Bridal Shower Tea Parties

Looking for an elegant theme for a bridal shower? Try a tea party theme. It is a timeless idea which is perfect for a multi-generational party. Learn more about how to host a tea party theme bridal shower for that special bride in your life.

Start with the invitations. There are some very sweet imprintable stationery sets which have pictures of tea cups on them. The wording can read “The pleasure of your company is requested / for a bridal tea shower / in honor of / Miss Amanda Green / Sunday, April 21st at 4 o’clock / 131 Willow Street, Stamford, Connecticut. Be sure to add your R.s.v.p. details in the lower left corner of the invitation so that you can get an accurate headcount for your party. Shower invitations are generally mailed about four weeks before the event, since they are mostly for local guests or the bride’s immediate family and bridesmaids, who will know about the shower long before they receive the invitation in the mail.

Everything should be timeless and romantic for a tea party bridal shower. Fine white lace tablecloths and crisply starched napkins in a feminine shade like pink or mauve would be the perfect table dressings. Add a Victorian inspired centerpiece to the table or on a sideboard. Take a footed urn and fill with a loose arrangement of flowers overflowing the sides in shades of pinks, creams, and dusty purples. Everyone should dress in their prettiest and most feminine clothes: floral dresses, cultured pearl earrings, possibly even fancy hats. Most women have at least the pretty dresses and cultured pearl earrings in their wardrobes, so it will not be an imposition to request this type of attire for the shower.

Certainly, tea will be an important part of the tea party shower. Serve several varieties in an elegant fashion. Forget about tea bags, and instead brew several pots of tea to be served from handpainted china tea pots or on a silver tea service. If you happen to have a large collection of tea cups with saucers, they would be great, or scour the flea markets and antique shops to amass a pretty collection of assorted tea cups. Offer guests fresh milk, lemon, and sugar for their tea in elegant containers.

As for the food, fancy and light fare is ideal. The traditional high tea menu is a mixture of sweet and savory foods. For the savory, offer cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off and miniature chicken salad sandwiches cut into triangles. Next comes the bread course, which is generally scones with strawberry preserves and clotted cream. You may also add small muffins and a bread, if you want to make it a bit heartier. Finally, the sweets are served. Plan on one fabulous torte or pie on a fancy pedestal and a tiered tray of delicious sweet morsels like petit fours, tea cookies, lemon squares, and perhaps some chocolate dipped strawberries. Nothing should be larger than two or three bites in size (except the scones), but make sure that there are plenty of pieces for each guest to try a few of everything.

Once everyone has had their tea and snack, it is time to open gifts! If the bride loves tea, you could suggest that guests bring tea themed gifts like tea pots, tea towels, fancy imported tins of tea leaves, and the like. Otherwise, the usual assortment of gifts is just fine, and might be more practical for the bride. Thank everyone for coming with a tea themed bridal shower favor. There is a wide variety available, including customized tea bags and infusers, mini teacups with candles, and tins of gourmet tea. It will be the perfect ending to your classic tea party theme bridal shower.

About the Author Bridget Mora

Ask Bridget for advice in areas of jewelry or weddings. She writes numerous articles providing information for the customers of http://silverlandjewelry.com/, where we design an elegant selection of cultured pearl earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, which are perfect for your special occasion. As our gift to you, all jewelry orders over $99 receive complimentary shipping.

August Wedding Ideas

August will be here before you know it, so if you are planning a wedding for the end of the summer, it is time to get cracking! The lazy, hazy days of late summer are a great time to get married, and there are certain colors, flowers, and decorations which are especially nice for August weddings. Plan the perfect wedding with these great August wedding ideas.

The month of August has a unique position. The last full month of summer, the weather and attitude are definitely pure summer. Yet at the same time, when August arrives, we know that autumn is just around the corner, and so a lot of the colors and flowers which are in season then have a bit of a fall preview feeling to them. Take advantage of this when planning your August wedding. It will make your day feel extra special when you celebrate the season.

Bright, spicy colors work beautifully for an August wedding. Think fuchsia, paprika, goldenrod, and accents of brown and white. The colors we associate with a Mexican fiesta are fantastic for a late summer ceremony and reception. The bold colors combine very well, so you can mix and match them without fear, especially when it comes to flowers. For the bridesmaid dresses, pick one main color, such as the fuchsia, and accent it with multi-colored bridesmaid jewelry and bouquets. Crystal station necklaces with a few crystals in each of the wedding colors would make fantastic bridesmaid jewelry with a solid color dress.

Informal vibrant flowers are ideal for August weddings. Some of the best varieties are those which remind us of fall, yet are in season in bright summer colors at that time of the year. Zinnias are especially fun, as they often have several colors on each bloom. They would suite a fiesta theme wedding perfectly, and also work well for any colorful late summer celebration. “Plant” the zinnias in clay pots for a casual Southwestern vibe or arrange them in black iron urns for a more elegant style. Clear glass vases in interesting shapes also work well when you want the flowers themselves to be the entire story.

Other great flowers for an August wedding include mini-sunflowers, asters, and mums. Use the mini-sunflowers as an accent in bouquets with rich hues like russet and tie it all up with a wide chocolate brown satin ribbon. The asters and mums are a lot of fun, and can perfectly capture the idea of August being both high summer and the gateway to fall. The flowers themselves are often thought of as classic autumnal blossoms, but when used in more summery shades like pink and purple, they are definitely not too fallish for an August bride. All of these make excellent choices for casual outdoor events.

For the wedding cake, continue the theme of August as the gateway to autumn by choosing a delicious chocolate cake. When decorated with brightly colored flowers, it will be the perfect sweet ending to your wedding. Just be sure to keep your fantastic cake out of the hot August sun or you will end up with an accidental chocolate fountain, as the frosting melts down the side of the wedding cake!

About the Author Bridget Mora

Ask Bridget for advice in areas of bridesmaid jewelry or weddings. She writes numerous articles providing information for the customers of http://silverlandjewelry.com, where we offer complimentary shipping on all jewelry orders over $99.

When a DIY Centerpiece is a Don’t

Many brides like to make things for their weddings as a way to save money. This can be a great way to give your wedding a unique look when on a budget, but it can also turn out to be a mess if not done well. This is how you know when a DIY centerpiece is a wedding don’t!

The thing about making your own centerpieces is that they should not look obviously homemade. Handcrafted, yes; homemade, no. What is the difference? When something is lovingly handcrafted by a talented artist, it will have a special and unique feeling, whether it is a centerpiece, bridesmaid gifts, or wedding favors. When something looks too obviously homemade, however, it can look unpolished, or non-professional. For your wedding, you definitely want all the elements to look polished and pulled together. It is the difference between something that looks clunky and something that looks elegant and well-crafted.

What else makes a diy centerpiece a don’t? Going overboard on a theme or color scheme. Sure red is dramatic and passionate, but when brides start pairing red flowers in red vases with red candles, it can all get too be way too much. This is where having a professional florist can be helpful, because after doing dozens of weddings, she will have an instinct for what will work and what will not. When she starts hearing that you are planning to have everything from the bridesmaid dresses and jewelry gifts to the napkins and centerpieces in the same shade of red, a florist will know to pull you back from the brink and to add some tonal variety into the mix.

Where brides really go wrong with DIY centerpieces is by using poor quality fake flowers. Even good quality artificial flowers can look fake when seen up close, and the cheap ones will be spotted the minute your guests walk into the reception space. Certainly, the fake flowers can be economical, but the reaction you want when people first see your diy centerpieces is, “Aren’t they beautiful? Can you believe she made them herself?”, not “Wow, check out the fake blue roses!”. If you prefer faux flowers to real, consider handcrafted paper flowers, which are much more appealing than poor quality fabric flowers.

Another time that a diy centerpiece is a don’t is when the bride does not have an innate sense of creativity, proportion, color, or balance. A good florist will walk into a reception venue and note the high ceilings which call for tall centerpieces, or the beautiful woodwork which would be enhanced by using blossoms in warm colors. Now, there are certainly plenty of brides who have an eye for these types of things, but if you do not happen to be one of them, you may be better off having a florist make your centerpieces, and turning your diy abilities to other projects.

The other thing that can turn even the best intentioned diy centerpiece into a definite wedding don’t is biting off more than you can chew. Think long and hard about the time commitment involved in handcrafting the table arrangements for ten, twelve, or fifteen tables. Also be careful not to get overly ambitious with your design if you are a novice. At some point, the stress of trying to make the perfect centerpieces can outweigh the money saved. If it’s not fun, don’t do it!

About the Author

Laura is interested in wedding planning and wedding trends including jewelry, receptions and bridesmaid gifts. Visit us at http://silverlandjewelry.com/ today and receive free shipping on your jewelry order over $99.