Marie Antoinette Tea Party

Imagine getting an invitation to a Marie Antoinette tea party—just picture all the pretty tea dresses, bows upon bows of velvet, satin, and chiffon, trays of finger sandwiches, elegant swept-up hair, and tiers of dainty desserts.

I’ve been working on this theme for two years and it turned out to be one of my all-time favorite girls night themes I’ve ever hosted. I mean, Marie Antoinette is the iconic combination of French elegance and playful extravagance that creates a delicious atmosphere to escape into for an evening with friends. Think rococo meets feminine pinks and teatime. So. Much. YES.

If you’re looking for a beautiful bridal shower theme, girls night, or birthday party theme for women, this Marie Antoinette tea party is it. Now let’s move on to the pretty details to inspire you!

*This post was hand-typed by me without the use of AI. Call me old school, but I like reading what real people write far better.*

Party Highlights:

• A hand-sketched paper chandelier
• Mini Marie Antoinette pavlova cakes—with raspberries and pistachio cream
• A wonderfully excessive amount of bows
• A bloom bar—the build-your-own-bouquet activity that was a hit with all my friends!

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The Invite

With a party like this I like to send a text with all the details:

You are invited to a Marie Antoinette tea party!

Time: Friday, April 3rd 6:30-8pm

Location: Williamson Château

Attire: think soft airy colors, gauzy fabric, lace, pearls, bows—everything quintessentially feminine (like this: https://wantthatwedding.co.uk/2012/10/22/marie-antoinette-styled-wedding-inspiration/)

Our 3 activities:

1. Bring a tea party food to share 🫖🍰

2. Think of an item that is “worth the splurge” to tell us about/share (i.e. a favorite beauty product, cleaning product, specific fancy food, parenting hack item, etc) It’s so fun to learn about everyone’s favorite things they can’t live without! 💄

3. Bring one fresh bouquet of white or pastel flowers for our flower buffet & we will each get to make and take home our own bouquet 💐 (Trader Joe’s and Costco have some of the best prices)

Let me know what finger food you decide to bring so we avoid duplicates. I am so excited to celebrate with you!

Avec amour,

Nicole

The Decor

Tip: an easy way to add bows are the pre-made ones for hair! Find this pretty pink hairbow here. Just secure with nano tape, my go-to super strong tape for all my parties. Just be gentle when removing because it can rip the paint off a wall it’s that strong. 💪

These teacup napkin bows are easy to fold and added such a pretty touch to the table. Learn how to fold them HERE. I found the scalloped pink napkins from Target for around $3.

Here’s a peek at the bloom bar before guests arrived to put their flowers in the vases. The regular-mouth quart-sized mason jars were the perfect size for making bouquets and the guests got to transport their flowers home in them. Just add a bit of chiffon ribbon to dress them up a bit.

Love me some pink chiffon ribbon.

Here’s a close up of one of the hand-drawn party decorations. I also did a set of wall sconces, two chandeliers, some desserts, and two chandeliers. They add such whimsy for only a few dollars. I used Pen + Gear Heavyweight posterboard (not the “economy” kind because the stickers ripped the paper when I peeled them off 😳). Sketch your design lightly in pencil, then just go for it with a fresh sharpie.

There is something beautiful about the irregularities and personality in hand-sketched art. For this Marie Antoinette tea party, I took inspiration from the stunning styles of Swink and ever-talented @alanna_cavanagh.

Here’s an example of Swink’s GORGEOUS tea party invitation that inspired my main chandelier:

Swink

I designed this cute artwork on Canva using a fussy cuts Marie Antoinette image pack I found on Etsy for a few dollars.

Marie Antoinette Tea Party Food

Each guest brought a tea party finger food to share. Our menu consisted of:

• Cucumber sandwiches (of course)
• Mini raspberry cheesecake cookies
• Pesto and tomato sandwiches
• Deviled eggs arranged in the shape of flowers
• Raspberry tarts
• Strawberry crunch salad with lemon champagne vinaigrette
• Mini Marie Antoinette pavlovas with raspberries and pistachio cream

I found these adorable Marie Antoinette cutouts from Etsy and made her skirt out of pavlova, added a spoonful of Trader Joe’s organic raspberry preserves, and topped with frilly pistachio whipped cream and raspberries. They were quite a bit of work but turned out so cute and were one of the showstoppers of the food table.

Here’s a close up of the hand-drawn cake as part of the food table backdrop. I didn’t want to commit to eating large amounts of cake (is that blasphemous for a “let them eat cake” party?) so the cake sketch art, madeleine cookie tower, and macaron tower were the perfect solution.

This strawberry crunch salad is one of my FAVORITE salads, so I simply had to share it with my friends. I usually sub the almonds for candied pecans and the goat cheese for feta. Or you could honestly skip the cheese altogether because this salad has so much flavor and texture going on.

The Bloom Bar Activity

After chatting and enjoying the food we cleared away the teacups and tablecloth to start making our bouquets. And good thing too because bouquet making is surprisingly messy. But the end results are so pretty!

Here are some things I learned from hosting my first bloom bar:

Tip #1: Have everyone bring a fresh bouquet within a color scheme. I told people white or pastel. The flowers have a greater chance of looking good together.

Tip #2: Make sure you have plenty of scissors/garden shears for trimming flowers. At least one pair per 2-3 people.

Tip #3: Forage free greenery if you can. Having plenty with different textures really fills out the bouquets and adds interest. The morning of the party go foraging on your local walking paths or ask a generous neighbor if you can clip some free greenery. Some of the greenery I found was actually early weeds or really prolific local plants 🤭, but they looked pretty so I went for it. Bushes or trees from your property or even herbs like oregano and mint from a garden also look lovely as fillers and are free.

Tip #4: Have containers ready to put the bouquets in for people to take home. Find or save up unique glass ones, or use regular mouth mason jars in quart size tied with a bit of chiffon ribbon for a cohesive look.

I love how these bouquets look like sisters—connected, yet beautifully unique.

Here’s the locally harvested greenery I mentioned.

I designed this “How to Build a Bouquet” sign and it’s available in my printable library for my subscribers. 🫶

Overall this Marie Antoinette tea party was one of my favorite parties I’ve ever thrown and you should definitely make a girls night out of it for your birthday or just because.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments. I’m always down to help you plan your next event.

Stay tuned for the giant strawberry and cream pavlova post coming up next.

Happy party planning!