I must say, I had SO much fun planning this baby shower for one of my best friends. She is expecting a baby girl in just a few weeks and I thought what is more girly than a tea party?!
I went crazy picking up different tea cups, saucers, and tea pots at thrift stores and antique shops. I found all kinds of different styles and it all came together perfectly!
I made this sign that sat right outside the door so people would see it when they walked up.
At the entrance I asked guests to please sign a book and leave a note for the baby. Favors were little bags of loose leaf tea and tea ball infusers. I made favor tags out of scrapbook paper and wrote what type of tea was in the bag so that guests could choose what kind they wanted.
I wanted the food to have the feel of a true afternoon tea. It took a while to nail down a menu but I finally decided on:
- Fresh fruit
- Cupcakes
I love how the food table turned out! Adding dimension and color to a food display tends to draw your eye in more than if everything were just sitting flat on plates or platters. You can acheive this by using different kinds of cake stands (for things other than cakes), elevating things on books, and adding picture frames, flowers or other little items that go along with the theme. What is your eye drawn to in this picture?
I created this stand out of different sized plates and cups that I found at thrift stores. I LOVE it. It goes so perfectly with this theme.
I love this Peter Pan quote - "Would you like an adventure now, or shall we have our tea first?" Perfect for a baby shower - we decided to have our tea first! She'll get her adventure in a couple weeks.
These Earl Grey cookies turned out great! I practiced these beforehand because I wasn't sure how good they would be and the first batch was awful! So I found another recipe and they actually turned out pretty tasty! I'm eating one as I'm writing this!
Tilted tea pot inspired by Pinterest (of course). I practiced these English scones beforehand too and (luckily) these were the best batch. The recipe I linked to above recommends using a 2" round cutter, which is what I used the first go around. I found that they poofed up and peaked in the center. So this time I used a bigger cutter (I actually used one of Raley's plastic Elsa cups) so that they were closer to the size of a biscuit. I ended up having to cook them for about 5-6 minutes longer but they turned out much better!
The link above explains the difference between English scones and American scones in case you're curious!
These mini sponge cakes are named after Queen Victoria (who started the trend of afternoon tea parties) because they were her favorite dessert. They are filled with a whipped buttercream and strawberry jam. One recipe I found called for double cream, which we can't get in America, but the one I linked to includes the buttercream recipe I ended up using. I found it to be a little too buttery tasting so I added a little extra powdered sugar and milk and it turned out pretty good!
The cupcakes were made by Batter Up Cake Bakery. They were vanilla and strawberry and tasted delicious! They're actually called a "cupcake bouquet." So cute!
For drinks I served cold sweet tea (I know, it's not British, but that's just what you drink in the south), ice water, and hot tea. I had hot water in tea pots and a variety of different bags of tea. Each guest had their own tea cup and saucer to use.
We of course had to use sugar cubes for our tea. Would you like one lump or two?
A few of my other favorite details:
I think these cups stacked under this bell jar may be my favorite
Another fave! I actually found all of the flowers at Kroger. They have a little clearance section with older flowers that are going to die soon. So I found a dozen and a half pink roses for $7! They were perfect because I got them the day before and most of them were already bloomed out and beautiful! Had I paid $25 for the fresher ones they would not have been as open and as pretty. Definitely scored on that one! I got the hydrangias, carnations and green balls (under the teapot on the cupcake stand) from there too.
Headband making station
Congratulations to the little mama! We had fun celebrating you and baby Cecily!
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Labels: Let's Party, party planning, Showers
