How to make the Perfect Party Tea

Parties - we all love them but we all could do with making them less stressful. 

Sometimes I find it's easier to enjoy the 'after party' which happens in our kitchen, with everyone having a glass of something lovely and discussing all the details and reliving the great times we had, more than the party itself!

A little trick I have learnt, which helps to cut down pre party planning stress, is to make up the tea in advance. 

I am not a big fan of great huge buffets, with lots of plates of the same thing at 2 feet intervals.  

I find you end up with a long queue of parents, hungry, impatient children at the party tables and wobbly plates, too thin to handle the load! And the birthday boy or girl always seems the last to eat, as the parents are busy filling up cups of squash from plastic jugs!

I love party boxes.  

Party Boxes are not expensive and super effective. A winning combination. 

They come in a variety of patterns and colours and make very child feel more special. Like they have a mini food present to open at the table. 

The best thing is you can make them up in advance. I laid them out on my office desk and filled them bit by bit, over the week before the party and added the yoghurt and "hotdog" rolls on the day! But you could be super organised and do everything that doesn't need refridgerating. 

The thing to remember with a party tea is it doesn't have to be about show casing your ability to serve up all 5 of their Five a days. You are allowed to serve sweet treats - and lots of them! It's not about a perfectly healthy balanced meal, it's about a party tea. And a bonus if you can err on the healthy side. 

My Perfect Party Tea: 

• Mini sausages in rolls - minimal effort sandwiches!
• Box of yoghurt covered raisins
• Cereal bar
• Fruit pouch
• Dried fruit stick
• Fromage Frais

I save the chocolately and seriously sweet things for a candy sweet table. But they are always at arms reach so it ends up being a free for all!

I love the American style sweet tables - you can check out my tips to perfect candy sweet table at home here. 

I am busy this week preparing for Ollie's Doctor Disco 2nd Birthday! He has just learnt to sing Happy Birthday so I can't wait to see his face beaming with huge smiles at his medical theme party!  

This post was kindly sponsored by delights