Follow up to the 6th annual Christmas Tea for 430 ladies!

C

cheezz

Well-known member
After all the worry about portion control with the lemon curd and clotted cream, we ended up just showing the 3 men what 1/2 cup looked like and gave them ziploc bags with the corners cut off. It was not at all messy and they did a great job.

We must work on the bakers, though. When you have 40 volunteers baking from the same recipes, you would think it would be a wee bit more consistent. But no. What do you do with those who don't like the recipe and decide to change it or simply don't read directions?! There was no consistency at all, even with the antipasto skewers. "Oh, I didn't have salami for half of them, so I just left it out". Curd that wouldn't thicken, lots of over-cooked, burned cookies, scones from 2" to 4", turkey/stuffing/cranberry/cream cheese sandwiches -- "I didn't have turkey so I used ham"... *sigh*.

All in all, it was lovely, though and most of what happens is only agonized over by those putting the tea on.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151845803512253.1073741843.554687252&type=1&l=a575944033

 
Beautiful! I want your crew to decorate my house. I love how the tables were varied and if anyone

noticed the inconsistencies in the sandwiches, they would only assume you were aiming for the same sort of variety with the food. I totally understand the angst though. Congratulations! It looks like a fantastic event.

 
More details, please! Did teams take responsibility for each table, so the settings varied? I loved

that...so much more interesting than 450 white dishes. And all the bling! And the food looks Lush with a Capital L so all the perceived problems (ie: oh, WHY can't they line up the cupcakes!) are invisible to those who don't have a ruler.

Well done all.

 
Absolutely spectacular!! I am in awe and wouldn't know which table I'd prefer

to sit at. I'm sure Royals and dignitaries would be very pleased with your tea! Love the looks of those open-face cuke sandwiches.

Fantastic job cheezzen!!

 
Each table has a hostess. She decorates her table however she wants.

The rules:
Keep the centerpiece low so you can see across the table (yeah, some always ignore that rule).
Provide marked dishes for curd, clotted cream and lemon slices (again...what can you do).
Have a doily on each plate (provided).
Have a bowl of fruit and nuts for that time period before actual food arrives.
Have 2 teapots, water pitcher and serving utensils.
Only the hostess interfaces with her server, so she needs to keep track of any requests, level of tea in her pots, and what food is needed.
The hostess needs to interact with each guest to make them feel welcome and pampered.
At the end of the tea, the hostess promptly clears her table down to the white tablecloth and takes her dishes home to wash.
Only the hostess clears her table so things don't get lost.

Most hostesses like to have a little take home gift, as you can see by the pictures. Some bake things, some make homemade soaps or candles, ornament, and one even had a Starbucks gift card for each of her 9 guests!

There is an online "bulletin board" where people can offer or request things. Like, I had found 12 red napkins at a garage sale and offered those. Some need teapots, cups, plates and those were requested and lent. Others had colored tablecloths they offered, or water pitchers.

There are decorating groups and others just show up to help. The men are in charge of keeping hot water in the teapots or ice water in the pitchers when requested. They assemble and bring out the trays of food and refill on request. After the savories we have a break where we go into the sanctuary for Christmas carols and a brief teaching. During that time, the men remove the soiled doilies from the plates so they look cleaner, rinse out and refill the teapots with hot water, refill water pitchers, remove any obvious trash, and being out the sweets trays.

One person is in charge of the servers, one person in charge of the decorating groups, one in charge of the food (finding bakers, choosing recipes, and general coordinating), one in charge of maintenance (tp in the bathrooms, lights, etc). The group leaders interact with each other.

My sis is in charge of food but since she does all the wedding flowers for church, she also has her hand in some of that. This year we made some of the food, did the topiaries, and were in charge of assembling the snowfall curtain. Of course, as long as we were on the scene, we helped decorate the bathrooms, put up the draped fabric on the island, and generally lender a hand where needed.

 
Some have a table full of guests, but most hostesses only know a couple of people

and the rest are invited by friends, or seated as the need and space allows.

 
How lovely! What a great way to get into the holiday spirit! Now I am intrigued...Is this a fund

raiser? Church event? Local? This would be a hit at our church, do the people that attend bring one of the recipes? Do they sign up as a table, or receive their table number upon checking in? I have to admit that I love the turkey sandwich which was substituted w/ ham. : )

WHat a huge undertaking. I am very impressed....

Job well done!

 
This sounds like an excellent system and a good model for groups to host large events

I'm sure a few of you (like you and your sister) end up doing more than the rest but the workload is well distributed, and each volunteer can take pride in her own table.

 
Yes, it is a church event - free to all. It serves as a ministry and outreach to the community.

The hostess gets her table number when she volunteers. She can request where she wants her table to be, but most don't care. My sis and I plan the menu and work out the recipe directions so all can understand. If a recipe uses something "unusual" like a mini muffin pan or tamper, then we can loan those out. The aim is for consistency...we are still aiming for that *sigh*. We don't want recipes just being pulled off the net - they should be tested and approved - so every table gets the best quality.

The ham might have been ok, but the guests need to know that what is on the menu is what they are eating. We had a guest at our table that would have totally freaked if she knew she had eaten ham. Plus, with food allergies, etc, you have to be careful.

All bakers deliver their food to the event that morning at 9am and is served at 11:00. It goes fast so there's no worry about things sitting around or getting dried out.

 
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