Celebrate Mother’s Day: Family Style

While we mothers would love to be celebrated and lavished with gifts every day of the year, Mother’s Day is the one day dedicated in our honor. So what better way to celebrate than a party at home with all of your family’s generations of moms. This simple and beautiful gathering is a wonderful way to share this special day with loved ones – with minimal fuss for you.

Guests: 6-10 adults plus kids

Color Palette: shades of pinks, spring greens, and white with dark wood accents

The Style: a twist on the traditional tea party. We have created a feminine party with an eclectic mix of modern and Asian design by mixing patterns, woods, and stone.

The Setting:
This intimate gathering takes place on the floor around a coffee table to create a relaxed and enjoyable setting for the moms as well as the children. If you don’t have a coffee table or need a larger surface, don’t sweat it. One of our favorite ideas is to buy an inexpensive hollow core door from a hardware store. Set the door on a few stacks of books, making sure it is balanced and steady. Then cover the door entirely with a tablecloth or length of fabric. We suggest a fun pattern that matches your party’s colors. If you using a beautiful coffee table, a patterned runner is all you need. To accommodate any elderly grandmothers who might have trouble sitting on the floor, simply set the tea on a dining table and follow the same design instructions.

Now it’s time to transform the table into a stylish tableau for tea by using groups of candles and bowls of floating flowers. Float roses, orchids, ranunculus, and dahlias in shades of pink in wood, ceramic, or stone bowls of different sizes. Scatter the bowls on the table. Create candle groupings with votives, tea lights, and pillar candles and arrange them on the table as well. Next, lay out each place setting. Tie each napkin with a pale green velvet ribbon, tucking a pink Cymbidium orchid bloom into the knot of the ribbon, then place the napkin on top of each plate. In the center of the table, place a tray filled with pots of teas, tea condiments, and a carafe of lime spritzer. Display your sweet and savory snacks on three-tiered servers and other footed serving pieces. Place the food at each end of the table. For the seating, place plush cushions and floor pillows on the floor around the coffee table.

The final special touch of the day is the favors for the moms. Purchase inexpensive woven or silk Asian inspired slippers and create a pouch out of pale pink tulle. Place the slippers in the pouch of tulle and tie the top of the pouch with pale green velvet ribbon. Tuck a pink orchid (same idea as napkin above) into the knot of the ribbon and add a gift hangtag.

The Food:
The tea menu is very simple and kid friendly. The best part is there is no cooking involved (after all, it’s your day too!) and you can purchase all of the items at your local grocer.

We recommend serving sweet and savory treats: bite size assorted quiches, assortment of butter cookies, bite size pastries, dried mango, dried apricots, dried figs, and fresh strawberries.

The tea suggestions are: Green, Oolong, White, and Black Mango tea. We suggest condiments to accompany the tea, which can be arranged on a tray: honey, lemon, raw sugar cubes, milk, ginger and fresh mint. Finally, a lime spritzer is a refreshing beverage to serve along with the teas. For the younger children, serve chamomile tea and pear or apple juice.

For the Kids:
The special part of Mother’s Day is spending time with your mom and grandmas. The children will love sharing in the festivities at the “tea table.” To keep younger guests busy, we suggest setting up an art table for the children to create Mother’s Day cards. Arrange construction paper, stickers, crayons, markers, cut doilies, and glue.

Timeline:

– Call and invite the moms a week or so in advance

– Buy the slippers, tulle, and ribbon a week in advance

– Assemble the slipper favors a few days before

– Select the serving pieces, pillows, and fabric runner / tablecloth a few days before; set aside

– Buy the groceries a couple of days before

– Arrange and set the “coffee tea table” the day before

– Buy the prepared foods and baked goods the day before

– Buy the flowers the day before

– Set the children’s art table the night before

– Make the lime spritzers the night before; refrigerate

– Add last minute details to the “coffee tea table”

– Place the floating orchids, dahlias, ranunculus and roses in the containers in the morning

– Have tea ready right before the party begins

MiGi Shopping Suggestions:

Michelle Adams and Gia Russo host the Fine Living network television show, The Art of the Party with the MiGi Girls. Former editors of Martha Stewart Living magazine, Michele and Gia have also written several lifestyle books for Chronicle Books and work as design and entertaining experts for numerous magazines, including Lucky, In Style, O (Oprah), and Fit Pregnancy. Based in Los Angeles, Michele and Gia are also the proud mothers of, respectively, Jackson and Grayden, both two years old. Check out their line of MiGi products, which features crib bedding, nursery décor accessories, and home-entertaining specialty items at www.migistyle.com