Whitney Downton Abbey Tea - Part II

Meet the wonderful servers, Steven and Debra.  I trained Steve to do tea on the weekends when I don't normally work, and he is great - very thorough and conscientious.  The day of the event they were named William Mason, second footman at Downton [anybody but Thomas Barrow!] and Anna Bates. 

 Debra, Lady Mary, and me [wearing my one and only imitation tiara!]  ;-) 

~ Some of the guests came in period costume ~

There were three sets of mothers and daughters attending.  One mother and daughter went to see the movie after they left the tea.  The mother in the photo below is wearing the tiara she wore on her wedding day.  Her daughter is getting married after the Christmas holidays and her reception is going to be at The Whitney.  I asked her if she was going to start a tradition by wearing her mother's tiara at her wedding.  She said she hadn't thought about it, but her mother liked the idea.

One happy Tea Lady livin' my dream!

The guests ready and waiting for the event to begin.

The first course - Raspberry White Chocolate and Blueberry Scones with Chantilly Cream and Orange Marmalade - were on the table when the guests arrived.

Two of my friends that attended the tea - Linda and Louise.  A third friend, Barbara, was on the other side of Linda and isn't visible in the photo.

The event began with a Champagne or non-alcoholic Elderflower Cordial toast to Downton Abbey and a fun afternoon together.

A few have inquired separate from the blog comment section, if the restaurant was disappointed with only 18 attendees.  In case you wondered the same thing, they weren't disappointed at all.  Originally the Director of Operations [my boss] wanted to cap the event at 20, but he extended it to 30 at my request.  The count came closer to his desire because it was only advertised for two weeks on the website, and minimally promoted on the restaurant Facebook page.  Since he had never seen one of my events, I couldn't help wondering if he wanted to keep it small until I proved myself.  Another factor was that it came at a time when the restaurant was promoting several City Fest events.  I don't know his exact reasons, and mine is not to question why.  It was a nice intimate group, much like was seen on Downton Abbey when the Crawley family entertained, so everyone was happy. 

The Scone Course was followed by a Soup [Tomato Bisque] and Salad Course, then the Savory Course.  Sorry, no photos of that, but below is a photo of the desserts.

I began the program during the dessert course and gave my presentation on Downton Abbey tiaras and the responsibilities of a lady's maid.  Then we had a fun game of Downton Abbey quotes called, "Who Said It?".   The winner got a bottle of  Elderflower Cordial.  Lastly was a fashion show for those who came in costume and were willing to participate.  There were four brave souls so we didn't have to vote - I declared all four winners and they each took home a floral arrangements.

One last photo on the Grand Stairway before everyone departed, minus seven attendees. The lady in the front row [white dress], was celebrating her birthday, which generated singing Happy Birthday to her.  The guests all said they had a good time, so who could ask for anything more.

I hope you enjoyed attending the tea vicariously.