Bridgerton Tea

Now I can say I’ve worn regency-era clothing to a high tea.

A few months ago my friend Jenn got in touch about a Bridgerton tea happening at Hammond Castle.

For the previous season of Bridgerton she joined me to watch the last few episodes while we enjoyed an afternoon tea while we gossiped and blushed over the plots of The Ton. We have plans to do the same for the current season. I’ve never done a themed afternoon tea that I recall so I was definitely on board for this Hammond Castle outing.

A few weeks later, maybe when we were actually watching some Bridgeton, she said “I think we should go in costume.”

While dressing up in regency-era clothing typically isn’t my thing, I agreed that we should go all in, and, this would be a perfect Fiftieth Firsts (having brand new experiences with friends to commemorate my 50th in April) to have with Jenn. And since her birthday is in early March, it celebrated her too.

I got lucky and found the costume I needed on Amazon and Jenn’s arrived just in time, the day before the tea. When we arrived at Hammond Castle we were relieved to see another guest in the parking lot dressed up, since we did wonder if we’d be the only ones!

It was an unusually balmy day (thank goodness!), and we carefully navigated around mud puddles and melting snow to enter the castle and make our way to an elegantly decorated hall. All the tables were filled and most of the attendees were in period clothing. We agreed that we would have felt out of place had we NOT dressed up.

We found our assigned table but there was only once seat available. The eight women seated there moved their chairs and welcomed us both, pulling up another chair. We learned that they were all together for an annual friend sewing retreat. Sewers all, they donned outfits they’d made themselves and each was more stunning than the next.

There was so much to take in when we arrived; All the people there, a queen sitting in the corner with a very high hairpiece which I later realized was adorned with butterflies. The table was set with some Champaign and of course tea. There were three tiers of macaroons, Madelines and scones, whipped cream, and eventually little sandwiches were brought around.

Jenn and I chatted with the organizer of the friends’ sewing retreat – she’s a costume designer who was the glue and common friends among all the ladies at the table. Their ages varied a which i thought was very cool. They were lovely and clearly all had a great affinity for beautiful clothing!

One thing I observed immediately was I felt uncomfortable. This is actually a pretty rare thing for me. We were sitting with strangers, sure, but I talk to strangers every day! What’s the big deal? It was interesting to sit in the discomfort a bit and observe it. Not in a navel-gazing way but more of a “why am I uncomfortable?” way. Well, simply put, this was a new experience and I was not dressed as I would typically be if I was having a new experience and wanted to be dressed with confidence and/or comfort.

I mean, my outfit was fine, though it did’t really photograph very nicely, and I was in good company, and the food was charming and tasty enough.

Being part of a new experience is very different than documenting it, which is of course how I take in most new experiences.Not to mention it just feels weird to share the latest work stress or UPAA challenges with your friend while wearing and empire waisted dress and fake gems in your hair. It doesn’t feel quite….appropriate?

We enjoyed taking it all in, and had the opportunity to wander the castle a bit, which I don’t recall very having been to before. We took some silly photos, admired other peoples’ outfits, and were really glad we went!