A tea party was a type of gathering or social event which usually centered around the serving of tea.
In 2270, Omne, responding to James T. Kirk's claim that he had deliberately lured Omne to the USS Enterprise, compared it to inviting a dragon to a tea party. (TOS novel: The Price of the Phoenix)
Elizabeth Shelby, while serving under Mackenzie Calhoun on the USS Excalibur, sometimes felt like she was Alice at the Mad Hatter's tea party. (NF novel: Restoration)