Having a Vintage wedding or party?

Are you planning a vintage inspired wedding or garden party? Have you started collecting old china and then realised how expensive it's going to be buying it all?

Lavinia's Tea Party offer china hire for any event in and around the Cotswolds, you can loan as much or as little as you need. If you only need 10 tea cups and a sugar bowl for a baby shower, that no problem at all. I even will wash the crockery, so you don't have to and at no extra cost.

I can provide tea pots, milk jugs, sugar bowl, tiered cake stands, jelly moulds, tea plates, dinner plates, type writers, tea trolleys, all vintage, all gorgeous and all old! If I don't already have it I can usually find it!

So with the wedding season nearly over, I am taking bookings for 2012, I can deliver around Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, so it gives you more time to decorate for your vintage party. 

Thinking of holding a drinks party? Recently I lent 150 tea cups for a Breakthrough Breast Cancer garden party with a twist, held at Laurence and Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen's house in the Cotswolds. Guests were served Gin and Tonics in the traditional tea cups and it went down a storm, such a simple idea, created many memories and fabulous photos.

Stephanie Cole (Stephanie Cole Design), Laurence LLewelyn-Bowen and Lavinia (Lavinia's Tea Party)

A fantastic evening was had by all exploring the beautiful gardens, which Jackie has been working on, and the party raised over £3,000!

To see more photos from the evening, 'like' Lavinia's Tea Party on Facebook. See my affordable vintage crockery hire prices here.

Vintage goodness coming up in the Cotswolds...

We've finally calmed down after the excitement of July's Pamper Tea Party at Somewhere Else, we can confirm 18th September 2011 will be the special afternoon you can look forward to. For more information see Tickets.

Some of the fantastic helpers, the bombshells on either end wear Vivien of Holloway dresses, our wonderful sponsors at July's Tea Party, for more photos see the Facebook page Lavinia's Tea Party

If you can't wait till then, on Saturday 13th August 2011 there will be a Vintage Jumble Sale at the Rangeworthy Village Hall, Wotton Rd, Rangeworthy, BS37 7LZ 10.30am - 2.00pm

Lavinia's Tea Party will be there, and the rule of the sale is all items under £10- so come and  grab a bargain.

The next event to watch out for its The Cotswold Vintage Fair, Saturday 27th August 2011 there will be 30 stalls selling all things vintage, plus Lavinia's Tea Party will be serving tea and delicious cakes all day. There will be seating outside with gorgeous views of the Cotswold countryside, for when guests need a rest from shopping! This fantastic fair has been mentioned in several magazines already and is set to be a great day out, not to mention the village is home to a working steam train station, which I have been dying to go on for over a year now! 

 Toddington Village Hall, Stow Road, Toddington, Glos GL54 5DU

   10.00am ~ 4.00pm

Tomorrow I'm off to the big smoke for the one and only Vintage at Southbank, can't wait for Shake, Rattle and Bowl.....The Chap Olympiad and much much more....

Vintage Pamper Tea Party....Roaring Success!!

Thank you to everyone who attended Cirencester's first Vintage Tea Party, it was a huge success with over 100 people coming along! We donated £280 to the Air Raid Shelter

There was a great atmosphere, with guests being transformed into 1940's starlets, swinging hits from the blitz and an array of vintage goodies on the stalls, plus the original World War Two artifacts decorating the bar... Union Jacks galore!

Kitty Ribbons' two 1940's themed burlesque performances were fantastic, got everyone giggling, aided by the 2-4-1 cocktails!!

If you couldn't make it, have a look at the video from the event. We are currently perfecting the finer details to Septembers event, which will be Sunday 18th September, which will include a swing dance lesson, it will be a solo dance, so no need to worry about not having a partner!

More details coming soon, in the mean time feast your eyes and ears on this:

What a week in Cirencester..

So I'm having a very busy week in the land of pretty vintage china! With sorting and washing a wedding china hire of 80, and dropping another off tomorrow... theres no rest for the wicked with this weekend coming up!

This weekend 2nd and 3rd July, I'll be at the Cotswold Show in the beautiful Cirencester Park, a fantastic traditional British day out for the whole family. Come and see me in the Rural Crafts tent, there will be some gorgeous newly created vintage china cake stands and tomorrow I'll be sanding and creating more china brooches, so come and say hello!

And then Monday the 4th July, I am supplying 150 vintage china tea cups to the Glamorous Garden Party with a Twist for Cotswold Breakthrough Breast Cancer. The garden party will be set in the beautiful gardens of the charities Patrons, Laurence and Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen's house, where guests will enjoys G&T's from my pretty cups! Tickets have now sold out so watch this space for photographs from the event!

We've been in the papers and magazines this week, check out the article in Gloucestershire Echo  ' Charity 1940's tea party aims to tease' also an article in Cotswold Life magazine. Excellent publicity for The Vintage Pamper and Tea Party happening on the 10th July at Somewhere Else for more info and tickets: Lavinia's Tea Party with proceeds from the event going to the wonderful Air Raid Shelter and 1940's museum in Cirencester which is open free to the public every Saturday 10am - 4pm.

Vintage Pamper and Tea Party

Lavinia's Tea Party is proud to host a Vintage Pamper and Tea Party, 10th July 2011, at the bar Somewhere Else, 65 Castle Street, Cirencester, GL7 1QD

I am very excited to finally share the details of the event, it'll start at 5pm and finish around 8:30pm on the 10th July 2011. On arrival guests will be greeted by me and collect a hot cupa tea and yummy cake, all served on gorgeous vintage china (of course)!

Then you can explore the vintage stalls selling, clothes, accessories, jewellery and homeware. Whilst listening to wonderful music from the 1940's - 1960's with a touch of Electro Swing thrown in (for my sister), guests can then be pampered into a vintage vision, we'll have the lovely Lady She from Cirencester's Vintage shop She Unique, styling hair. B of Limelight Image Consultancy making over faces into starlets of times gone by. And then some lovely ladies doing vintage inspired manicures, and the favourite half moon styled 1940's look.

And if all that isn't enough the marvelous Burlesque artist Kitty Ribbons will perform twice throughout the afternoon some acts with a 1940's twist.

Its going to be such a fantastic afternoon, we plan on having this every couple of months building on the vintage theme each time. The best bit is tickets are only £6 including tea and cake, with proceeds going to Cirencester Air Raid Shelter, which is worth its own blog entry. I had the fantastic chance to photograph Kitty at the Air Raid/ Living History Museum and I could have stayed all night- such fascinating items on display there.

For more ticket info goto Lavinia's Tea Party - Tickets

Photographs: Lavinia Drake, Model: Kitty Ribbons.

One mans rubbish is another mans treasure...

Wow a busy month and lots of exciting things coming up! May i only hint at a fancy garden party, a studio/tea room, vintage pamper evening and an air raid shelter!!

So the more china I collect, means breakages happen, and theres no point crying over spilt milk, and I must admit I am a hoarder....so I have a lot of broken china pieces which I cannot bear to throw away. I've been racking my brain to figure away to give these broken pieces a new lease of life, and then it came to me... I can sand of the sharp and dangerous edges to make beautiful earrings and brooches. So even if theres no tea or cake around, one can still be wearing some gorgeous up-cycled vintage china!

Here are a few of the pretty pieces I've added on to my Etsy shop. As each pieces is individual, you will never bump into someone with the same earrings on as you, (unlike high street brands). These have been sanded with love and I have cuts on my hands from the initial process of removing sharp edges, so they are safe to wear!

To buy a unique china brooch or earrings visit my Etsy shop Lavinia's Tea Party.

The Royal Wedding...only 18 days to go, plan your celebrations now!!

So whilst Kate and Wills are making their last wedding preparations, manicures, spray tans and clothes fittings! With only 18 days to go, those of us with no plans for 'the big day' should start making some. With the last big Royal wedding being Charles and Diana's on the 29th of July 1981, whether you like the royals or not this bank holiday is a wonderful opportunity to have some community spirit, and celebrate a long weekend in true British style!

Here are a few ideas to get your imagination rolling.

Street Party

The dates have already passed to organise a street party due to the council requirements for road closures etc, but you could invite a few friends and neighbours around for a garden party. Ask everyone to bring a cake or something to put on a BBQ and lots of drinks. Key item: quick, simple, effective and patriotic.... bunting.

Red, white and blue fabric bunting, instantly gives your event that party atmosphere, you don't need to spend hours blowing up balloons. The best bit is you can hire it from my website www.laviniasteaparty.com  with 100 meters available of this it'll zigzag across you're garden or village hall. Its been hand cut and machine sewn together, recycling fabric so its good for the environment too, unlike that nasty plastic stuff!

You don't need to spend hours icing union jacks into cup cakes, just buy a pack of 50 Union Jack cake topper flags to stick into all of the goodies at your party and instantly it'll look very British! These are available in wonderful packs tied with ribbon and labelled with old WWII posters. Send one to a friend to commemorate the day! Buy them from my Etsy shop Lavinia's Tea Party, Union Jack Cup Cake Toppers.

Joust Tournament at Blenheim Palace

To celebrate the Royal Wedding, on the 29th April 2011 Blenheim Palace (birthplace of Winston Churchill) are hosting a Joust tournament. Great day out if you have kids, as they can be entertained by knights on horses jousting away in the ground of the palace. Its all included in admission to the Palace and gardens. Key item: Picnic, a traditional British past time, regardless of the weather, fill a wicker basket with pink lemonade, cucumber sandwiches, and Cadbury's chocolate fingers, and maybe a few bottles of Pimms and an umbrella. Don't for a comfy picnic blanket. 

Whilst attending the palace it'd be rude not to dress up, ladies get on your finest summer tea dresses and men shirts and chino's. Ladies add some sophistication to your outfit wear a fascinator or some flowers in your hair, and if you really want to commemorate the day, get one of these beautiful Union Jack fascinator by Crown & Glory and at bargain price just £10. It'll look fantastic in photographs and be a day to remember.

Tea Party and Royal Knitting

If the sky fills with thunderous rain clouds and you don't fancy freezing your red, white and blue painted face off. Invite a few friends round, set up a lovely afternoon tea party inside. This London themed vintage china cakestand would make a wonderful table centre piece.

Get the tea brewing, or maybe fills some tea pots with Pimms, and then all pick a different figure from the Knit your own Royal Wedding, knitting book and GET KNITTING! Maybe if everyone picks a different limb or item of clothing, by the time the wedding will be shown on television in the afternoon you may have your own Kate and Wills ready to be wed!

I hope this gives you a few ideas to enjoy the bonus bank holiday, with only 18 days to go get buying now, don't leave it to the last minute with everyone else. Lets enjoy it as it may be another 20 odd years till the next Royal Wedding!