Afternoon Tea with Betty

A wonderful trip to the famous Betty’s Tea Room…

First of all, I must thank my wonderful cousin for these shots. We had the funniest time looking back through these photos on the camera and realising she had taken pictures of the hotel, with me as just a tiny blur in the lower right foreground, as she was taking a scenic photo as they used to be taken. Before it was all about posing, with the background being the blurred afterthought. Twenty tiny pictures of me in front of the huge hotel set us off giggling for a few minutes until I asked her to take some again, where I could actually be seen. And these are what we came out with, so I was extremely pleased with her new skills! Thanks Jess!

This was a wonderful weekend away to celebrate my Mum’s last few days of singledom, before the wedding the following week. We headed to Harrogate, near York, for a quaint and cute hen party, with a number of mums friends and our relatives. We had one night staying at the Old Swan Hotel, a beautiful country manor with an old-fashioned charm, that my Mum was really excited about staying in. So I made some plans and booked us all some rooms.

That evening we dolled ourselves up and popped some champagne in Mum’s room whilst we made toasts to the future and played hen party games. And I wore a few new pieces that I thought were rather pretty for the occasion. A black Motel Rocks playsuit, and I know I know, it really needed an iron, but what could I do?! For a little colour, I went with my Whistles Rivington Clutch in blue, gorgeous Dune Heels in a blush pink with a rose gold insert to the heel and some cool rounded gold framed sunnies from Etnia Barcelona

Playsuit / Heels / Clutch / Glasses

But the best part of the day was heading into Betty’s Tea Room in Harrogate for the most beautiful Afternoon Tea…

We were sat together on a beautifully laid white table, silverware, vintage crockery and champagne glasses all ready for our usage and the sweetest waitress catering to our every wish. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling whilst an elderly gentleman in a vibrant, colourful suit played the piano in the corner of the room. The atmosphere was relaxed yet busy and exciting and we popped a bottle of champagne to start the Lady Bettys Afternoon tea.

The hot chocolate was one of the tastiest treats I have ever drank. Seriously. For a non tea drinker, my favourite part of afternoon tea is having unlimited hot chocolates to accompany my cake. And this one was one to write home about.

For someone that doesn’t usually eat prawns too, this first course of prawn cocktail was so delicious, laid on a bed of avocado and lettuce with a beautiful Marie Rose sauce to cover. I could have eaten five.

The ornate cake stands were brought to the table, served between two and consisting of sandwiches, scones and cream with the delicate cakes pride of place on the top of the tiered stand. Everything looked too delicious and beautiful to eat, but of course we made our way through rather easily.

Off of the cake stand, we were also brought another plate of tiny food, with a small pork pie slice and salmon swirled with cream cheese. As soon as I had devoured those, it was on to the egg mayonnaise sandwiches, coronation chicken and a delicious ham slice.

Probably my favourite part of the nibbles was the plain and currant scones, with a jam and clotted cream to serve. They were warm from the oven and perfectly cooked. In fact everything we were served was beyond fantastic and by the time I had gotten to the top plate of cakes, I was blowing out air in the hopes it would create more space for cake. I managed to have a bite of each piece, I had to, and they really were superb. It always surprises me how full I get eating Afternoon Tea. The tiny food fools me every time, and because it’s all so delicious, I always end up eating the whole thing.

It was such a wonderful afternoon at Bettys! You really must visit if you live in or near to the Harrogate area, and for a reserved Hen party, this was a perfect way to spend the day. Thank you so much to Bettys for looking after us so wonderfully, Mum was over the moon, and a happy mum makes me a very, very happy daughter.