Everyone's Obsessed with Tea Parties Now—Here's How Martha Stewart Throws Them

You don't need a peacock, but she certainly has one.

Tea parties are having a moment right now—quite possibly their biggest since they came onto the 19th-century social scene in England.

It could be due to simple trend cycles, but we likely have to credit the newest season of Bridgerton. According to a new trend report from Pinterest, searches for “Bridgerton tea party” increased by 430% this year. The site also saw increases in searches for "high tea food ideas," "afternoon tea party ideas," and "floral tea party."

“People are turning to Pinterest to plan their summer entertaining and social activities, and searches for summer tea parties and themed dinner parties are on the rise,” the pinning platform said in a statement. “It seems that the new Bridgerton season and creative trending tea recipes and inspiring congregations centered around high tea and floral decor.”

Related: The Regencycore Bathrooms In 'Bridgerton' Are the Diamonds of the Season

If you’re hosting tea of your own, you want to foremost think about the food and drink you're going to serve—tea and sandwiches, obviously. As Martha Stewart put it in a video on CBS, a tea sandwich is “that afternoon snack that all of us crave and that not many of us ever really get in our lives.”

Martha Stewart's Go-to Tea Party Recipes

Stewart recommends preheating your teapot before you steep it, which she does by putting boiling water in the pot and then pouring it out. Then she spoons two tablespoons of loose-leaf tea—according to her, “What a real tea party is all about”—in the pot and pours hot water over the top. After steeping, she serves.

“The first thing you put in your cup is the milk,” Stewart instructed in the video. “Just a little bit. Add the tea, and pour through a little tea strainer if you have one. This catches any of the excess tea leaves.”

Related: All of Martha Stewart's Tips for Making a Restaurant-Quality Steak at Home

Stewart described making tea sandwiches as “a more complex operation." She starts by ensuring her bread is thinly sliced and your cream cheese is room temperature, which makes it easier to spread. In the first sandwich, she adds the cream cheese, layers on some thinly-sliced cucumbers, and cuts the crusts off.

“You don’t want crusts in tea sandwiches,” she declares. “Inappropriate.”

She walked viewers through how she makes two more tea party-worthy sandwiches: a fancier one with dark bread, shrimp salad, and caviar; the other with asparagus and a spread of cream cheese on thinly-sliced white bread. She boiled the asparagus in salted water, put it on top of the cream cheese, and added some lemon zest, before finishing it off with the top slice of bread and cutting the crusts off.

Related: The 13 Best Outdoor Dinnerware Sets of 2024 for Dining Al Fresco This Summer

If you're going to a tea party at the Stewart residence, you'll find yourself seated in a garden in the middle of a double row of lilacs—but don't worry if you don’t have that kind of atmosphere. Just set up a low table in your most lush outdoor location, and provide cushions for seating.

Stewart's table itself consisted of a simple tablecloth, china, and sitting pads. Oh, with a little twist: It’s not necessary that you’re joined by an exotic bird at your tea party, but at least one of Stewart’s 15 peacocks will be a guest at hers, of course.

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