How does a Tea Party become the social event of the season? Is a "Tea Party" code word for something else? Is it a real thing? How does one person create this huge air of mystery around this event?
My lovely friend and sorority sister, Mely Wu, is holding her own tea party across the pond. To those here in the States, most of us have been utterly confused by all of her posts and updates about her attendees and giveaways at her tea party. Most of Mely's answers have been pretty vague about her upcoming event, I'm here to lay it all out.
Basics of this story
Mely Wu attends Tufts University and she is currently abroad for her entire junior year studying at Pembroke College, Oxford in England. She is a fun-loving, bubbly woman hailing from Massachusetts.
Timeline:
Earlier this month, she launched her own page on Facebook called Mely's Tea Party. Her event is to be held on Friday, February 12th before the Oxford Union Ball.
Also in early February, Mely deleted her personal Facebook account and completely started a new one.
She began posting on her social media pages including her Instagram and Facebook with #melysteaparty. She updates her pages every few hours with new information about sent invitations, confirmed guests, and trailers for her tea party.
Mely personally invited David Hasselhoff with a wooden post card, who looked really confused and quickly said, "Can we talk about this tomorrow" (which he never did btw). Taylor Swift got a video invite (inspired by Mely's idea that Oxford would be the perfect place for Tay Swift to film her 'Wonderland' music video), but our fellow sorority sister Liz, who was thinking of flying to Oxford for the party, won a trip to the Grammys and informed Mely that both she and Taylor will be busy at the Grammys that weekend (talk about hitting two birds with one stone!). A few royals might also attend Mely's Tea Party, but many guests are unconfirmed.
Mely's friends in the States wonder what is happening across the pond.
What is Mely's Tea Party?
If you're a bit confused, don't worry so was I at this point.
According to Mely's Tea Party's Facebook page, five of Mely's friends are traveling from afar to attend the Oxford Union Ball. Mely wants to make sure they feel welcomed when they visit her. Her Tea Party initially started as a pre-drinks event to the Ball. However, since there will be flowing champagne and cocktails at the Ball, she decided to transform her event into a Tea Party (or a teagame of sorts - all credit goes to Megan MacCallum for that clever pun).
Moreover Mely says, "An event is only as big as you make it, and I wanted to make it big for them."
Why is she really having a Tea Party?
I'll admit even after reading Mely's explanation for her Tea Party I was still a tad confused. The sudden bursts of posts all made it seem like the Tea Party was a secret that only a select few were in on and the rest of us were left trying to solve this mystery. After talking with her, I'm starting to piece together a better idea as to why Mely is having a tea party.
After Mely's 21st birthday, she started to feel disconnected. On the outside everything seemed perfect. On the inside it was a different story. She couldn't handle it. To attempt to get back on track she deleted her Facebook and her Snapchat - two pieces of social media that used to be her life. Still her disconnect was something greater than what deleting a few apps could do.
It's difficult for me writing, even now, to explain how Mely was feeling at this time because they are her own emotions; I don't want to miscommunicate how she felt. Instead I'll use an analogy Mely shared with me. Mely described that she went through a lot of similar things that Cara Delevingne mentioned in her interview at the Women in the World Summit, just in lighter versions. Everything Cara talked about Mely said she's experienced in a small dose, even the physical manifestations of anxiety and stress.
A Celebration for All
While Mely's Tea Party is to celebrate her friends' arrival, it really is to celebrate her arrival in her new mindset. Her mindset to focus on making herself happy.
It might seem crazy to some that Mely is inviting strangers she's just met and making her event a marketing phenomenon in the Tufts bubble. Mely doesn't care. Her new philosophy is to care about what her closest friends and family think and absolutely zero otherwise.
So far all of those closest to her have supported her above and beyond what she could have imagined. Guests from all over are confirming their attendance. Even local companies generously offered to sponsor Mely's Tea Party.
The buzz around her event and her invitations are making people all around the world happy. More importantly she is making herself happy. Her bio for her newly created Facebook profile even says, "I want to make people smile :)" In her own creative way, she is doing just that.
Never Judge a Book By It's Cover
As an outsider it might be easier to judge Mely and her Tea Party rather than taking a look at what her Tea Party really means - how meaningful it is to her and to those lucky enough to know her and be invited to her Tea Party.
"From the outside looking in, you can never understand it. From the inside looking out, you can never explain it."
Sometimes to get out of a rut or change your perspective on things, you might get a new hairstyle or buy some new clothes or pick up a new hobby...or in Mely's case you might throw a tea party.
Now the only question I still have about Mely's Tea Party...have you been invited?
