To Tea or Not to Tea?

by Cynthia Howell.  Published in the September/October 2016 issue of Finery.

Ah, afternoon tea.  Such a delightful way to spend an afternoon: lovely surroundings, delicious treats, and our lovely guild members in their fabulous finery.  What could be more elegant?  GBACG afternoon tea events are generally quite popular, and the guild certainly plans to continue to host them.  However, hosting a tea is not without challenges.

The large San Francisco hotels, such as the Palace, the Fairmont, and the Saint Francis, where we have held so many memorable events, are not currently a good option.  For example, The Garden Court at the Sheraton Palace is one of the loveliest venues in the Bay Area. When we first started holding our annual Holiday Tea there in 2012, the ticket cost was steep, and unfortunately it has continued to rise year after year. The Palace has recently remodeled the space and instituted a seating limit of twelve people per party. Reservations for parties larger than twelve require renting a private room. This policy not only increases our ticket price astronomically, it deprives us of the beauty of the Garden Court and incurs financial risk for the guild. The Ritz, Mark Hopkins and Fairmont all have similar policies, which make large tea parties in grand rooms nearly impossible at those locations, at least until the hotels change their policies yet again.

The Bay Area is fortunate to have a variety of smaller tea venues, and what they lack in grandeur is more than made up in charm. However most of these venues can only seat thirty to forty people, and Lovejoy’s Tea Room has a maximum of twenty. Generally tea ticket sales are popular and we can easily sell out in less than twenty-four hours. In the past we have scheduled either a second seating on the same day, or a subsequent weekend. Unfortunately this plan usually exhausts the host and other volunteers who make the event happen.

For this year’s Farewell to Downton tea we rented a room and hired a caterer.  That remains an option, but lacks the charm and efficiency of a dedicated tea room. If you know of a large historic venue that can seat sixty plus people, please do not hesitate to share. Our tea parties will undoubtedly continue, but necessity is going to require them to change. We ask for your understanding and support as we sort out the best way to move forward.