A special thank you to Style Me Pretty for featuring this shoot! SMP is one of my favorite wedding blogs and is always overflowing with great inspiration. You can see the full feature here!

I’ve been so excited to share this lovely shoot with all of you! The Mad Hatter’s tea party has been a source of inspiration for many beautiful tablescapes, so I was super excited when Lydia, my talented friend & blogger extraordinaire at Ever Ours, invited me to be a part of an Alice-inspired setting with a different twist. Striving for something unique and following inspiration from Tim Burton’s whimscial interpretation, she came up with this enchanting “dark & twisty” version of the much-loved tea party!

Together with the creative prowess of talents Lauryl Lane and Jane of Olive Hue, they bundled up mushrooms, clocks, textural florals, hanging arrangements in jars, and the most fantastic bright blues, greens and purples for a casual on-the-grass tea party that had me swooning left and right! As most of you know, I am a huge sucker for details and could not get enough of these – I was literally snapped away at the table until the sun went down!

But enough with my ramblings, on with the photos! Please take a seat on one of the cushions and enjoy this dark & twisty peek into wonderland :)

Jane personalized the tea bags in the sweetest way {and LOVE the contrast of Megan’s red nails against the blues and greens!}

How dreamy is this bouquet? Lauryl always produces the most unique, creative, and beautiful pieces…

A big thank you to this team of talented ladies for the opportunity to work on such a fun shoot!

Styling: Ever Ours
Florals: Lauryl Lane
Stationery: Olive Hue Paper
Linens: BBJ Linens & Bed, Bath and Beyond
Tableware: Bed, Bath and Beyond and Oneida
Antique Watch Faces: creativeARTifacts
Model: Megan Buchner
{ As seen on Style Me Pretty }

Afternoon tea is quite possibly one of my favorite things in the world. Just the thought of colorful pots of tea, dainty cups and saucers, and sweet conversation over cream-covered scones makes me feel relaxed and wonderfully girly (which makes up for all my non-girly times when I’m scorching things in the kitchen and running around the house in sweatpants). A couple weeks ago I was delighted to have the opportunity to photograph the beautiful Alice In Wonderland-themed tea party Joanna Chong of Joanna Events organized for her mother’s birthday. She is just getting into the wedding and event planning industry and wanted some shots of the table settings and guests. I was giddy at the very idea of a tea party, but was SO unprepared for the incredible camera-candy she ended up putting together!

Joanna was still setting up when I arrived and I got to witness all the beautiful items being brought one by one to the table. As each vase of flowers, each platter of pastries, each little teacup was hurried over, my eyes grew bigger and bigger, my squeals of delight louder, and my camera clicks more flurried. I couldn’t believe the colors, the concepts, the creativity!! From the paper lanterns to the tea-party music wafting through the iPod, there was not a single detail overlooked. After witnessing firsthand her event-planning prowess, I can only imagine the amazing work she would do as a wedding coordinator!

The floral arrangements were simply stunning! Sue Cook of SooziCook Events (soozcook@gmail.com) put together each unique collection of bright blooms – they really set the mood for the entire tea party!

There were endless platters of the most delectable treats – mini tea sandwiches, scones, delicate cakes. No one would be leaving this tea party hungry!

I instantly fell in love with these hand-crafted blossoms, lovingly planted around the table :)

The guests all wore the most awesome oversized hats…

And a quick photo of Joanna and her mother, the guest of honor!