Time for Tea

The theme was Afternoon Tea for a recent family bridal shower. The Internet was a bonanza for preplanning with ideas ranging from foods, decorations, games to prizes.  It was difficult limiting my choices.  But you don't need a bridal shower to have your very own tea party. 
Here are some ideas to get you started. 
Encourage guests to wear their favorite hat and even wear some vintage gloves. I just happened to have a box of vintage hats for anyone who needed one.  

The guest of honor, my niece has a vintage theme going for her wedding. The reception is being held at the train depot so we all have our train tickets for the event.  
For afternoon tea my sisters used some silver pieces once owned by my mother to make centerpieces.

One of the tables had tea cups and saucers with pansies in them as centerpieces.

For party favors each guest received a small envelope with a tea bag tucked inside the card.

Some games included: Tea Trivia, T-Text how many words can make that begin with a T with bonus points added if word had tea in it and Guess How Many Teas are in the Jar (jar was filled with loose leaf tea bags) 
One of the tea trivia questions was #11. What tea offers us a surprise inside?
The answer: Blooming tea also called flowering tea, When the tea is brewed it opens up to release the flower sewn inside. Another niece found this link to show you what the answer looks like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8W9XdBHONc check it out.
Besides a wonderful array of gifts for the bride that made us all envious wishing we had new things there was ample supply of food.  

My sisters used their imaginations to create finger sandwiches. This plate had sandwiches made with dense whole wheat bread. The filling was a soft honey walnut cream cheese, finely chopped walnuts, minced apricots and topped with a little red pepper jelly. A dollop of cream cheese and apricots was placed on top. 

The tray below held sandwiches that were made using a firm (dense) bread with a filling of minced ham, minced green apples and soft goat cheese. Fresh pansies were placed on top.


Some of the following foods were recipes that have been previously posted. I provided links to them. 

Mango Chicken Chutney Salad 

www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4545574038721982988#editor/target=post;postID=1857525918295956525;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=37;src=postname

Strawberry-Avocado-Pecan and Feta Cheese Salad

with Baby Spinach and Romaine

drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar 

Dessert Tray

Key Lime Mousse Tartlets and Lemon Tea Cakes with Blueberry Buttercream Frosting  
http://sockfairies.blogspot.com/2014/04/lemon-swirl-tea-cakes-with-blackberry.html
http://sockfairies.blogspot.com/2014/04/stories-to-tell.html