Tea parties at conventions

I'd be interested in this too. The idea terrifies me since surely convention + lolita = sweaty weebs showing up in their totemo kawaii cat ears and shiny maid outfits.

>>9620180
The successful ones ban attendance for anyone not wearing Lolita and cosplays are specifically mentioned as not acceptable in a lot of event descriptions. Also the tea parties usually have ticket sales for a very limited quantity before the day of the convention so that no sweaty weeb who walks by and gets their interest piqued can waltz in and be annoying.

>>9620212
>The successful ones ban attendance for anyone not wearing Lolita
Sad to say but there's no hope we could ever have a con tea party here with a rule like that, even though it's 100% reasonable and I wouldn't have one without it. Con scene here is full of people who get buttblasted if you call their hell bunny rockabilly dress and unbrushed wig "not Lolita". I guess it's probably for the best.

>>9620221
Uhh every con tea party I've attended has this rule, and if it doesn't, I assume it will be a flop.
Personally I'm over it, I've been to so many tea parties at this point and it's always the same ass-kissing and circle-jerking with not much else to do.

>>9620221
That's why you keep it limited and also don't advertise heavily, the people who should be there will find their way there. If someone gets buttblasted, just make sure your rules are written in a way where it's clear you/the event staff get discretion of what's acceptable and what's not.

>>9620452
ok I'm not the only one who feels this way about con tea parties.
Unless there's a fashion oriented guest or something it's boring as hell compared to the fun at the actual convention.

>>9620465
I'm still pissed the one year I didn't go to a smaller local hometown con, they somehow got BtSSB to run their tea party.

>>9620177
I would never go to one, wouldn't want to pay entrance to a con I don't care about just to attend a tea-party

>>9620478
I'm assuming most people that go are interested in the con beyond the tea party, it's just a little extra icing on top.

>>9620480
Plus some cons have Lolita related panels or events like swaps.

>>9620221
Every con scene has those people that get butt blasted. For example, a con I sometimes attend put an announcement for the tea party ticket sales on their main FB page this year and had to deal with explaining to weebs crying about how unfair the rules are. At the end of the day I'm sure there were still angry weebs, but the organizers stood firm. I bet they won't make as public of an announcement next year and ask the lolitas to spread the news on their own comms. A lot of these tea parties are really small. Even brand hosted ones stay in the double digits most of the time, but this can be better for organizing food, drinks, and events like Raffles.

>>9620221
Same. Fortunately our local con limits the number of attendees and doesn't really advertise much like the other anons said, so it's mostly only real lolitas who show up. Still, though, we sometimes get weebs in cat ears with crappy pettis shoved under shortened bathrobes (I'm sorry, "wa-loli") and trying to enforce the dress code to keep them out is a losing battle. So we just grit our teeth and bear the squealing because it's better than having them throw a tantrum on FB about how lolitas are all elitist bullies for a week straight.
We've never had a brand quest, though. Honestly if we had a brand guest I think it would be worth it to keep these types out regardless of their reaction.

>>9620558
>Honestly if we had a brand guest I think it would be worth it to keep these types out regardless of their reaction.

The way I've seen some cons do it is make a rule/strong request that attendees wear at least one item from the brand, and that gets rid of the really embarrassing ones.

I dunno, maybe I'm just more social than your typical con weeb, but I honestly think that all you really need is a nice venue for socializing and some snacks. Depending on food, I'd easily throw down 10-25 for a tea party that has snacks, a dress code, one or two games, and an hour or so to just chill. The games would be just general ice breakers to get people talking, then once people have warmed up, you can leave them to chat with new friends or whatever

>>9620993
This thread is specifically about Lolita tea parties at cons, so it's more about the clothes and getting good pictures and meeting up with other Lolitas rather than the event itself.

Keep in mind that most locations don't allow outside catering. It was $25/person for hard scones, cut fruit, and tea bags at a Hilton

>>9620993
This makes sense for a local community. I'm of the assumption that convention-based tea parties are a bit more open to non-comm lolitas like lonelitas or out of towners and such.

Also, I've consistently seen posts from people either getting started or getting back in where it's clear that communities have generally reached a point where newbies aren't integrated so easily anymore. Everyone's been friends for years now and don't necessarily want to get to know new people, or they don't have things in common due to being in different stages of life, etc. Wondering if convention tea parties are a potential solution to that sort of thing as well.

>>9621008
If outside food isn't allowed, then as the coordinator I'd focus on decoration, theme and activities.

Lolita is about surrounding yourself with an aesteadic; if an event location was decorated to be "pretty" and maybe have a photagrapher there with a digital camera and a pile of cheap thumbdrives (so everyone gets their photos before the end), people could start to see the cost off-set of the ticket price. If there was a raffle with good prizes (not expensive, but "good" in terms of how they fit in with Lolita; like a gift certificate for one pot of tea at a local tea shop) and maybe one or two short talks by the MC (maybe after introductions, list off some recent Lolita releases as suggested ice breakers to start a conversation at your table).

>>9621621
>aesteadic
That's the cutest misspelling I've ever seen

sage for unrelated