The 13th Mum’s Mail High Tea ‘Queen of the Desert’ in association with The Sunflower Fund was held on Friday 7 September at Durban’s Greyville Convention Centre.
The Queen of the Desert theme had a fun ‘Arabian Nights/Moroccan’ vibe, and the 600 guests, all women, turned out in their magnificently themed outfits to support a great cause – The Sunflower Fund.
The purpose of this annual event is to raise funds and awareness for The Sunflower Fund. This enables The Fund to give hope of life to patients diagnosed with life-threatening blood disorders who are in need of a blood stem cell transplant.
This year The 13th Mum’s Mail High Tea raised an amazing R260 000 for this great cause!
On arrival, guests were treated to a glass of champagne sponsored by KWV and a free Pop Up Coffee cappuccino. They were able to shop up a storm at the wide range of pop-up shops, in the indoor ‘souk’ selling everything from shoes and jewellery to homeware, décor and clothes.
There was also a special tea bar sponsored by Ciro and a pamper station for the ladies by iNsingizi Game Lodge & Spa, where they could relax with a foot and hand massage. The ladies could also have their photo taken at the ‘selfie box’ by Capitec.
The 13th Mum’s Mail High Tea show was opened with a stunning performance by the belly dancers of The Maya Company before guests enjoyed a sumptuous feast, brought to them by Eat Greek Caterers, which also included a delicious slice of Chateau Gateaux’s newly launched Key Lime Pie.
All the while, the ladies were kept entertained by MC Keri Miller of East Coast Radio, comedians Jem Atkins and Neil Green from On Fire Comedy and the Survivors Dance Crew. The main speaker was Anneme Coetzee, a mentor and life coach, who gave an inspirational talk about empowering women to live their best life.
Guests spent generously on the raffle tickets and surprise envelopes, for which the event has become well known – all these proceeds went to The Sunflower Fund. There were four large raffle packages valued at more than R54 000 up for grabs and prizes for the top three Best Dressed guests, Best Dressed Table of 10 and the Pregnant Fairy prize.
There was also a Super Raffle this year, with 23 prizes valued between R1500 and R14768, including 2 diamond rings sponsored by NWJ Chatsworth. Guests also enjoyed a fun auction, where they could bid on four auction packages valued between R9000 and R19000 per package.
Every guest went home with an amazing goodie bag packed with treats and a booklet full of vouchers from generous sponsors.
A big thank you to headline sponsors Baby City, Capitec, La Lucia Mall and PWM Advisors.
Huge thanks also go to B.O.N Natural Oils, iNsingizi Game Lodge and Spa, Chateau Gateaux, Ciro, KWV, Pop Up Coffee, Greyville Convention Centre, Makulu Event Producers, Black Coffee Design, Plan Ahead Events & Décor, Cheers Hiring and Events, Nan West Photography, Karen Monk Klijnstra, Jen’s Hair Couture, Kryolan KZN and Fabric & Bridal.
“A huge thank you to all the sponsors and guests for making The 13th Mum’s Mail High Tea such a success” Victoria – Editor Mum’s Mail.
You can view the Queen of the Desert social pics by Terry Haywood here.
You can view the Queen of the Desert event pics by Nan West Photography here.
For more information on The Sunflower Fund or how to become a stem cell donor, please visit www.sunflowerfund.org.za or call toll free 0800 12 10 82.