Thursday, October 9, 2014

Set Your Table With Flair--Host a Dark Tea For Halloween

Hello, my friends!  Halloween is almost here, how fun!

If you've read my posts, you know I adore tea, and it is pretty much my beverage of choice.  In honor of the spooky season, I thought it might be fun to host a Dark Tea.  I hope you enjoy the post.

Gathering your ghouls
When planning a party, of course you must begin with the invites.  Don't get me wrong, I love Evites just as much as the next girl....it is very convenient.  I still appreciate a good old-fashioned mailed invitation as well.  I also adore handmade invitations.  It makes me feel that the host took time and spent energy to create something extra-special for their guests.  Here is my version of a spooky boxed invitation.  To view the tutorial, you may visit the post on my blog The Crafting Table by clicking here.
 


Planning your menu
Spooky eats and treats are a must when planning this sort of siorèe.  A great go-to resource is MarthaStewart.com!  There are so many great ideas!  Choosing macabre-looking food is a kitschy and fun way to spice up your dark event.  Here are a couple of ideas I've come up with myself.

Vette's Vampy Tea

The blood-red color of this tea fits perfectly in my theme!  To view the recipe, please visit the post on my other blog Parsimonious Pabulum by clicking here.

 

Super-easy Poison Apples

Don't these look naughty (but nice)?  These creepy apples are great for the Fall season, and are incredibly easy to make.  To view the recipe, visit the post here on my blog Parsimonious Pabulum.


Gifts for guests
It is always nice to provide a small trinket or gift for your guests to take away from your party.  I decided little sachets with tea inside would be a darling gift for tea party guests.  They are inexpensive, and so simple!  To see the tutorial, visit the post on The Crafting Table here.


For proper attire to this dark tea, guests are asked to please don a mini Victorian top hat.  These little hats are also a great gift for friends to take away.  To see the tutorial, visit the post on The Crafting Table here


Who is this daffy gal?  Why, it is the lady of the manor!  ;)


Setting the Table

Finally, before guests arrive, it's time for my favorite part....setting the table.  For a dark or goth tea, color choice is imperative.  Dark red, black, royal purple, and shocking blue are great colors!  My personal preference is setting a table in dark reds or plum and black with Victorian elements. 

I began by setting this red tablecloth on the round table in my foyer.  I also added my wrought iron candle holder with a red candle inside. 


To make it appear like a darker red, and to provide a spooky element, I placed my spider web cloth directly over the red cloth.


Next, my Reed and Barton silver punch bowl and cups to give it old-world charm (even though Reed and Barton is American, I thought it was fitting).  I filled the bowl with some of Vette's Vampy tea, and also prepared several cups so they would be ready.


Closer shot.  I love the way the dark red plays against the silver!


Next, I placed these skull candle holders and red candles inside.


A dark red charger,


filled with Poison Apples came next.


A black charger,


and premade sachets sat next to the apples.
 

I browsed my library in search of books with dark-colored bindings....The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and The Works of H G Wells worked nicely.  I added them and one more book to create a stand on which to set my mirror.



 

The final touch.....spooky black netting over one side of the mirror.


Here are a few shots.










I wasn't sure if I liked it set up there, so I also set it up next to my ballerina table both with and without the mirror.  I bought red roses a couple of days ago with this post in mind.  The roses were wilting beautifully into a dark burgundy.  I placed a few of the roses on the ballerina table.


In place of the mirror, here I have set one of the skull candle holders.  Here are a couple shots of the setting.  I also added some of the roses to table.


Here are a few more shots. 

Without mirror




With mirror





Which do you prefer?

Closeups










If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

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Thank you for stopping by! ❤





26 comments:

  1. I love this. Very different and modern. You have created an elegant and fanciful event. My favorite is the Victorian Top Hat.

    Wishing you a lovely autumn.

    Janet

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  2. Gorgeous! I love your silver punch set....Christine

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  3. I like it with the mirror!!! Double the spooky!!!

    I'm with Christine...I LOVE that punch bowl set! Girl, I would kill or die for that! Even though punch isn't something I get to serve all that much anymore, I love to pull out a beautiful punch service set whenever possible. Yours is hauntingly beautiful! And Reed & Barton still SOUNDS very Victorian English to me! :-)

    The little top hats are a GREAT idea! Oh, my gosh...wish I'd thought of that! They really are a great touch for the party atmosphere, and everyone can feel totally involved and in character.

    The dead roses...perfect! You thought to include some really terrific, spooky/elegant details! Even the ballerina girl in this setting takes on a "Black Swan" kind of feel! :-)

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    1. Love that you mention Black Swan....shudders. :)
      When I saw the the punch bowl right before Mother's Day, I fell in love...but I also IMMEDIATELY thought it would be great for Halloween! Thanks for visiting! :)

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  4. What a beautiful and spooky fun Halloween party setting! Love all the decorations, looks like fun! :)

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  5. You've created an elegant Halloween tea table and the silver punch set is exquisite. I'm off to check some of your recipes.

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  6. What a lot of work I am sure but oh so worth it. I really like that table cover. And the clever treats you are serving.

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  7. Wow, that silver punch set is stunning! Your tea table is lovely (and ever so gothic), thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas!

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  8. I love your punch bowl! It is a beauty. The red tea looks delicious too. A very creative post. Thank you for sharing and joining me for tea. Have a lovely day.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  9. What a fabulous Tea setup. Love the rich burgundy and the web overlay! The punch bowl is a great touch too! Have a blast!

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  10. WHAT WONDERFUL IDEAS! LOVE IT ALL! HAVE A GREAT WEEK. BLESSINGS, MARTHA

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  11. Love the elegant spin on your dark tea. Popping over to check out the tutorial on the hats - awesome!

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    1. So glad you enjoyed the post! Thank you for visiting, Susan!

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  12. Visiting from Rose Chintz Cottage; your silver punch bowl grabbed my eye! I semi-collect silver and silver plate so of course I fell in love with your setting. It was a hard choice but WITH the mirror finally won out for me. It's just perfectly spooky with that netting! I'm glad I stopped by because I like your site and am off to go visit your others! And yes, I am voting for Asa Hutchinson today, as a matter of fact!

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  13. Now PP, you just about gave me conniptions trying to choose whether to feature this or your other post at my linkup this week. Fabulous beyond measure my lovely! Thanks for sharing at Five Star Frou-Frou. Will you join me again this week? Mimi xxx

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    1. Thank you, lovely Mimi! I hope to be there as soon as I get my post up! Thank you so much again!

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