The next tea is in sight...

The next afternoon tea party will take place on Sunday 10 June and has places available to book in advance. Hope to see you there!

Easter themed tea party

It hardly seems five minutes since I hosted the Easter tea party in my garden last year! I wanted to do a brand new menu which meant thinking up some different Easter themed cakes that I could adorn the cake stands with. I set the room up in the same way as for Christmas, with another 34 due to arrive. Each table had a vase of daffodils and a cake stand that played host to 'hot cross bun' orange truffles, Easter bonnet cookies, lemon bars, carrot cupcakes and mini crispie cakes.

Again, another lovely afternoon enjoyed by all with the sun shining outside. With the question on people's lips being, "when is the next one?" The answer is, stay tuned to find out...

Valentines tea party

I held a Valentines themed afternoon tea party for a private group of 6 ladies. Accompanying their selection of sandwiches and scones was a glass of something pink and bubbly ! Then there was plenty of tea and coffee to sip alongside this hearts and flowers themed menu.

There were strawberry truffles, jammie dodgers, strawberry trifles, chocolate fudge cupcakes and my favourite, lemon cake. Having a rather large collection of hearts in the cottage anyway, it was certainly not difficult to set the scene for this valentine themed treat.

Christmas afternoon tea party

My favourite time of year has come round again - so quickly! Everyone was excited with the thought of festive themed treats and we were set to have a great turn out with 35 people set to attend. The hall, luckily was already decorated beautifully for Christmas with its tree and swags. I decided to use round tables with each table having its own cake stand of delights, which worked really well.

The menu included a selection of festive sandwiches with mums homemade mini quiches, traditional scones, mini gingerbread man, Christmas cake, mini trifles, mince pies, mint truffles and a cupcake that was painstakingly decorated as a Christmas present!

And to top off the afternoon after all that tea, a glass of mulled wine warmed everyone up before venturing out in the cold. All in all, I loved this tea and with Christmas carols in the background, I think everyone had a great time.

This afternoon deserves a photo album all to itself so see further down for more pics!

Harvest tea party

Rather than calling it 'Halloween', it sounds far more grown up to have a tea party with a harvest theme. Inspired by Autumn colours, I devised a menu using seasonal treats, with a few spooky twists. Following the sandwiches were apple and blackberry flapjacks with fruit picked from the garden, scones accompanied by seasonal jams, carrot cake, witches hat cupcakes and spider ginger cookies, alongside a slice of good old victoria sponge.

Summer Garden Party

A friend asked me if I would cater for her friends 30th birthday with a suprise garden tea party. Luckily the sun was out that day so I set the scene with bunting, vintage china, personalised place settings and some yummy food. After a round of sandwiches and warm scones, the cake stands played host to vanilla cookies, cupcakes, lemon bars and mini strawberry meringues.

When this was all polished off, out came the surprise chocolate birthday cake. Needless to say after all this, the cake was wrapped up to take home!

When teddy bears have their picnic!

It has been a very long time since I have posted on here! So many tea parties and cakes have been created over the past few months I now have to go back and find them all to share with you!

Following the success of the Summer Strawberry Tea came the Teddy Bears Tea Party. Inspired by my childhood love of bears, I displayed pretty vintage bears amongst cupcakes, flapjacks, gingerbread teddies, cookies and more. The showstopper was the teddy bears picnic cake... that went down very well indeed!

More of the birthday cake!

My Birthday

It was my birthday yesterday so I decided to make my own cake. I knew what design and flavour I wanted so thought, why bother buying one when I can make my own? I made a lemon cake scattered in pink, blue and taupe flowers, with matching vanilla cupcakes. It all went down very well and has now completely gone! A lovely but very sugar filled weekend!! On Saturday we went for afternoon tea at The Langham. A fantastic selection of cakes and treats, the food was amaaaaazing!! Highly recommend, one of the best I have been to, and trust me, Ive had a lot!!

A Right Strawberry Success!

Well, what a weekend!!! With final numbers of 37, the afternoon tea had certainly grown since last time, having to turn away people who were hoping for a last minute space (Sorry!!) Hopefull all that attended had a fabulous time. Preparations have been going on in the cottage for a few weeks now, with everything from handmade name tags for the place settings to strawberry jewellery to picking strawberries to create yummy homemade strawberry sauce. And then for the baking!! The menu consisted of a selection of sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, a giant chocolate fudge cake, strawberry cupcakes, mini meringues, lemon bars, miniature individual trifles, jam tarts and a strawberry and white chocolate truffle. Quite a feast! I had not anticipated quite so many people so with two long tables of hungry guests, Mum and I set to work with Summer Punch, Tea, Sandwiches and more. Then when everyone was well fed and it was all over....washing up time again and bed!! For anyone who attended, I would love to hear your feedback. See the album below for more pictures from the day!

Strawberry Summer tea Party

Following the success of the first tea party I thought it would be rude not to celebrate Summer without having some kind of themed event. So what better than Strawberries and Pimms?! And so, the Strawberry Summer Tea Party emerged! With flyers up in the village of Ailsworth and an article in the Nene Valley Living magazine, I was hoping this publicity would help to promote the tea and get the details around to various areas in Peterborough. This article worked really well and created a lot of interest from people in surrounding areas. Now for the menu planning!! Now for the theme, I also wanted to reflect the delights of Summertime with delicious fresh strawberries alongside a range of tasty treats. Better get baking!

Spring Afternoon Tea Party

So the first Afternoon Tea has been and gone and was a huge success. We had 24 hungry people arrive and were fed with a Spring Themed Afternoon Tea from my finest vintage china. After filling the first cup, a selection of sandwiches were passed around. From there, the ladies (and 3 gentlemen!!) got to tuck into vanilla cookies, mini carrot cupcakes, fruit tarts, scones with jam and cream, chocolate cupcakes and a healthy wedge of lemon cake and fruit cake!! Several cups of tea later and plenty of cakes consumed, we had the daunting task of clearing up. A lot of washing up to be done but a good afternoon hopefully had by all!!!

The first Official Village Tea Party!

Its exciting times coming up for Rosie Ribbons as I prepare to host my first Village Tea Party. I have hired the village hall where I live for an afternoon of tea, cakes and plenty of loveliness. There will be between 20 and 25 people attending and I have roped my Mum in for tea - lots of tea to be poured and a lot of teapots required!!

I have brought out my finest vintage china for the occasion and will be adorning my cake stands with pretty cakes, cookies and more.

Photos of the event will be published afterwards, really looking forward to it!!

It was Rosie Ribbons first trip out to a craft fair today. Fineshades Woods, our regular haunt for walking the dog on a Sunday morning, holds a small craft fair on the first Sunday of every month. I made vanilla, lemon, chocolate and carrot cupcakes to sell. For a first time, it went well. It was such a sunny day outside and we did lose many a sale to ice cream but still a good effort which just meant plenty of cake for us for dinner!!

Well what better way to celebrate a National day off work that with an afternoon tea? To celebrate Wills & Kates Wedding, I decided to have an afternoon tea in their honour!! Im sure they were too busy to come anyway.

The tea consisted of a selection of sandwiches, Scones with Strawberry Jam, Mother of the Bride Hat Cookies, Wedding Cake Vanilla Cookies, Union Jack cookies, Mini Chocolate Crown Cupcakes, Mini Royal Victoria Sponge with English Rose Decoration, Wedding Fruit Cake and of course, plenty of good old English Breakfast tea! Quite a feast....more pics will be added!

So its Mothers Day, and I thought, what better way to show Mum I care than to bake!! And baking I did!! After spoiling her with a tasty breakfast spread, I set out an afternoon tea of hat shaped cookies, flower gingerbread cookies and a yummy sponge cake decorated with roses. We had a lovely time and went for a long walk down to the river after to attempt to walk it off!! Tasty times.....

I have decided to keep this blog to show you my work. I will be adding lots of pictures of different events I have decorated and cupcakes made to give you an idea of the services I could provide for you. I have a huge love of organising events and making things look pretty. Marie Antoinette was soooo right when she said, "Let them eat cake!!" I aim to provide a lovely setting for you to celebrate with friends, accompanied by lots of tasty treats.

If you see something you might like or if you have an idea in mind and wish to discuss it further, I can be contacted on 07917 095390 or nicoladudhill31@yahoo.co.uk I will eventually have a website where orders can be placed....but...in the meantime, enjoy the pictures!!! Here's a quick preview above of whats in store.....