#LDNBloggersTea at the Conrad London St. James

About a year ago, I decided to plan an afternoon tea for bloggers and hatched the #LDNBloggersTea.

We’ve now enjoyed four quarterly teas at some of London’s nicest hotels and interest in the event continues to grow.

Each time there are familiar faces as well as new faces, but we all have the connection

of putting a piece of ourselves on the internet.

It’s a fabulous group of bloggers from all over the world blogging about a variety of topics.

Our most recent #LDNBloggersTea was at the Conrad London St. James 

(previously the Intercontinental Westminster). It’s a gorgeous, lush hotel

located in the heart of London. We were lucky enough to get a preview of their

upcoming holiday tea, the Christmas Snow Scene.

Somehow they’ve managed to take a traditional Christmas dinner and put it onto a tea stand.

They really outdid themselves on the savoury course.

Here’s the menu (but you have to imagine Christmas melodies from a harp playing

in the background and a glass of champagne in your hand).

Brussel sprout salad
(everyone raved about this brussel spout & goats cheese mousse)

Turkey ballotine

Venison bite

Smoke salmon & lemon crème fraiche

Cured gammon & mustard

Beetroot & spinach
Cranberry sauce

Freshly Baked Orange & Cranberry Christmas Spice Scones

Served with Devonshire clotted cream, home-made strawberry jam and blackberry curd

(very generous with the cream!)

We each had our own selection of tea served in a large silver pot to get us through the afternoon.

Then came the pièce de résistance, the magical snow scene served under a pane of frosted glass.

 

Winter berry Christmas Tree

Chocolate Orange Battenberg Present

Snowflake Macaroon

White Forest Yule Log

Christmas Postcard marshmallows

Mini Meringue Snowmen

Edible Snow

Pastry Chef Zoe came around to explain each of the sweet creations.

It’s obvious they really put their hearts into this menu.

 

It was a delight and we were reluctant to mess it up, but quickly overcame that reluctance

 as we tasted treat after treat. My favorite was the Yule Log, soft and sweet.

The Winter Berry Christmas Tree was a real surprise, a tangy berry mouse

with a sweet chocolate brownie.

 
It was absolutely magical.  Between the creative and tasty menu, the attentive and friendly service, the beautiful setting of Emmaline’s and the interesting and exciting company it was the perfect afternoon. If you want to treat someone to a very special tea experience in London this holiday season, this is the perfect choice. 

The Christmas Snow Scene runs from November 24^th to Christmas Eve and is £37 or £45 if you’d like to add free-flowing Laurent-Perrier champagne. Yes, please.

If you are interested in attending a future #LDNBloggersTea, don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’ve passed the torch to Melanie from Sunny in London who will be planning future events. But, you will definitely see me there. I can’t wait for the next one!

Have you ever experienced a afternoon tea in London?

 

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  We were offered a discounted rate of £30 per person for our tea.

#LDNBloggersTea at the Milestone Hotel

May 17th was our third quarterly London Blogger's Tea!

I love that the most amazing bloggers are joining the fun and making connections.

This time it was at the 5-Star Milestone Hotel.

If you read this post about my first experience at the Milestone 

you will know why I selected this beautiful hotel.

There were 23 bloggers in attendance from a wide variety of backgrounds.

We all gathered in a wood-paneled private room and started our tea with some bubbly.

I know it can be nerve-wracking walking into a room of strangers.

But, I'm always amazed at how quickly it just turns into a room of friends.

We share a common interest and read each others blogs.

It's the perfect set up for making connections.

I stood outside the room quietly at one point and listened to all of the chatter and laughter.

I'm certainly no event planner and this is out of my comfort zone.

But the connections that I see being made are so worth the effort.
Here are the lovely bloggers that were in attendance.
You definitely want to check out their blogs.

Sunny in London

Girl Meets Globe

Kiwi Footprints

Passport and Toothbrush

Chicadeedee

Earth to Jade

Ladies What…

The Experience Collection Project

Around the World in 80 Pairs of Shoes

The Secret Life of an Unknown Housewife

Two Feet, One World

Adventures of a London Kiwi

It's All Bee

More Than Just a Cupcake Lover

{Erin Out and About}

My Little Tale

Little Travel Bee

Random Acts of Drama

London Unattached

25 Before I'm 25

Quentessentially Me

Mayfair Office Girl

 

The company was fabulous.  The tea was nice.

After our last event, I think we are all completely spoiled

and this tea didn't quite get the rave reviews that the Royal Horseguards did.

The sandwiches were good and plentiful with traditional fillings

although I think they might have been sitting out a bit longer than they should
as the bread was a bit dry.

The scones were good and our request for "more cream" was quickly answered.

Our tea selection was limited to just English Breakfast and Earl Grey.

My first experience at the Milestone, I was able to select my tea and had my own pot.

We were just limited because of the size of our group, I would imagine,
but it's always nice to have more of a choice.

I was so full from the sandwiches and the scone that I couldn't fit more than one sweet treat.

But that red velvet cupcake was divine.

 Admittedly, there were a few problems with the special dietary requests and service.

I think most of us agree that it didn't deserve a perfect score.
Many of the bloggers have already posted their reviews with similar comments.

Personally, I will continue to recommend the Milestone

for afternoon tea because of my first experience.

I know what they normally provide to their customers and it's pretty special.

If you are interested in getting information about our next quartely #LDNBloggersTea
which will be in August at an as-yet-unnamed location,
please drop me an email at selena_jones@me.com.
We would love to have you!

Have you ever had tea at the Milestone Hotel?
What did you think?

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 The regular price for Afternoon Tea with Champagne atThe Milestone Hotel is £46.
We were offered a discounted rate of £30 per person for our tea.

#LDNBloggersTea at The Royal Horseguards

To use an expression that is all too quickly on the tip of this Southern girl's tongue,

I'm just tickled to death at how the second #LDNBloggersTea turned out!

When I first moved to London during those really rough, transitional months,

I attended a tea planned by Laura at Happy Homemaker UK.

It was a turning point for me.  It showed me that I would make new friends.

It also showed me that bloggers are pretty awesome

and when you get a group of them together, laughter is shared

and connections are made.  We just can't help ourselves.

This is why I've started planning these quarterly teas,

for purely selfish reasons.  I get to have a lovely afternoon tea

AND I get to meet some special people.

Here are the ingredients for the perfect #LDNBloggersTea.

A personalized menu listing the wonderful treats that were in store for us.

An attentive staff that quickly took care of every need with a smile.

Terrace views of an amazing, sunny day along the Thames.

Delicate, pink china that made us all feel like royalty.

The elegant Royal Horseguards Guoman Hotel.
 A private room with tables lovingly set for twenty.

Red roses and hand-tied pink ribbons.

A complimentary glass of bubbly.

 And, finally, two words,

 Chef Ben.

Chef Ben was as excited as we were about this event.

He was all over twitter and so was Louise, their pastry chef.
He greeted many of us personally and proudly talked about the exceptional tea they 
offer at the hotel.   The welcome that we received from this venue was over and above.

And the food!  Oh, the food.
They were easily able to accommodate Gluten-Free, Vegetarian and Dairy Free options for  several of us.
Of course, all of it was accompanied by the most amazing tea.
I think I had about four cups of the pomegranate infused special blend.

The sandwich selection included Coronation Chicken, Cream Cheese & Smoked Salmon,

Hummus & Cucumber and Roast Beef and Horseradish.

Next came freshly cooked scones with clotted cream and jam.

There is still a debate raging on twitter as to whether it's cream first or jam first.

The sweets included Lemon Meringue Cupcakes, Mango Curd Tarts, Meringue Lollipops,

Pink Peppercorn & Strawberry Genache Stripy Macaroons.

The "After Eight" Shot glasses were a big hit.

And my absolute favorite was the Banana Roulade.

I might have wandered over to some of the other tables to see if there were any left.

The the true stars of the show tea were the twenty ladies sitting at these princess, pink tables.

You should stop what are doing right now and visit these nineteen blogs.

Runaway Kiwi
Sunny in London
Meg-Made
Wife School
Two Feet, One World
Passport and Toothbrush
Urban Pixxels
Sweet Serenity
Little Big Bell
{Erin Out and About}
Adventures of a London Kiwi
The Afternoon Blog
More Than Just a Cupcake Lover
Jess-on-Thames
Office Breaks
Happy Ever After Bride
Eat, See, Do
Love and London
Kiwi Footprints

I went home beaming with happiness.

I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with each of you, but I now consider you friends.

I look forward to seeing you all again and getting to know you better.

I hope you each had a fantastic time and made some wonderful connections.

I don't know about you, but I've already finished off the decadent truffles they sent home with each of us.

Sweet treats, sweet smiles and sweet new friends.

All ingredients for the perfect #LDNBloggersTea.


If you are looking for the best London Afternoon Tea,
look no further than The Royal Horseguards Award Winning Afternoon Tea.

Don't just take my word for it.
Check out all of the other posts about the Tea that are linked up below.

With a room full of bloggers you can only imagine the amount of photos that were clicked!

The next #LDNBloggersTea will be Saturday, May 17th.  Be sure to mark your calendars.

Just send me an email at selena_jones@me.com to get on the mailing list

for all of the details.


Would you like to join us for #LDNBloggersTea?

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