In March, we of The Footwork And Frolick Society hosted an annual fundraising tea at Boutwell House, which owned by the Groton History Center and located in Groton, MA. I thought it would be fun to share some photos from the day, as well as a few behind the scenes shots of our preparation!

To start, a closeup of the wonderful honeycomb wallpaper in the main dining room, which is a lovely backdrop for the cross-stitch that one of our kind and enthusiastic volunteers gifted to the organization. We love to showcase it at our events!

Preparation for the tea included many things: a menu, tea flavors, logistical setup details, place settings, and… beautiful flowers! This vibrant yellow and green bouquet graced the dining table in the room with the honeycomb wallpaper. I think the bees, if they could jump off of the paper, would have enjoyed the arrangement just as much as I did!

During preparation, the public facing areas of Boutwell House were set up with tables, chairs, tablecloths, plates, teacups, flowers, and more, while in the kitchen tasty snacks and sweets were plated.

And there was tea, of course! Our “tea roulette” as I’ve fondly named it, was all set up and ready to go when the guests arrived. We offered four flavors of tea: a traditional black tea, a flavored black tea, a green tea, and an herbal tea.

In the parlor, which you might recognize from views of F&F playing parlor games last year, we placed charming visual accents, such as this color coordinated bouquet.

Below, a closeup of this tone-on-tone mix of reds (and a little purple, for an accent).

After the guests were seated and consuming a first round of the delicious teas, the scrumptious treats were brought out.

Back in the kitchen, the teapots were in rotation, as fresh tea was delivered to guests while more tea was brewing. Timers were set, dregs were rinsed, and the tea-making stayed orderly and composed. Success!

Below are the remains of the brewed tea leaves. I think it’s an artful conclusion to the event! The tea leaves almost look like a salad!

After two seatings, we were grateful to tidy up and head for a place to sit down and rest our feet, with thanks to everyone who attended the fundraiser!