backdrop for your celebration.
Item 2 – Invitations: Using vellum to embellish a store-bought invitation
Add vellum to a store-bought invitation for a fun and creative invite. Find a cup of tea invitation you like and buy plain or designed vellum at an office supply store. Choose what looks best with your invitation, one that isn’t too busy or overwhelming.
Create a rhyme, poem, or sentiment with words or phrases from Alice in Wonderland. Print it on the vellum, cut to size, and affix to the teacup invitation with a hole punch and matching color ribbon.
Element 3 – Decoration and atmosphere: creating an interior garden
Transform your party room into an indoor garden from scratch. Start with the grass. Astroturf® is a good option and there are many styles to choose from starting at 45 cents per square foot. You can also rent it from a party rental company or purchase it from a rug dealer or local home improvement store.
Next, create a garden backdrop using a “scene setter.” You can purchase a variety of cost-effective air fresheners online or at brick-and-mortar party supply stores. Each typically covers 20 feet of wall space. My favorite comes in two 4 foot rolls, giving you a garden scene and a daytime sky. Manufacturers recommend using tacky putty to adhere scene decorators to your walls; however, if it doesn’t stick or you’re not comfortable putting putty directly on the walls, here’s a tip: use blue painter’s tape every 6 inches or so on the wall, and then apply the tacky putty or other double-sided adhesive . over it
To enhance the garden feel, consider making large crepe paper flowers that are easy and inexpensive to make. Mix them with artificial flowers and place them in a pot filled with Styrofoam®. Cover the Styrofoam with moss and you have created a colorful and unique indoor flowerbed.
Finally, it’s time to dress up your Tea Party table with fun and whimsy. You’ll need a tablecloth, mismatched teacups and saucers, quirky plates and napkins, and of course a few extra surprises, like a Mad Hatter nutcracker, a ceramic White Rabbit, or a set of tiny teacups. Enjoy finding clever and unique items inspired by Alice in Wonderland that could easily be placed on your tea table.
Item 4 – Food and Drink: Tempest in a Teapot
Since I think it creates fun right from the start, I’m a big fan of serving a signature drink for every occasion. Whether with or without alcohol, I prefer one suited to my theme and served in a unique container. To add a wacky element of fun to this celebration, serve your signature beverage in mismatched teapots and teacups.
Tie your teapots to your Mad Hatter theme by customizing them to match your décor. Inspired by a quirky napkin, I decorated three matching teapots with puffy paints and glitter glue. Simply follow the patterns in your inspiration piece, or add some easy swirls, polka dots, and fancy “s” shapes in bright colors to create quirky serving pieces for your tea table.
Once the pots are dry, fill them with your own special “Tempest in a Teapot” brew. Mine is available in the recipes tab on YouCanPlanAParty.
Element #5 – Activities: Play for Prizes
My favorite kick-off party activity is something I call “Bring from Home.” It’s about asking your guests to use something special as an entrance to the party; in this case hats, of course. Be sure to include this request in your invitation. This activity is a great conversation starter and quickly gets everyone into the spirit of the topic. You can add to the fun by making your Mad Hatter celebration a costume party, the crazier and more mismatched the better.
This second activity is inspired by a scene from Alice in Wonderland: Every time someone toasts the guest of honor or congratulates him on his achievement, everyone drinks and someone yells, “Clean cup, clean cup. I need a cup!” clean”. Bowl. Go ahead!” Seeing everyone pick up and move a seat to the right is hilarious!
Lastly, invite your guests to entertain you. Encourage them to tell a joke, sing a song, or act out an Alice in Wonderland skit. Keep a few skits on hand like The Jabberwocky, Alice and the Caterpillar, The Walrus and the Carpenter, Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dee, maybe even Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
Be prepared with lots of prizes wrapped in theme-related paper bags or boxes to reward them for their efforts. But here is the best part of this activity; When your guests finish performing, instead of handing them a prize, give them a card with a riddle that tells them where their prize is located. For example, “Dickory Hickory Pier, the mouse ran down the _________.” Once they have found the correct clock in the house, they will either find their prize or a note that will tell them where their real prize is hidden.
Item #6 – Special Touches: A Memory of the Night
Give your guests a little token that will remind them of the fun they had at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party every time they look at it. My choice is a mini teacup and saucer. Put some candy in the cup, preferably the guest of honor’s favorite, and wrap it in Cellophane® with some crinkled colored grass at the bottom of the bag. Tie with some quirky ribbons to match everything else you’ve worn during the party, and you’ve created a beautiful favor. Another tip: Decrease the chance of breakage by using double stick adhesive on the bottom of the cup. Add a thank you card that says, “You’re just my cup of tea. Thanks for coming to my party.”
When hosting this or any other party for someone to celebrate an achievement, consider a special gift for the guest of honor. This can be as simple as a toast, as thoughtful as a store-bought gift, or as elaborate as a presentation. What you choose isn’t as important as how long you spend at the recognition party. Without a doubt, this is one of the best ways to create an experience that will be remembered for a lifetime.
Life was meant to be celebrated! So when it comes to party planning, use my simple six-element approach to make it easy to get people together. Enjoy the memories!