Planning a Kitchen Tea or a High Tea and don't know where to start?
The French Kitchen, Castle Hill has the answer.
It can be hard to know how many people will attend, how many people are you feeding, how do you plan for this unknown?
We are here to help take the stress and worry out of the weeks ahead for you. A “Mum to Be” or “Bride to Be” can be enough to contend with. With other worries like being organised for the big days ahead.
How can we help?
- We are now on line, so you can look on our website and work out all that you need.
- We now have Bulk Party Packs that help take the guess work out of how many items do I need for 24 guests!
- We have all your party needs covered with beautiful table runners and table covers, little accessories and items to help you put together a lovely table.
- We do have cake stands from budget disposable to rustic 3 tier gold and glass stands, to help you theme your event.
- We are striving to have some amazing food items that are time savers for you. Quality food both sweet and savoury that are ready with little effort.
- We even have the ice for you, so you don’t have to run around on the day picking up items from here there and everywhere- we are truly your one stop party shop.
- We have introduced a lovely new range of Gourmet cakes for you to enjoy
- And have new Naked cakes for those who want to create the lovely looking cake but need to save the time making and baking the cake!
And all of this can be done in advanced or the week of the event via The French Kitchen Castle Hill.
We will have everything ready for your pick-up date as per your request with all that you need.
And we are happy to give you the time to assist you with a menu that will flow and allow you to enjoy the day also.
My Party Planning List
High Tea
- Invite your guests and set a RSVP date that gives you your final numbers on the Monday prior. Giving you a good 5 days to work out your final numbers and chase up those guest who haven’t responded yet!
- Pick your theme. This allows you to pin point what you need to do and how you want to decorate. Table setting….themes, colour & style…HELLO “pinterest” for your many ideas
- Delegate - if you are lucky enough to have some people who are sharing this event with you. If not sit down with a trusty cuppa tea and write your list of to do’s (or use my note space below)
- Flowers. Don’t forget quality Silk / fake flowers can be really amazing if well placed and used effectively. And you can work with them in advance! Look at the use of fake garden walls.
- Drinks / glass wear or disposables. Ice bucket etc.
- Food** How are you serving your food? Napkins. Look up The French Kitchen Castle Hill’s website for easy shopping and ordering www.thefrenchkitchen.com.au
- Cake. Now this is a huge tone setter, and this can be the most expensive item of the day. Choose wisely as expensive doesn’t always mean the best in this area! Go with something either you know and trust or use a cake person / store that someone recommends and is very very happy with!
The “How much food do I need?” question is asked of me daily.
My recommendations are as follows for your Morning Tea or Afternoon Tea
I always ask a series of questions prior to my answer
What time?
How many people?
How long do you have, or do you expect will they stay on?
Are you serving Alcoholic Drinks?
People will need at a Morning Tea or Afternoon Tea approximately 5 to 6 items to choose from plus cake. This is an ideal number of food items as many people haven’t had time to stop for Breakfast or Lunch and have been on the go all day and need some substantial bites to get them thru. Remember if you are serving Champagne or Cocktails - that these will hit your guests in the head quickly and you need to feed them some substantial food.
Mix it up with some cold items, warm food both sweet, savoury and fruit.
And don’t forget your Vegan / Gluten Free / Vegetarian / Nut free friends – Keep them in mind when you write your menu
My Basic Menu
A mixed platter of ribbon sandwiches wraps and / or savoury blinis i’s (Vegetarian, Nut free and GF can be accommodated here)
Mini or bite size quiche’s, tarts or pastry items Savoury /warm (Vegetarian, Nut free and GF can be accommodated here)
A Meat ball or mini kebab (Grab a packet of Syndian Vegan, nut free, gluten free bites)
A selection of Macaroons
A Selection of sweet tarts or profiteroles
Fruit platter
The Cake
This is a simple menu but can be put together very easily or it can be taken up to the next level depending on your quantity of time you have, experience and money!
We do a High Tea Party Pack designed for the host who is after an easy option for the catering, as she still must organise the drinks still! https://thefrenchkitchen.com.au/collections/bulk-food-buy/products/high-party-pack