The Boronia House Tearoom is a heritage-listed Victorian building in Mosman. Built in 1885, you will probably never find a more suitable place to hold a lolita meet-up in the entire country. So ever since August, Töck and Phanty had been busily preparing to host the venue's very first Lolita High Tea!
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Boronia House has been a private residence, a council library, an office, a restaurant, a function venue and a heritage-listed building. But today, we were going to be turning it into a creamy-dreamy wonderland of milky unicorns and melty macarons... <3
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Planning the Meet
They decided that the tea would be held in October, and that it would be a celebration of Spring with a 'Spring and Tea' theme. While economics-major Phanty got to work handling the deposits and negotiations with the venue, Töck (ever the obsessive present-buyer!) gleefully began to organise the raffle-prizes and giftbags. The starring prize in the raffle was to be a gorgeous like-new red
BTSSB 'Alice's Portrait' Ribbon JSK and
Headbow set she found on Lace Market for an absolute steal. ^.^
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Other great prizes that were generously donated to the raffle by the Sydney Comm included a beige MCS Summer Dream Jumper Skirt by the fantastisch girls at
Magic Cats Street (we love you all!!!), two chokers and a R.A.D gift-voucher from Kate at
Rouge Aerie Designs, this gorgeous accessory set handmade by the talented Cming (that's her in the top-photo up there!), a Bodyline Bustled Floral Stripe skirt by Kathleen, some kawaii cakes of soap from Japan by Oanh, and a very special prize-pack put together by the amazing lolita artist Nabari Gratefullove which included a pack of postcards and an art commission-voucher!
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| Cming's handiwork! <3 |
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Nabari with the prize-pack she donated ^.^
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Next was for Töck to make up the giftbags that were to be handed out at the end of the Tea. She decided that a good idea would be to include a small, kawaii accessory that any lolita would cherish. So, she sent out a message to three favourite kawaii jewellery-makers, asking them if they would be willing to cheaply make and/or send them 35 small accessories to put inside 35 lolita giftbags. Of the three artists, only one replied, and that was the incredibly-talented Lina at
Paradise Rose. Lina agreed to send Töck and Phanty 35 of her gorgeous cupcake rings at a discount (she even threw in a few cabochon rings and bracelets for the High Tea organisers to have for free!) And even later when the number of High Tea guest deposits grew and it became clear that Töck and Phanty were going to need a lot more than 35 giftbags, Lina was more than happy to quickly send a couple more rings their way. ^.^
As well as the cupcake rings, each giftbag also contained two chocolate-chip biscuits baked by Töck's mum (who loves any excuse at all to bake!) and a handwritten thank-you note. <3
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| One of the rings we bought from Paradise Rose! *Squeeeeeee!* |
Phanty got very nervous as the day of the Tea drew nearer. This was their very first time organising a large-scale meet for the Sydney Community, and anything could go wrong. The tea was originally planned as a small meet-up for newer Lolitas, but became something much, much bigger as time went on. Eventually, they would have 40 lolitas (both new and veteran) sign up to be a part of the tea!
Töck and Phanty soon enlisted the help of Milkyfawn and Kate to be organisers as well. Their goal for the tea would be to thaw out the cold clutches of winter and to welcome the warm spring with a nice tea shared with all their frilly friends. ^.^ <3
The Day of the Tea
The day of the Springthaw High Tea was a hot and sunny one. Phanty arrived wearing his pink Milk-chan Fantasy Wonderland co-ord which he had worn to the previous Lolita meet-up (but had bought especially for the tea!) and Töck would wear her newly acquired black AatP Alice's Tear Bottle co-ord!
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| Yay for Suspender Skirts! |
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| Finally worked out how to wear a beret properly... :-p |
Not to be outdone by the hosts, the Sydney Lolita community came out in full force, some adhering strongly to the "Spring and Tea" theme with flowers in their hair and others coming in their usual gorgeous flair. Lolitas both old and new came out from places as far as Dubbo and as close as "across the road from the tea house" to attend. :O
Everyone gathered in the houses' largest space, the 1885 Room, for tea across three separate tables. Some of the food provided by the chefs included scones, macarons, mousses, sandwiches, cakes and other precious little finger foods!
As well as food, Lolitas were able to meet, talk and have photos taken in Boronia's beautifully kept gardens. It was a delight for them both to see so many Lolitas in one room enjoy themselves! (despite how hot it was!)
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| What you would have seen if you peeked through the window that day... <3 |
The tea was wonderful, the food was delicious, and the Lolitas were all looking their best. That, in our book, could be considered a success already. But once our meals were done, it would be time for the raffle.
The surprise prize announcement of Magic Cats Street's Summer Dream dress sent gasps across the room, and the raffle became an unexpected success. Phanty was hoping to sell about 80 tickets, and instead sold about 190! We had suddenly been able to pay for the tea without losing money, and give away some wonderful prizes to very deserving winners (although for some reason, a majority of the winners were from the middle table :O).
As the raffle was complete, and the day was beginning to wind down, Töck and Phanty were approached with a surprise - the Lolitas from the community had banded together to create a tribute for Töck and Phanty for organising the tea. A beautiful card with a portrait of both of the hosts by Elyse Hendry, and inside, many warm messages of thanks to the hosts and some money to help cover the costs of the venue and the gift bags. The card came to Phanty as such a shock that he would need to walk out and recover (aaaaaawww!!!)
Finally, it was time for the obligatory group photos and outfit shots in the garden, as well as some time to commune with other Lolitas and say our farewells! The day ended without a hitch, and with a bit of hope for another high tea next year at Boronia House :3
Thanks to all our guests and everyone who helped make this meet possible!
Milkyfawn for being our mentor, Kate for helping us organise and providing prizes, Alana Cming and Nabari for helping with the raffle and noticing our financial difficulties, Elyse for drawing the amazing card and Oanh for helping us with the prizes!
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| Us pictured immediately after the Tea looking haggard-but-happy with our hair messed-up and head accessories askew. :-p |
Photo credits: Alana Cming [2, 6, 23 - facebook], Kate Ruggeri [8, 27 - facebook], Gabriela Bate [28 - facebook], Alanah May [1,12 - facebook]
SPECIAL THANKS TO THESE PEOPLE FOR HELPING US MAKE THIS TEA AMAZING:
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