Hosting a bridal shower or tea involves quite a bit of work from start to finish. You need to coordinate with the bride for the guest list, pick a venue and send out the invitations. In addition, you'll need to select decorations, pick table linens and dishware, and come up with menu ideas. While the primary purpose of a bridal shower or tea is to honor the bride-to-be, it also creates special memories for the bride and her guests. It is a time for gift giving, camaraderie, sharing fond stories, delighting in the gifts, and taking pictures to record this momentous occasion. During this type of event, refreshments are generally served to the guests before, during, or after the bridal shower or tea.
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Refreshments for Bridal Showers and/or Bridal Teas
You can either decide to serve all of the bride’s favorite foods or curate menu ideas that are completely different from what she typically selects. However, it is best to choose finger foods that can be eaten quickly without utensils. This minimizes the fuss and clean up for everyone. Select foods that keep with the bride’s theme for her wedding. For example: pigs-in-a-blanket, chips, and mini-burgers work well for a beach wedding theme along with mini ice cream treats. You can also choose traditional food options such as scones, finger sandwiches, and decadent chocolates.
Finger Sandwiches for Bridal Showers and/or Bridal Teas
The trick to keeping your finger sandwiches fresh and tasty is to cut triangles or squares of thinly sliced bread (two-bite size), thinly coated with a quality butter to prevent sogginess. You can also trim off the ends of the bread and use different ones such as rye, wheat, oat, and whole grain.
- Egg Salad – Dice hard-boiled eggs, mix to taste with mayonnaise, pepper, salt, and finely chopped green onion. Spread it on one side of the sandwich and cover with the second slice.
- Chicken Salad– Mix diced cooked chicken to taste with mayonnaise, pepper, minced tarragon, finely chopped celery, and salt. Spread it upon one side of the sandwich and cover with the second slice.
- Tuna Salad – Mix canned tuna to taste with mayonnaise, pepper, finely chopped celery, and finely diced green onion. Spread it upon one side of the sandwich and cover with the second slice.
- Cucumber and Cream Cheese – Spread softened cream cheese upon one side of the sandwich, top with thinly sliced cucumber, and cover with the second slice.
- Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese – Mix softened cream cheeses with minced dill. Spread it upon one side of the sandwich, top with smoked salmon, and cover with the second slice.
- Watercress – Spread goat cheese on one slice of the bread and top watercress leaves.
- Hummus – Spread hummus on one slice of the bread. Top with alfalfa sprouts.
- Chicken Pate – Use a food processor to blend finely chopped chicken breast (cooked) with heavy cream, rosemary, salt, and pepper to taste. Spread it upon one side of the sandwich, and cover with the second slice.
Dessert Ideas for Bridal Showers and/or Bridal Teas
Traditional menus for bridal showers and teas for desserts include dainty treats that are sweet, attractive, and easily consumed. Such finger desserts avoid the need for spoons or forks and create less clean up for everyone from the guest to the hostess.
- Mini cupcakes or brownies that can be eaten with a single bite
- Sliced apples with a caramel dip
- Sugar cookies with wedding theme shapes. Cute ideas include wedding bells or umbrellas sprinkled with colored sugar that match the wedding colors
- Petit fours
- Crème puffs
- Mini éclairs
- Mini Danishes
Menu Ideas for for Bridal Showers and/or Bridal Teas
It is nice to offer a varied selection of freshly brewed teas to serve your guests. A good idea would be to serve them in fine porcelain teapots for an added touch of stylish decoration. Be sure to offer lots of options for your guests to choose for their cup of tea. A good start would be to offer staples such as black and green tea along with a variety of herbal teas. Depending on the weather or time of year, you may also want to consider serving several varieties of iced teas. Since some shower guests may not appreciate drinking tea, try and have a selection of lemonades, sodas, and water available as well.
Need ideas of where to actually hold the bridal shower? Check out 5 Fantastic and Unusual Places to Hold a Bridal Shower for inspiration.
