High Tea at Home
Your Home Is the Perfect Place for High Tea
No hotel booking, no hourly time limit, no menu you didn’t choose. Just a table, good tea, and the people you actually want there.
Why Host a High Tea at Home?
Home is where the heart is, and it turns out that’s also where the best high teas happen.
Total Comfort
No traffic, no parking, no clock-watching.
Real Savings
CBD high tea runs ~$100pp. Home comes in well under that.
Total Freedom
No venue menu or house style to fit into.
No Time Limit
No next booking waiting for the room.
Is Your Home Suitable for High Tea?
“But I don’t have the right kind of space” is usually the first worry, and it’s almost never actually true. A dining room works exactly as you’d expect, set the table, dress it up, done. A living room works just as well with a coffee table cleared and floor cushions added, or furniture pushed back to make room for a proper setting. Neither needs to look like a showroom first.
Outdoor spaces do a lot of the styling work for you. A backyard gives you natural light and greenery without trying. A verandah adds a bit of shelter and shade while still feeling like an occasion. Even a small apartment courtyard, the kind that feels too modest to call a “space,” can hold a beautifully set table for a smaller guest list.
None of these need to be transformed into something they’re not. A high tea doesn’t ask your home to look like a hotel, it just asks for a table, some thoughtful styling, and people worth gathering.
What You’ll Need For Your High Tea
No need to guess. Here’s exactly what to plan for for your high tea at home.
6 pieces per guest — shorter gatherings, under 2 hours
8 pieces per guest — most home high teas
10 pieces per guest — longer celebrations, 3+ hours
Two to three varieties is plenty: one black tea (English Breakfast is the easiest crowd-pleaser), one floral or fruity option, one caffeine-free herbal option.
A teacup, saucer, side plate, teaspoon and cake fork per guest
One teapot per 6 guests
A shared high tea stand per 5–6 guests
A jam and cream bowl, a milk jug and a sugar bowl for the table
A standard dining table comfortably seats 6–8 guests. A 6–8 seat table setup needs roughly 3m x 3m of clear space for guests to sit and move comfortably.
A few thoughtful touches go a long way, more on that shortly…
Three Ways to Host a High Tea at Home
However much (or little) you want to take on, we have a package that fits.
DIY Everything
Bake it yourself, hire the pieces, put it together your way.
BYO Food with Set Up
We handle styling and setup, you take care of the food.
Tips for Creating a Beautiful Atmosphere
A beautiful table is only half the job. These are the touches that turn a lovely afternoon into the one everyone’s still talking about.
1
Get Your Guests Baking
Assign each guest a dish to bring, one does the scones, another the sandwiches, someone else the sweets. Takes the pressure off you entirely, and the spread ends up more varied than one person could manage alone.
2
Make It Social
Set up a shared hashtag for the day, something simple with the guest of honour’s name in it, so every photo guests take ends up in one place afterwards instead of scattered across everyone’s camera roll.
3
Host a Tea Tasting
Pair specific teas with specific foods and write up a few tasting notes on small cards. Earl Grey with lemon shortbread, chamomile with honey cake, English Breakfast with anything chocolate. Turns the tea itself into part of the entertainment, not just the drink in the cup.
4
Set Up Interactive Stations
A scone bar with strawberry, apricot and fig jam plus plain and vanilla bean cream. A build-your-own sandwich station with three or four fillings laid out. Or a tea blending table where guests mix their own loose leaf combinations to take home in a small jar.
5
Get a Little Crafty
A DIY teacup decorating station with paint pens for guests to personalise a plain cup, or a mini floristry workshop where everyone makes their own small posy for the table. Both double as a takeaway favour, so guests leave with something they made.
6
Try a Tea-Inspired Cocktail
An Earl Grey martini, a chamomile gin fizz, or a glass of lavender-infused champagne. A nice touch for an evening high tea or an adults-only celebration.
7
Tie It to a Cause
High tea pairs naturally with fundraising. Biggest Morning Tea and RSPCA Cupcake Day are both easy, ready-made ways to give the afternoon a bit of extra purpose, guests are usually happy to chip in when there’s a good reason behind it.
8
Keep the Styling Simple
Fresh flowers in a jug rather than a formal arrangement, and lighting that’s warm rather than bright. None of it needs to be elaborate, the food and the company are doing most of the work.
9
Let the Playlist Set the Scene
Something in the background does more for the mood than people expect. Etta James for a bit of smoky warmth, Frank Sinatra for classic, easy elegance, or the Bridgerton soundtrack for something more contemporary.
Real High Teas at Home
A few of the celebrations we’ve had the pleasure of setting the table for.
Hens Weekend · 20 guests
“We hired an AirBNB and hosted a Bridgerton themed high tea. Best afternoon.”
Kitchen Tea · 50 guests
“The full setup package meant I actually got to enjoy hosting at my house for once as I didn’t have to do anything!”
Baby Shower · 32 guests
“I used The Vintage Kitchen for my daughter’s baby shower and it was a wonderful service.”
High Tea at Home FAQ
The questions we get asked most about hosting a high tea at home.
Enough room for your table plus comfortable walking space around it, roughly 3m x 3m for a table seating 6–8. Smaller apartments can still host comfortably by scaling the guest list down or using a compact table setup.
Yes. Focus on a smaller, more intimate guest list, a compact table arrangement, utilising the balcony and consider a buffet set up if space is genuinely tight.
Absolutely. Many home hosts prepare their own menu and simply hire the crockery and styling from us. See the High Tea Menu for ideas, and prepare what you can the day before to keep the morning of the event manageable.
Yes, delivery is available for all packages including DIY hires if you meet the minimum spend. See High Tea Catering and Vintage Crockery Hire for specific service areas and details.
It totally depends on the size of your house! If you have the space we can cater for up to 200 guests.
Generally yes, especially if you’re preparing some or all of the food yourself and simply hiring the styling pieces. Even a fully catered, fully set-up high tea at home typically comes in below hotel high tea pricing per guest.
We just need access to an oven to heat the savoury items prior to service, a power point to plug in the urn and access to some bench space and the sink would be appreciated. No actual preparation of the high tea menu items needs to take place at your home so there is no mess to clean up!
Host Your High Tea at Home
Tell us your guest numbers and how much help you’d like, we’ll take it from there.