Wedding Series: Bridal Tea Party

 

Hi bloggers, this is the next instalment of our Wedding Series on the blog and tonight we want to share with you some hen party/bridal shower ideas. I always prefer the idea of a bridal shower rather than a hen party as bridal showers tend to be a more sophisticated affair for all the ladies in the family to enjoy. Although we did add a bit of the party element in at the end and it seemed the older generations were more of the party animals! Anyway let's get started with some decoration ideas.

For my sister's bridal shower we decided to host an afternoon tea party in the garden - thankfully the weather was on our side.

 

We used our large table that we usually have on hand for our craft workshops and got to work decorating it with vintage tablecloths, vintage china and of course some beautiful flowers!

 

We bought some decorations from Hobbycraft including paper fans and pom pom decorations - which are really simple to put together and can be saved again for future parties. We also included some doily bunting as well.

 

 

I wanted everyone to have a badge so got to work on some handmade rosette pins that indicated their role in the bridal party....

 

These were placed in everyone's place on their tea cup and saucer....

 

 We welcomed everyone to the party with some welcome drinks which consisted of either Raspberry Lemonade or Elderflower & Rose served in these gorgeous glass bottles with a straw, a sprig of mint and a raspberry or too popped in as well.

 

Now let's get on to those all important games.....

We started the fun with a little icebreaker game called 'Who has the Groom?'....

I got this excellent idea via Pinterest and owe my thanks to Abby from Normal Activities blog. Inside each envelope was a tuxedo with a celebrity face photoshopped on top. However one of the tuxedos had a picture of the groom and whoever got that picture won a prize (in this case all the prizes were Hershey's Kisses).

The next game we played was called 'He Said, She Said' and again this was inspired from Abby's blog.

 

Everyone was given a tiara (to represent the bride) and a moustache (to represent the groom). As the hostess I was in charge of asking the questions and the guests had to guess who had said what. Since my sister knew the answers it was her job to hold up the tiara or the moustache to provide the answer for everyone else. I think this game was the most successful and easy to play whilst eating at the table. 

 

 

Next up was a game inspired by our love for Disney. Since we are lovers of everything Disney I only felt it was suitable to play a 'Disney Couples' game. For this I printed the names of 23 Disney couples onto magnetic paper and used a magnet board I already had and a baking tray (very handy magnetic object to have) and split us into two teams. Whoever matched all the Disney couples in the fastest time won! Before we could start the game though we had to present my sister with a little something special......her own Disney wedding ears with veil...

 

 

In between the games I encouraged the guests to write some words of marriage advice for the bride to take home with her. For this I attached some tags to some metal keys and displayed them in a jam jar....

The next little game we played involved some pictures of the bride and groom throughout their childhood. For this I hung pictures of each of them across some twine with some glittery pegs and we all had to guess what age they were in each picture.....

 

The final game we played was a very similar set up to the Disney Couples game, but this time the teams had to match the traditions at weddings with the superstitions behind why we do them - this game proved to be much more difficult then we all first thought but still quite entertaining! I have to say each team gave 100% to become the winners in each task.....

 

 So that was it for the games and after a bit more cake and a few toasts of champagne I revealed to my sister that the night was not over yet and was only just beginning as we were all going on a little trip. I presented everyone with a 1920's flapper headband for the occasion and kept the location and method of transport a secret until the very last possible moment.....

 

 To finish off the evening I had booked a limousine to take us all to Brighton to a wonderful 1930's tea bar called Metro Deco......

 

 

 

We all had some cocktails that were infused with tea (of course) with some nibbles on the side. The cocktails were served in teapots with Babycham glasses to accompany them. It was the perfect finish to a wonderful vintage inspired bridal shower and at such a reasonable price, I would recommend Metro Deco to anyone!

As for the older generation becoming the party animals, I leave you with this wonderful photo below of the groom's mum and my nan!

 Stay tuned for more posts in the Wedding Series on the blog.