A lovely High Tea experience awaits every month at the Grand Holland Estate in Simpsonville, SC and we are thrilled to be able to share the details with you. Thank you especially to the Grand Holland for inviting us to try it out.
While the beautiful tea room at the Grand Holland Estate in Simpsonville, SC isn’t a secret garden, it certainly feels like a hidden oasis. And they have High Tea! We’ve been awaiting a place that has regularly scheduled High Tea and were thrilled to find Grand Holland.
We experienced their High Tea, which happens every month, and it was a lovely and peaceful afternoon, one that we really cannot recommend highly enough to our readers.
Watch! Our High Tea at Grand Holland Estate
About the Grand Holland Estate
If you’ve heard of the Grand Holland Estate, it’s likely because you have been to a wedding there or know that it’s primarily a wedding venue. And a gorgeous one it is. There is a stunning grand staircase, a beautiful main room with chandeliers, and outdoor gardens perfect for that fairytale wedding.
They also host bridal parties before weddings there. They have several rooms set up as bed & breakfast overnight rooms that literally look like they belong in a castle. I’d stay here in a heartbeat but I don’t have any friends getting married.
The Estate opened in 2000 and is set on six acres. The house itself is more than 10,000 square feet. They have hosted thousands of weddings and private events in the last 24 years and have helped many people to walk away with lovely memories together.
While the venue is primarily for weddings, they have options to rent the space for corporate parties, groups for High Tea, events, or any number of other occasions where such a beautiful venue would fit.
High Tea at the Grand Holland
I had never been to a High Tea before and was thrilled to have the opportunity to attend one. I thought I needed one of those fancy hats that you see in movies where the characters have High Tea or Afternoon Tea, which I do not possess. Thankfully, I didn’t need one of those and was still able to enjoy a lovely afternoon with my daughters here.
Walking into the Grand Holland Estate is like strolling into a hidden oasis, complete with large oaks that thankfully still stand after the hurricane to line the parking area. The estate itself has elegant white columns, a balcony with black iron rails, and doors with lions on their handles.
There are tables set up in the tea room, which gives you a view of the grand staircase and sparkling chandelier. Megan Wilburn, one of the owners, greets you and escorts you to your table. She is so welcoming and is such an excellent hostess. You will have place settings with a menu of what is offered – think grape salad, finger sandwiches, cookies, and scones – and a tea etiquette quiz, which thankfully no one tested us on because my daughters and I hardly got any answers right (but we did learn a lot!).
Besides bagged tea at the table, you are welcome to enjoy their loose-leaf tea options, which I absolutely loved. A couple years ago I started to get into loose-leaf tea and just fell in love with so many different varieties so I was thrilled to see what they had. My two daughters, ages 10 and 13, are definitely not tea drinkers but to my surprise, found teas they really enjoyed in the loose-leaf tea room and had two cups at our table. But if you’re not a hot tea drinker or have kids who aren’t, the Grand Holland also has iced tea and water if you like.
The food was really good and different from what we usually eat. I can’t say that I often make cucumber and dill finger sandwiches for my kids or that vegetable flatbread with teeny pieces of veggies over cheese is on our menu at home. But maybe they should be. We immensely enjoyed everything set before us. Even though High Tea is not a lunch, there was plenty of food and we felt full, but not like the kind of rolling-out-the-door-I’m-so-full kind of feeling. It was perfect.
Honest Mom Review
I went to High Tea at the Grand Holland Estate on a day when my stress level was high. I had a lot of work to do and deadlines to meet. My daughters had schoolwork they needed to get done. Other things were weighing heavily on my mind. But as soon as we walked in and sat down, I felt it easy to let a lot of that go and just focus on the present for the time we were there. This is normally an impossible task for me. High stress is normal and letting things go isn’t my personality but there was something really special about this environment that made it happen. The atmosphere was something out of a storybook, one that values tranquility and peace.
I enjoyed the tea, the food, the music, and the time with my daughters. Everything else could wait for an hour. Where can you go and feel like that? Megan does a wonderful job with the entire experience and if you’re looking for something special and unique to do with your children or girlfriends or family, this is it.
Booking Your Own High Tea
High Tea at Grand Holland Estate happens once a month and you can book your spot online on their website. Tickets are $35/person and include everything mentioned in this story. High Tea is from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm but you don’t need to get there right when it starts. We showed up about 12:30 pm and left around 1:30 pm. Nothing was rushed and we were able to look around the house and see all the beautiful rooms and the bridal suite. It was wonderful.
You can also book a High Tea experience at the Estate as a private group, which I think would be pretty amazing. Just contact Megan and she will help you arrange everything.
The Grand Holland Estate815 Holland Road, Simpsonville, SC864.286.6000The Grand Holland Website | The Grand Holland Facebook | The Grand Holland Instagram
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