The plan was just to have an enchanted forest themed high tea at home for my birthday, but before that, my husband knew that we wouldn’t have enough time to prepare for it, and since we were planning on getting the food catered in anyway, we thought why not just hire an event place instead?
I’m after rustic.. vintage… magical. Festive, but also intimate and will make everyone feel right at home. And since it’s winter, no matter how much I wanted an outdoor party, it will be a big challenge finding an indoor place that will create the same ambiance.
Then my husband found The Green Stables online. And as soon as I saw the long table and giant bird cage chandelier in the middle, I said yes straight away.
My birthday celebration happened on the coldest day of winter. It was raining a little bit too so I thought this is going to be a bit risky having high tea inside an 18th century barn. It looked so serene and beautiful outside. You can see the green stable in the middle of tall trees with the horses outside eating the grasses.
But when the doors opened, it was like a different world inside. Vintage china tea cups and silverware are very well presented around the long table with fresh flowers in the middle and also behind my chair facing the main entrance to welcome the guests. It was so warm and cosy inside with the big fireplace crackling on the side, warming everyone up.
I got all my friends to dress up in vintage dresses, suspenders, berets and bow ties for my party. I myself got dressed in my favourite vintage dress that I always wear on special occasions and a big pink flower head band. Everyone looked so beautiful that day.
Beatrice Imbert of The Green Stables made sure everything went smoothly. She’s worked at my dream hotel Ritz in both Paris and London and the Palazzo Versace in Queensland so you can trust that this super woman knows what she’s doing. The place was filled with laughter… teacups and champagne glasses clinking all afternoon. Everything from the chicken waldorf sandwiches to the mini scones and meringue was so delicious and very well presented on top of chopped wooden blocks by our amazing celebrity chef of the day, Emma Chapple.
There’s not a single food and sweets on the table that everyone didn’t like. Teacups and champagne glasses were being refilled after every sip so there are no empty glasses throughout the whole event. The flowers from the long table were mostly from Beatrice’s backyard, even the mint that was served on our iced tea and spinach were freshly picked from their gardens too.
After the high tea, everyone gathered upstairs in their living room for photos and more wine that was transported upstairs by their vintage bike elevator. That is the coolest invention ever. You actually have to see it in action, so much fun.
And the men would gather around the big bonfire outside while drinking more wine as we wait for our dinner feast to get served. Well, more on that story later.
This place is everything I want my birthday high tea to be. It couldn’t get any better even if we tried. Even my friends say that this is the best birthday party that they’ve ever been to. And these guys have been to a lot, so for them to say that this is the most memorable one made my heart melt. So heartwarming to know that we’re all sharing the same sentiments about the day and the place.
There are no words for how amazing this place is. Everytime I would look back on my 30th Birthday, I would always remember myself sitting pretty (that’s the name of my official birthday teacup too) in the middle of the long table, watching everyone having a great time and it would always feel surreal, like a sweetest dream to me. Thank you Beatrice!
