A British tea party has long been a popular theme idea for a bridal shower party. People love the idea of beautiful china cups of tea paired with dainty bite-sized savory and sweet treats, crisp white or floral linens, and vintage Victorian style florals and floral patterns.
Tea parties are based on the concept of what in the UK is called "afternoon tea" although sometimes it is called "high tea". Afternoon tea is a British food tradition of the wealthy where they would have an afternoon treat of tea, sandwiches, scones, and cake. It was served at 4:00 pm to help fill a gap between lunch and dinner, as dinner was served at 8:00 pm. These days, it's more of a special treat.
High tea, by contrast, was a hearty meal served to workers after a hard day of work. More filling food was served than just tea and cakes, but there was always a pot of strong tea available. Being a more traditional meal, it was served at a dining table. Afternoon tea, by contrast, was more informal and was served in the parlor or in the garden. High tea in Scotland was a bit like afternoon tea but included some hot finger foods.
For great ideas around hosting an afternoon tea party themed bridal shower, this BBC article is a good read. It also has a variety of fantastic recipe ideas for the food.
First and foremost you do need to provide tea. A variety of a few different teas is a great idea. Now, traditionally you'd make up pots of tea. However, you can also always fill a hot water urn with boiled water and allow people to steep their own cups of tea. True, the British likely would not agree with this suggestion, as they would likely find the tea not as much to their liking, but it does make things easier in a party environment. Along with the tea, you need to also provide milk and sugar and possibly lemon slices. Lemonade, iced tea and mimosas are also great additions on a hotter day. To be really traditional, you can add "Pimm's" to the iced tea.
In terms of food, the standard is to use one or two three-tiered cake stands if possible and provide a layer of sandwiches, a layer of cakes, and a layer of scones or tea cakes. You don't need to make these yourself. Often times you can get really affordable catering for these types of parties. Or, perhaps you can make some sandwiches while getting the cakes and tea cakes from your local bakery (although you might have to cut them up into bite-sized pieces yourself).
Once you have those things set, then decor is not too hard either. Some big floral bouquets from your local market can help set the mood (maybe even use a teapot as a vase). And you can also get some floral tablecloths and napkins at the local dollar store. You can easily find cheap vintage china teacups and teapots at the thrift store (maybe even some cutlery and lace doilies). It's perfect if they don't even match.
These are just a few ideas. The internet has many great ideas for hosting a tea party whether it is for a bridal shower or something else.
Here at Lemon Leaf Prints, we strive to provide you with the perfect invitation design for the party you want to host. So, here we'll be showcasing some of our tea party bridal shower invitation designs. Hopefully some of these are perfect for your party!
Afternoon Tea Party Bridal Shower Invitations
Click on the images or links below to be taken to the product page where you can purchase any of these designs.
Tea Party Bridal Shower Invitation | Victorian Teapot Blue Rosettes
Tea Party Bridal Shower Invitation | Magical Garden Flowers Butterflies
Tea Party Bridal Shower Invitation | Burgundy China Teacup Flowers
Tea Party Bridal Shower Invitation | Tea Time Colorful Chalkboard
Tea Party Bridal Shower Invitation | Pink Chevron Rose Pearls
Tea Party Bridal Shower Invitation | China Teacup Jasmine Flowers
Alice in Wonderland Tea Party Bridal Shower Invitations
Some people go even further with the tea party theme and go all out and do an Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter tea party theme. We do have a few invitations that work for a mad hatter tea party as well. Even though a couple of these have wording templates that are not specific to bridal showers, it's very easy for our designers to make them up as bridal shower invitations for you.
Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland Tea Party Bridal Shower Invite
We hope you enjoyed this showcase of Lemon Leaf Prints' tea party bridal shower invitation designs. You can also always do a search to see if our designers have added any other tea party designs you might like.
By the way, Party Simplicity has a great free printable available for a tea party bridal shower theme. These are super cute favors for a tea party bridal shower. You print them off and put a teabag in them. They'd be great paired with a packet of tea biscuits. Note: they require cutting and some DIY assembly.
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