Questions

Once Upon A Tea Party is the first award winning Storybook Character entertainment company in the Hudson Valley, along with countless hours of charity and voulenteer work. Once Upon A Tea Party offers the highest quality standard and reliability. The Princess Manor incorporates the awarding Winning entertainment into many party package plus we do everything for you from set up to clean up and everything in-between. The details of our characer entertainment will be trickled over into our party venue, every detail will be carefully intergrated and planned out. All you have to do is show up with your camera ready! ...and yes, this too, we can even add a photographer as an add-on, if you would like.

The Princess Manor is available for your private party bookings and or Spa, Private Experiences, Tea Dates and Salon services are offered on Saturdays and Sundays. If you are looking for during the week party, please speak to one of our party advisors, we will do our very best to accomodate your request.

Absolutely! Typically, we are open Tuesday- Friday by phone and Saturday and Sunday is reserved for parties and special events. However, appointments can be made if we can fit you in. We strongly recommend emailing to double check our hours. You are more than welcome to set up an appointment to come see our party place at your convenience. Please email to set up an appointment.

We do NOT provide catering. However, we do provide all party decor, set up, entertainment and equipment needed by our performers for their performances & party activities. Delicious cupcakes are included in almost all packages as well as Pizza. We can indeed, refer you to a great caterer, as well as a great baker that does custom design birthday cakes! You're more than welcome to bring in any outside food, however, a $20 service charge will be applied to parties serving food other than the birthday treat (cake, cookies, cupcakes, donuts, etc.included in the packages)

The Princess Manor parties are highly sought after by young royals between the ages of 3 and 10. We make every effort to cater to all age groups. However, we have observed that Spa parties can be challenging for children who are 2 years old, as they may not be able to sit through the entire service or show interest in any of the activities. In such cases, we suggest reaching out to our Royal Party Advisors who can provide expert guidance on selecting the most suitable package and activities for your celebration.

All of our parties packages require you to bring nothig more than an excited Birthday child, a big box/bag to take home all the gifts and don't forget your camera! *Please Note: Food and Cupcakes are for the children only. If you would like to add-on for the parents, you are welcome to,on your own, or use our wonderful vendors.

Please be advised that in order to secure a reservation for your party on our calendar, we kindly request a non-refundable retainer ranging from $100 to $250. This retainer is necessary as it guarantees the availability of your chosen Character Performer (if included in the package or added onto a package), as well as the specific Party Date & Time for your private event. Please note that we are unable to reserve or hold dates without a retainer. For your convenience, we accept Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Discover as payment methods for the retainer. However, please be aware that we do not accept Checks or cash for deposits. For any other services we offer, a non-refundable deposit ranging from $5 to $90 is required, as all appointments are scheduled by appointment only.

The Princess Manor holds your date and time once you have made your deposit. That means we can not book any other parties during your scheduled time. If you need to cancel we must receive a 10 day notice, and the party will be rescheduled due to an emergency. Rescheduling is allowed 1 time within a 2 month period of original party date, depending on availability. Your deposit is however, non refundable. Parties cancelled within 48hrs of scheduled party will endure a $40 cancellation fee and any additional fees for food already ordered that maybe included such as cupcakes, customized candies, chocolate pops, fondant toppers, etc.

Once Upon A Tea Party, the characters are all professional entertainers who go through a detailed screening & training process. Each guest will be greeted by a Fairy Godmother-in-training who will assist with the entire royal celebration & or other Services. The Storybook character will make a grand entrance to surprise the birthday child, meet & greet with the child & their guests, and then begin the activities in the party package you purchased in the order of activities that have been explained in the initial phone consult. Please allow the performer to do their normal routine without attempting to change things. We are professionals and this will guarantee your party to be a success. All of our packages are made with you in mind. Our all-inclusive packages include room decor, tables & chairs, linens, paper goods, favors, hostesses, pizza, cupcakes, and entertainment. We always bring out the Cupcakes not long before your performer exits the party so that they may lead the Happy Birthday Song at the end before they make their exit. You are welcome to take as many photographs as you like throughout the party but we will make time for posed photography towards the end as well. Please call our castle switchboard to confirm your party 5 days before the scheduled party. We confirm all parties as we receive the reservation and deposit. If you do not receive your confirmation please call our castle at 845-218-0003. You are not officially scheduled on our party calendar until we confirm availability we have received the non-refundable deposit at the time of booking via our online booking page and have received the signed agreement that will be sent to you at the time of booking.

The package price is between 4-16 little royals, depending on the package choice, including the birthday child. If less than the number attending your party, you will still be charged for the amount in the package. Attendance over the allotted guest count will be charged an additional rate per person. Additional charge per child varies depending on the package chosen, see package details. Please consult a royal party advisor for a maximum number of guests, as we always try to accommodate your needs. IMPORTANT: A service charge/extra Lady in waiting hostess of $45 is applied to parties with 5+ children ATTENDING and participating. This is in addition to the price per extra guest and a possible extra hour fee to accommodate the amount of guests attending. Certain packages may have to add additional time to accommodate the children and all activities are performed. Please read each package carefully. Maximum guest for children is 18 The maximum for adults who are staying is 1 adult per child guest

The Princess Manor Parties are based on a tight schedule, the parties work best when all guest arrive on time. Please advise your guests to arrive promptly. Guests coming late may join the party at whatever point it has progressed to. This is necessary in order to provide the least amount of disruption to the party. ​

If a guest should have severe food allergies, we recommend that either you or the child’s parents provide an alternate menu for that child. We can provide for basic food allergies/requests, but only if we are aware of them. Please contact your Royal Party Advisor to advise us of any special requirements your guests may have. ​ We are a Nut & Peanut FREE establishment.

Yes absolutely! Our talented entertainers and party hostesses genuinely value receiving a gratuity for their efforts in creating a memorable experience for your child! Tips typically range from 18% to 30% of the total service price and are completely optional. However, our Birthday packages include a 18% gratuity automatically in the balance owed on the day of the party. To conveniently provide a tip for any Spa service, Tea Date or Private experiences, we offer a QR code for our Paypal Tip Jar. Alternatively, we gladly accept cash as well.