Mother’s Day is coming up and many of us may be separated from those that we would normally be spending time with.  Let me propose a creative option to help bridge this distance.  Have a virtual Mother’s Day Tea!

Mother’s Day is an international holiday.  The modern day celebration was started by Ann Jarvis who wanted to create a memorial for her mother.  In 1905, Ms. Jarvis held a celebration at St. Andrew’s Methodist church and in 1914, Mother’s Day became a national holiday. Mother’s Day is actually celebrated internationally and is one of the biggest holidays recognized across the world.  It is one of the busiest times for sending flowers, gifts and cards…and for phonecalls.  Anywhere from homemade cards to breakfast in bed, mother’s day has been a special day for mothers all around the world.  Whether from children to their mother or from mother to mother, this day recognizes the strong bond and unselfish commitment that mothers bring to their families. 

For many this year, families may not be able to get together and celebrate.  And maybe even in their normal times, the miles wouldn’t allow for coming together.  My sisters and I are in that exact situation.  We live in separate parts of the country.  We all have a love for afternoon tea in any form, for vintage china of any kind, and connecting to just be sisters.  For birthdays, special occasions, and holidays, it would not be unusual for the three of us to get together and visit a tea room or have tea with each other.  Now we just make that a virtual event. This amazing technology that is so normal to us, allows us to come together and still celebrate and enjoy one another.

Here is how a Virtual Tea looks

We recently decided to have a virtual Birthday Tea for each other. We were all born within the same time frame and knew that we would not be able to meet up.  Thanks to the technology, we planned a virtual event and were able to connect. Now we have virtual meetings all the time, but for this occasion, we wanted to do something special.

An invitation was sent out noting date and time, gave directions on what to have available and even what to wear.  And we all had fun with it.

We decided to have a bit more than a cream tea but not a full afternoon tea in the traditional sense. It was going to be in the morning so it was BYOB – Bring Your Own Breakfast.  For definition, a cream tea is when you have scones with jam, curd and cream and tea. This would be a great way to celebrate – having a scone (or bread of sorts) with cream and jam and of course accompanied by your favorite tea!

The attire would be hats at the least and we would share with each other our menus, the tea we were serving, and of course the china that we were using.  It was going to be a grand “Show and Tell”. And of course, there would be all the other conversation.

Let me walk you through the festivities by each of us.

My sister Barbara

• Barbara’s Menu
  • A homemade Egg, Ham and Cheese on an English Muffin (sounds very similar to a famous Scotch Restaurant – ahem McD’s), Cheesecake with Strawberry – looked amazing. Unfortunately, we didn’t all have that treat.
  • Proseco cocktail – a great idea!
• The tea of choice and Barbara’s favorite – Lady Londonderry
• China selection – Teacup was  Grosvenor Jackson English and the plate Marcesa by Lennox

My sister Laurie

• Laurie’s Menu
  • English Muffin Bread with raspberry / cherry preserves
  • Poached egg in an egg cup
  • Tangerine
  • (Cheese and Irish soda bread pictured)
• Laurie’s Tea Selection was Margaret’s Orchard – a lovely Darjeeling
• China Selection was Hutschenreuther Selb teacup and plate. Both my sisters are big fans of the teacup and plate set, so no surprise this gorgeous setting was pulled out. The creamer is a Shelley Dainty Mauve. The jar is the picture is a biscuit jar made by Royal Winton, Grimwades, England.

And me!

• Beth’s Menu selection –
  • Toffee Scone with curd and currant jam (the Toffee Scone recipe will be highlighted in an upcoming post – so stay tuned for a delicious scone)
  • Egg, Cheese, Sausage Omelet
  • Fresh Blueberries
• Tea of choice – English Breakfast
• China selection – Moonstone plate and berry dish, Arthur Wood and Sons Teapot (such a beauty), Royal Standard English Bone China teacup. I too used a Shelley creamer and sugar.

• 

• 

We chatted about everything, pontificating on issues like we really knew what we were talking about then laughing at ourselves. We oohed and aahed at the china and enjoyed a meal together. The total virtual event took up over 2 hours of the airways and probably the most important part, it melted the miles and made all of us feel special.  It was a sweet time of conversation in an environment that was very familiar to us….afternoon tea.

Here’s How To Have A Virtual Mother’s Day Tea

1. Set up a virtual celebration with your mother or the mom’s that you want to connect with. They are many free platforms available and very easy to use. Most will allow for multiple callers in the meeting. We used Skype but I have also used Zoom, both successfully.
2. Set the date and the time and send out an invitation. I was coordinating the invitation and sent an email invitation a few days ahead.
3. Outline what you want to do during the time – a Cream Tea or a full plate together or even just snacks and tea. 
4. Give some guidance for food and tea and accoutrements.  If you are local but are not able to meet up, you can prepare the food and drop it off.
5. Give some guidance on dress or theme. Definitely dress the part and have some fun with it. It doesn’t take a lot to make your time very special.

But most of all, the most important thing is the time that is spent together. So whether you have hi-end food, fancy china or are all dressed up or nothing at all…..its the heart felt celebration of the love you have for one another.

• 

• 

You will have giggles on your hats, comments and critiques on each other’s menus, and delights in connecting on these special times.  Though it won’t always be the case, the virtual tea gives you a great option for staying connected through the miles.

I dearly love my sisters and they bring me great joy. So very blessed by them. Both are beautiful women, they love the tea, they love the china and just love having fun together. Age and wisdom have brought us close and we have become the best of friends. Thank you Barbara and Laurie. I raise a toast to you both for being the best.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

So consider stepping out and have a virtual Mother’s Day Tea….just connect and celebrate each other. You won’t regret it.