What is the meaning of the name? How did it all start? Where did the idea come from? What's the story?
Hello, I'm Sarah, the owner of Lily & Sparrow Vintage Tea Party and if you're interested- I would love to share with you the story of how Lily & Sparrow began!
The dream was born when I had a year out from University, studying French. I spent the year living in Paris and traveling around our beautiful continent of Europe. During this time, I fell in love with café culture. It wasn't long before I found myself daydreaming about what my own café would be like and imagining all the creative ways in which I might be able to bring people together. Week in, week out, I visited different cafés, bars and eateries and would be snapping away on my camera, scribbling down notes and doodling ideas!
As time went on, the dream grew bigger and I became more and more excited for creating my own community hub like café. I came back to England to finish my degree and then went on another backpacking adventure where I discovered some wonderful cafés in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. My favourite elements to them were the creative use of space, excellent quality of coffee and the potential for community spirit.
Since returning home from that trip in February 2010, I have been on the lookout for more of these sorts of places wherever I go. The name 'Lily & Sparrow' was decided (inspired by a biblical story of how God looks after his creation) and I developed my own café business plan as I undertook business training and learned as much as I could as well as gaining café management work experience. I then started collecting vintage china to use as a distinctive touch in my café.
The main hindrance for opening Lily & Sparrow café was the need for finance to start up! In April 2011, I entered the Barclays Take One Small Step competition to try and win some money which would have enabled me to set up and open the doors. I didn't get through to the final but you can watch the video I made for it here which outlines the vision of the café...
The dream was born when I had a year out from University, studying French. I spent the year living in Paris and traveling around our beautiful continent of Europe. During this time, I fell in love with café culture. It wasn't long before I found myself daydreaming about what my own café would be like and imagining all the creative ways in which I might be able to bring people together. Week in, week out, I visited different cafés, bars and eateries and would be snapping away on my camera, scribbling down notes and doodling ideas!
As time went on, the dream grew bigger and I became more and more excited for creating my own community hub like café. I came back to England to finish my degree and then went on another backpacking adventure where I discovered some wonderful cafés in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. My favourite elements to them were the creative use of space, excellent quality of coffee and the potential for community spirit.
Since returning home from that trip in February 2010, I have been on the lookout for more of these sorts of places wherever I go. The name 'Lily & Sparrow' was decided (inspired by a biblical story of how God looks after his creation) and I developed my own café business plan as I undertook business training and learned as much as I could as well as gaining café management work experience. I then started collecting vintage china to use as a distinctive touch in my café.
The main hindrance for opening Lily & Sparrow café was the need for finance to start up! In April 2011, I entered the Barclays Take One Small Step competition to try and win some money which would have enabled me to set up and open the doors. I didn't get through to the final but you can watch the video I made for it here which outlines the vision of the café...
One day I realised that all the stunning vintage china I had been collecting over time, was missing the opportunity to be enjoyed to it's fullest potential while it waited for the day the café would open. So I decided that it would be a good idea start Lily & Sparrow Vintage Tea Party as a way of raising the funds I needed and also so people like you can enjoy it! I collected more vintage items out of my admiration for old things and for adding finishing touches to the vintage tea parties and special occasions.
In January 2013 I moved to from Nottinghamshire to the South with my husband where I started a new job as Manager of The Barns Café in Abingdon (Oxfordshire). Now I get to live out my community café dream! So hiring out china for vintage tea parties has become just for fun.
If you are interested in hiring out the beautiful Lily & Sparrow vintage wares for a vintage style occasion of your own, I'd love to hear from you!
Thanks for reading.
Sarah xx
