How to Decorate for a Fiji Inspired Tea Party

Pamper your girlfriends with a Fiji Vacation inspired Tea Party complete with exotic fruit teas, pomegranate and bird of paradise centerpieces, spicy curry wraps, banana scones and a relaxing foot massage.

A Fiji Vacation Tea Party should be evocative of soft breezes, large nodding flowers and the sweet formal politeness of tea service at an ocean side hotel. Remember that Fiji was a British colony for years, so it is time to get out your most formal china, crispest white tablecloths and finely crafted silver. You will be contrasting the prim and proper with exotic curries, grass mats and sheer netting thrown over a cabana.

This type of tea party is best thrown out doors in the middle of the summer when the heat is reminiscent of the sensual weather of the South Pacific. A canopy erected in the back yard and draped with filmy mosquito netting and bright batik fabrics (in crimson, orange and dark blue) serves nicely as a make shift cabana. Throw some silk pillows on some grass mats in a corner of the cabana to encourage your guests to take of their shoes and relax.

To make them feel special, hire a manicurist to do their nails or toe nails or even better yet hire one of your kids to give each guest a foot massage. Imagine their delight when they open an invitation that includes a foot massage on the menu. The invitation could read “Free Your Mind and Soul At My Fiji Vacation Tea Party.” Or “You Are Invited to Vacation For An Afternoon At My Fiji Tea Party.” Also ask all of your guests to wear white to get into the Colonial spirit of the party.

Of course no Menu for a Fiji Tea Party would be complete without a generous selection of finger foods as the indigenous populations of Fiji eat with their hands. This menu for your Fiji Vacation Tea Party is based on authentic Fiji dishes and colonial twists on sweet on such Fiji food staples as potatoes, coconut, pineapple cassava, tapioca, shrimp and goat.

Burning coconut or pineapple incense would bring a nice ambience to the atmosphere as would music featuring Hawaiian guitars or soothing New Age music that features ocean waves on the sound track. Another nice touch would be to present each guest with an orchid or other exotic flower to tuck behind their ear as a party favor. A parting gift could be a little bottle of coconut or crème de cacao lotion from the Body Shop or sticks of coconut incense. After the sun goes down, freestanding bamboo lamps to add to the ambience.