Secret Vintage Easter Afternoon Tea

I’m always looking for cute new things to do in Manchester, and the idea of a Secret Vintage Easter Afternoon Tea was both intriguing as well as right up my street.

After buying our tickets we received an email a week before the event containing details of the “secret” venue of the tea party, and I wouldn’t want to reveal any details other than to say that it was based in a renovated mill, so there was exposed brickwork, wooden beams and bare wood floors. And the room was decorated with fresh tulips and daffodils, candles and a collection of vintage themed and genuinely old books covering the themes of tea parties, elegant style and general good housewife-ing. The vintage atmosphere was completed with a projection screen showing Roman Holiday and background tea dance music.

There were twelve eager guests to be seated, and we all enjoyed a hand-made menu with four types of finger sandwiches, Paul Hollywood’s hot cross buns (in miniature form), Mary Berry’s Easter Simnel cake, plus a selection of miniature cakey goodies – scones with jam and cream, chocolate nests and chocolate cakes and other Easter themed treats. Plus lashings of traditional lemonade and pots of tea in mismatched china. It was also a nice touch to go home with an Easter themed goodie bag!

The Gourmand’s secret tea room is still in the early days of hosting these charming secret tea parties, so it is great to be able to support them and also to give a positive review on here. Having a chat to our hosts it turns out they are considering events combining afternoon tea with vintage themed makeover sessions, as well as their upcoming American retro tea party event which coincides with Independence Day. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who fancies something a little different on an afternoon.