Apple Harvest Afternoon Tea in Winchester

Today I'm sharing an Apple Harvest Afternoon tea hosted in Winchester, Virginia, which is a perfect theme for the location.  According to Winchester's government website, Winchester is known as the "Apple Capital" because it is one of the largest apple export markets in the U.S., and is the largest in Virginia.  There are even apple sculptures all over town--including this one located near the town square. 

(picture from the internet)

 

Aunt Becky (my aunt who enjoys tea and holds beautiful tea parties) arranged this afternoon tea at her church--Opequon Presbyterian Church.  I just loved the older church on the site (they built a new sanctuary in 2005), which dates to 1897.

 

 

Here is our ticket for this event:

 

 

As guests walked in, we were met with different tables all decked out in the apple theme.  Volunteers signed up to sponsor the tables, and provided all of the china, linens, flatware, and decorations.  I took pictures of a few of the tables to share:

 

(matching white and gold plates with all different teacups!)

(I bet this table smelled nice with the dried apple rings)

(gorgeous centerpiece with green hydrangeas!)

(very pretty teapot fresh flower arrangement, and aren't these apple napkin rings terrific?)

 

 

As you can see there were lots of tables, including a few I didn't get a picture of. I think around 60 tickets were sold, although there were a few no shows.  I think there were definitely around 50 people who came.  I wish I had taken a few  pictures to show all the lovely hats people wore, but I was too busy being enthralled by the lovely table settings.

 

Speaking of hats, they were a major part of the decorations, with hat stands full of lovely hats placed all around the room.

 

 

We choose our own table, and my mother (who had gone with me) and I chose the one below:

 

 

I didn't get a good close-up, but the napkins were lovely with a bit of crochet around the edges.  Here is a better look at the centerpiece that had apples in the vase with sunflowers and a pretty fall pick.

 

I choose the setting below:

 

 

Every place setting had a menu and an adorable apple shaped favor

 

 

with a wonderful surprise...a teabag!

 

 

 

The different foods were served buffet style, starting with the savories.

 

(starting at the top:  cucumber, cheddar pinwheels, and pineapple morsels)

(Southern ham biscuits and egg salad in the background)

 

My favorites were the pineapple morsels, which had pineapple, walnuts, and cream cheese on raisin bread, and the cheddar cheese pinwheels.  Delicious!

 

Next we had apple-cinnamon scones with Devonshire cream and strawberry preserves.

 

As the perfect end to this wonderful tea, we had four different desserts:

 

(starting at the top, triple chocolate bites, madeleines, and Russian Tea cakes)

 

I didn't get a picture of the fruit kabobs on the buffet (unfortunately I was a bit off my photography "game" that day), but I got one of my plate of goodies!  My favorite was the Russian tea cakes.  

 

But I skipped the tea!  I was so impressed with how much food must have been prepared in order to serve 60-some people, but the tea really blew me away.  There were three different teas served--one for each course!

 

 



We started with a lovely Lady Grey, which is always a favorite.  Next a Jasmine green tea made its rounds followed by a tea I should have known would show up--Aunt Becky's favorite Ginger Peach.

 

I can't imagine serving that much tea!  Aunt Becky later told me she had prepared a tea concentrate for each type of tea that she then diluted with hot water.  Everything tasted perfect so the tea concentrate worked wonders.

 

My mother and I had a lovely time and the tea was for a great cause as it also raised money for breast cancer research.

 





(as a quick side note, isn't this hat lovely?  It's made of glass!  Tea guests could place additional donations in this appropriately pink hat).

 

 

Thanks so much for visiting!  I know that Aunt Becky reads the blog sometimes, so I just wanted to share what a wonderful job she did and just how lovely everything turned out.  I still can't even imagine doing a tea for that many people--but I saw it happen perfectly! 

 



This week I'm joining these tea parties:

Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage

 Tea Cup Tuesday ~ http://www.marthasfavorites.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea~ http://www.antiquesandteacups.info/

Bernideen's Tea in the Garden