ALICE IN WONDERLAND AFTERNOON TEA AT THE SANDERSON

Continuing on with the birthday celebrations and agreeing that it would be a shame to break my annual birthday afternoon tea streak, I decided to try Sanderson Hotel's Mad Hatters Tea Party (this was almost last year's choice but in the end we went with Number Sixteen Hotel's outdoor setting as it was a sunny day). Joined by my close friends who weren't able to make it on the previous train extravagance, we were led into a semi-outdoor courtyard surrounding a fountain feature with flamingos in the centre. The setting was definitely dreamy right off the bat, with pink plush seats, marble tables, and a rose covered swing chair that has become rather infamous on the gram.

Once we had taken our seats, we were given a tea selection for each of our pots, every infusion tailored with a matching Alice In Wonderland character name (I chose Alice because I could never resist a black vanilla tea to go with cakes and scones). I loved the designs of the teapots and china, which I examined before our food arrived, along with the box of sugar cubes (I totally forgot to photograph but there's a video on my birthday instagram story highlights) which opens up like a music box with a tune and a rotating ballerina inside, super adorable.

As with most high teas, you get a tier to share between two people, with savouries placed at the very bottom, and sweets on top. A separate plate of scones were also included, with jam and clotted cream of course.  The finger sandwiches were delicious but mostly with different cheese fillings and to be honest I would still prefer ones that I've tried elsewhere (Sketch for example). Moving on to the second tier, I was quite amused to find some lemon cakes (Sansa would be proud) which I thoroughly enjoyed and some of the best macarons I've ever tasted (Laduree who?) You may or may not know, I'm not a big fan of chocolate flavoured things ie cake, icecream, hot chocolate (but I absolutely love actual chocolate blocks, weird huh), so those were left to be tasted by my friends, who all gave them a big thumbs up. Last but not least, an orange meringue hiding in the grass at the top and a tiny bottle of potion/juice were great palate cleansers at the end.

As far as afternoon tea experiences go, I thought this was lovely and laidback, the servers were friendly and informative and it was just a relaxing atmosphere with the chatter of fellow diners mixing with the sounds of running water. The food selection honestly wasn't my absolute favourite but I still managed to devour quite a lot, and it's definitely a must try if you're an Alice In Wonderland enthusiast!

Wearing: Hiraeth cardigan / Topshop skirt / ASOS shoes