Tea Party Bridal Shower

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Whether it be for a bridal shower, birthday party, or just an afternoon tea, a grown up tea party is a real life wish come true, and everything that you didn’t know that your younger self dreamed of. In this post, I will give you all of the details to plan your own big girl tea party from start to finish!

Location

The first thing that you want to think about when planning your tea party, is the location of the event. You do not have to have a big fancy garden with an abundance of blooming flowers to create a posh and perfect high tea. This tea party bridal shower was located in the front yard of our mobile home, and from the photos, you never might have guessed so. Think about what kind of ambience that you wish to create. What vision do you have for your tea party? Do you wish to have a comfortable evening of tea and scones in the sitting room of your home, or a whimsical gathering outdoors? For this event, we decided to host our guest outside under a large white tent like this one this one . We positioned the tent alongside our Leyland Cypress trees for a garden like feel.

Theme/ Colors

Next, you will want to consider any themes or color schemes that you wish to incorporate into your tea party. This bridal shower tea party consisted of floral, antique, and whimsical elements. We also included many gold accents.

Tablescape

When designing a tablescape, you can go as intricate or as simple as you wish. We positioned 3 fold up tables together to create a long table setting for guests to sit on all sides. We then covered the tables with ivory table cloths similar to these, and placed faux greenery along the middle of the tables. In the center of the table, we placed an arrangement of wildflowers in a floral vase.

For the place setting, I used this set of disposable gold rimmed plates and cups with matching silverware. This set is so versatile, and can be used for many different occasions. You can also use your own glass dishes if you don’t mind washing up afterwards. I paired the set with white paper napkins, though floral cloth napkins like these would have been even more gorgeous! Another great option for cloth napkins are these lace trimmed napkins.

Food

Now, for the main event of any occasion… the food! I am lucky enough to be surrounded by amazing cooks in my family, but even if you aren’t gifted with immaculate culinary skills, a tea party menu is super simple to cultivate, because it is mostly cold/ room temperature finger foods. I actually had to do very little for the food portion of this bridal shower, thanks to the help of many moms and aunts who always bring the most amazing dishes to our events.

When creating your high tea spread, first consider your main dishes. This will be a more filling food that you know all or many of your guests will eat. You can never go wrong with tea sandwiches when hosting a tea party. They are so easy to put together, and can be made in many different ways. These tea sandwiches were such a huge hit with my guests! Especially the chicken sandwiches!

Next, consider your filler foods. In this case, we served many plates of finger foods and snacks charcuterie style. These plates consisted of crackers, jams, meats, cheeses, nuts, olives, and dried fruits. This is just the time to be brave and try many different types of meats and cheeses that you may not have tried before. You may be pleasantly surprised with some new favorite combinations.

Lastly, you will want to include some sweets! At this tea party, we had many different types of sweets including danishes, scones, macarons, and tarts. We also added in chocolates and cream filled wafers.

Drinks

The most important thing to have at any tea party is of course, the tea! If you are anything like I was, you are probably lost as to where to find the best tea to serve at your tea party. Well, do not fret, because I came across a company that sells the best tasting varieties of specialty teas.

You want to begin with a dark caffeinated tea like this english breakfast tea. This will be your main tea that can be the base for any creamers and sugars. This tea alone is all that you need for a perfect tea gathering, but if you are looking for some more variety, consider these loose leaf green teas. These green teas are so delicious, and a good option if you are sensitive to caffeine. This tea comes in a set of three and is contained in the cutest round tins that are perfectly displayable.

Here, you can also see where we layered a Lace Table Cloth over the solid ivory table linens.

To add an extra fun element, I also purchased these blooming flower teas. You can choose between a heart shape or round ball that you could give as party favors to your guests, or to display as a tea option during your event. Make sure that your water is hot enough to rehydrate the flower so that it will fully bloom for a beautiful cup of tea art. Don’t forget the cream and sugar!

Dress/ Accessories

In my opinion, no tea party is complete without the right accessories. For this bridal shower, I provided an assortment of white lace gloves for my guests to choose from, and an extra special beaded pair for the bride to be. I also gifted the lady of the hour with a clip in fascinator head piece. I think that it would be so fun for each guest to have a different colored head piece for a fabulous photo op!

Magic Touches

Any tea party would be considered complete with the right atmosphere, food, and tea, but for the most magical high tea event, I added in some extra special touches and elements.

One of my favorite additions to this tea party were these stainless steel tea infusers. We used these spoons to diffuse the loose leaf green teas first, by filling the heart shaped containers with the dried tea leaves, and then stirring the spoon in a hot cup of water.

Any tea pot will do when serving your hot tea, but I came across these clear glass tea kettles from the same company that I purchased the specialty teas from. At this event I used one kettle for the English breakfast tea, and the other one filled with hot water for the loose leaf green teas, and blooming flowers.

Another special touch that I included in our tea display is sugar cubes! It is so fun to drop a few (or a handful) of these sugar cubes into a cup of hot tea. Pour in your cream and stir with these mini gold spoons.

To top off your tea party, be sure to play an album of classical music in the background. Your guests are sure to feel like they are attending a high tea for someone of great importance.

That is everything that you need to know to host the most perfect afternoon tea party! You can make this a simple event with your closest girls at home, or go all out to shower a loved one celebrating a big life milestone. Remember to have fun with it, and make it your very own!

I hope that this post has given you some inspiration to create everyday magic in your life, and the confidence to host an event that will be remembered for years to come.

Happy hosting!

Courtney