This type of party is designed to make the bride-to-be feel special. It is also meant to help her prepare for life as a couple. She will shower her with items that she will need at home that she will share with her future boyfriend.
Organizing a tea party in a tea room is an option
With tea rooms popping up everywhere now, you can make hosting a tea party easy. Many bed and breakfasts, tea shops and excellent restaurants offer afternoon tea. They can often accommodate your group in a private room. This would make preparing your meal a simple matter of choosing items for your menu. They usually have staff ready to help you with your tea party ideas. Making this choice will give you more time to plan party games and make special favors for guests.
Tea party ideas for the menu.
Bed and breakfasts, fancy hotels and tea rooms will have two or three suggested menus for you to choose from. This helps you stay within a budget. Some places will let you make all the decisions about what food is served. Expect to pay more for this type of option.
Here is a menu offered at Sisters Special Teas Cafe in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (412) 787-TEAS (8327)
afternoon tea menu
Cream puffs filled with your choice of shrimp or chicken salad
Assortment of tea snacks
Mushroom stuffed cupcakes
A variety of teas, breads and scones served with lemon curd, Devonshire cream and preserves
Teas and iced teas
Another menu offered at The Lillagaard Bed and Breakfast located in Ocean Grove, New Jersey 1-(732-988-1216)
Afternoon Tea @ The Lillagaard
Cheese and Crackers
Crispy Cucumber Salad
assortment of nuts
Vegetable Cream Cheese with Sliced Cucumbers
Chicken curry salad with a slice of Granny Smith apple
Imported and Swiss Ham with Horseradish and Blueberries
Egg and Tomato Slices with Feta Cheese
Olive tapenade with pear slice
Smoked Turkey with Cranberries and Dressing
English scone, with Devonshire cream, lemon curd and preserves
Homemade Ricotta Cheesecake
Homemade Lemon Square
chocolate square
grapes
sliced orange
chocolate covered strawberry
Selection of Tea, Cucumber Water
You can see that it is possible to be very substantial or even elegant with less variety.
It is important that the food is delicious. However, the celebration is to honor the bride-to-be.
Often a tea room will allow you to bring decorations that are unique to your bride. When my last daughter married hers her colors were black and off-white. There was a beautiful flower arrangement on Lindsey’s table that was perfect for her colors. The bridal party came up with an idea for the other tables that served two purposes. They had a florist make several small bamboo arrangements, with three bamboo shoots in each container. The containers were black. The girls grouped the bamboo in the center of each table. They made a very pretty centerpiece for the party and served as favors for guests to take home. Many of the guests still have the bamboo growing. I’m sorry to say that although mine lasted a long time, the bamboo eventually succumbed to my ignorance of plants and turned yellow. However, while I had it, it brought back the memory of the bachelorette party every time I passed it.
Another special touch that is unique to the bride and also to the groom was something called Photofetti. Photos of Lindsey and her boyfriend were posted on a website. In a short time, bags of confetti with images of approximately 1 inch in diameter were delivered to use on the tables. What a conversation piece. There were pictures of the two of them at all ages. All the guests had a good time remembering them at different stages of their lives.
Let’s consider some tea party shower games, set a timer while the bride-to-be opens her presents. When the timer goes off, the person whose present is being opened wins a prize. If you want to have more guest participation, here are some other game options. Try a trivia game; give each guest a list of questions about the bride. The guest who knows the most about her wins a prize. Give special gifts to the person who has been married the longest or the person whose birthday is close to the wedding date.
These are just a few tea party ideas to get you thinking about planning your next events.