Staff Writer
Donning a pink fairy dress, butterfly-inspired wings and a flower crown, 4-year-old Morganne Craig is sipping tea and enjoying mini sandwiches with 10 other fairy friends at her very own enchanted tea party. While most children opt for a Chuck-E-Cheese trip or Disney-themed birthday celebration, these little girls are being transported into a magical fairy world complete with face painting, scavenger hunts and other games, Maypole dancing and fairy crafting.
Long Beach resident Elena Hassan, or Fairy Lulu when she’s in character, has been enchanting little girls with her fairytale tea parties for close to eight years. She initially started off creating wings and headbands to be sold in local boutiques, and now her small venture has blossomed into a full-fledged party-planning business that specializes in fairytale themes and even traditional garden parties.
Morganne’s birthday is in a backyard setting that has been artfully decorated with hand-painted garden mushrooms, antique-inspired décor, pastel props and whimsical signs that read “Please Don’t Step on the Fairies.” Another hostess, Fairy Sunshine, is assisting for the day’s events and reads fairytale books to the girls who now seem to resemble proper little ladies as they sip tea from real, vintage teacups. Later in the day, the girls create fairy dolls and decorate wooden birdhouses to be disguised as fairy houses using items such as fairy dust, glitter twigs and wishing stones found throughout the garden during the scavenger hunt.
Although fairy tea parties like Morganne’s are popular choices, Hassan offers several other themed options and can often customize her services to cater to a client’s idea or suggestion. Previous parties she’s hosted include: Alice in Wonderland; Rapunzel; woodland gnomes, a theme ideal for a party with boys; knights and dragons; mermaids and princesses. She has also catered at corporate events and has hosted adult tea parties for groups such as the Ladies Who Lunch and the Red Hat Society.
Hassan and her team of 12 fairies have traveled all over Southern California and can average anywhere between four to seven events every weekend. Over the summer, she opens her services during the week when kids are on vacation. She prides herself in hiring hostess fairies that are experienced with children and who may have also worked in the theater.
Christina Tran, better known as Fairy Sunshine, discovered the job through Craigslist and was hired in August. With aspirations of running her own daycare one day, the job allows her to interact with children, and she describes the experience as actually fun.
Hassan hopes to one day open up a teahouse where people can come in and do their events. In addition to offering the mobile parties, the teahouse would give people the option of stopping by to enjoy regular tea during the week. She offers loose leaf tea in different varieties as part of the gourmet menu for her adult tea parties and sticks to kid-friendly options such juices, peanut butter and jelly and turkey or ham sandwiches for her children’s events.
Much time and dedication goes into planning and setting up several parties throughout the year, however Hassan shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Just seeing the look on children’s faces when they show up and put on their costumes is what she describes as the most rewarding aspect of her job.
The picturesque moment of Morganne and her friends running around the back yard with their brightly colored fairy wings resembles a scene straight out of a fairytale book, which is exactly what she accomplishes with her enchanted parties.
More Information
enchantedfairyteaparties.com
