Tea Time
Summer afternoons are the perfect time for leisurely tea parties in the garden. For a fresh take on traditional tea and crumpets, we turned to one of LA’s most eco-chic event planners, Dana Morgan of Green Carpet Event for some simple tips. Here, she shows us how a little creativity turned colored tea tins, vintage china, left-over carnations and recycled drawer liners into a stylish and sustainable tabletop spread.
Pick Vibrant Colors
Don’t be afraid of color! They add life to the party and change your energy. There’s so much emphasis placed on picking two or three colors and sticking with them; however, I think it’s one of those rules that was meant to be broken. Color, and lots of it, is what summer is all about. For our tea party we used organic bright pink carnations mixed with Ranunculus and accented with lime green Alyssums.
Use Vintage or Transform Everyday Items
Vintage china is a great way to reuse old items to create a unique tabletop. Esther Derkx has an original collection of cast off crockery that has been screenprinted with new images for a modern look. For placemats, we used recycled, eco-friendly drawer liners. And, we found beautiful and elegant tea tins at The Odor that were used as colorful vases. Lemons became place card holders!
Look for Eco-Friendly Tabletop Accessories
These are my favorite cream and sugar pots by LightenUp that are made with natural clay and handmade, non-toxic glazes. Cork underlays from Matteria are great options for table decor. The table cloth and napkins we used are handmade with organic cotton and locally manufactured here in LA. Look out for Green Carpet’s new sustainable line of tabletop accessories and linens coming this Fall!
Serve Small Bites and Fair Trade Tea
The premise behind an afternoon tea is to enjoy small bites of sweet and savory foods. I like to source locally produced or fair traded teas from around the world. The artisan tea cakes by Jin Patisserie, who has a charming boutique in Venice Beach, are displayed on a recycled artisan cheese board made of left-over marble.
To promote conscious consumerism, don’t forget the 4 R’s of Green Entertaining, “Reuse, redo, recycle, and rent!”
Founded by Dana Morgan, Green Carpet Event (446 Doheny Drive, Beverly Hills, 888-402-1117) is a sustainable event design and production company based in Los Angeles that specializes in weddings, birthdays, baby showers, product launches and gift suites. Notable projects include the LG House in Malibu and the Sundance Green Gifting Suite.
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Sprig, Matteria, Green with Glamour and Esther Derkx.
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Comments
This is so fantastic! Simplicity is good. She is informative and cute!
Eco-chic entertaining goddess, Dana Morgan, makes green decor and design accessible, fun and affordable. She planned our wedding and is now on my speed dial as I am renovating our LA home. She’s signed onto decorate the space and is our green consultant for everything, from baby products to sustainable building vendors. If there’s anyone in LA who has more green connections or is more capable of pulling off a perfect green event/interior I’d be surprised!!!
My husband and I are “Team Dana” all the way!!!
*GK*
This quote, “Color, and lots of it, is what summer is all about.” is so true. Now that we’re heading into the Fall here in Seattle I’m already lamenting the lapsing (apologies for the alliteration
of summer, especially since I know we just had our last 80 degree day. Thanks for the outdoor party ideas, I’m going to try and carry over the summer theme into Fall so I can keep the grey skies away!
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