British High Tea Baby Shower
Sisters are lifelong friends, confidants and pillars of strength and wisdom. One of the best parts about sisterhood is the unwavering love and support sisters offer each other. Through thick and thin, sisters stand side by side celebrating each others achievements and provide comfort during times of sorrow. This unique bond stems from shared family values, history and experiences.
I am so fortunate to have a sister. She is a lifelong best friend who has been there countless times throughout my life. She is someone who I’ve always looked up to and counted on to get me through the tough times.
I have so many treasured memories of growing up together. One memory that stands out was the time when the two of us set up a mattress on our front porch and had a sleepover. We talked until the wee hours of the morning about anything and everything, while we looked up at the shooting stars. Another was the time when we dyed her hair “blond” and it turned out to have a green tinge, and she was absolutely mortified. She had a heck of a time getting the dye out and she ended up accepting that she was and always will be a true Brunette beauty. Another memory is from back when I was in high school. I remember waking up bright and early before school started to go for two hour walks daily for a couple of months. We did so much talking and connecting on these walks, that it really did bring us close together and I will always look back to these moments fondly.
Fast forward a few years, and we are still as close as ever. Back in 2015, I was overjoyed to learn of my sister’s expectancy, and truly touched when she asked me to throw her a baby shower. I enlisted the help of my Mom, and the two of us went to work to put together an unforgettable shower with a British twist. Jennifer was born in Surrey, Weybridge in the heart of England, so it seemed only fitting to throw her a British High Tea Party.
Invitations:
My husband made the most beautiful invitations to set the stage for what was a very special occasion. They were designed to look like tea tags, and were embellished with tea pots and tea cups. He used fancy letterhead and soft pink, gold and sage green hues.
Decorations:
We brought my sister to tears when she pulled up to our house and saw that we had her baby pram from when she was a baby placed at the entrance with pink balloons attached to it.
I decorated a chalkboard sign to welcome guests and let them know they were at the right house.
On the door, I made a baby rattle out of styrofoam balls covered in paper flowers joined by silver pushpins, and attached together by a wood dowel. I had pink tule ribbon hanging from it as a feminine detail and a tag that read “Welcome Baby Girl” on it.
The table was loaded with pearl necklaces, doilies, British flags, and meaningful treasures from my parents time living in England.
Roses in soft pink and white along with Babies Breath sprigs were spread around the house too. I hung a paper bunting flag garland from the windows that I hand cut out of a variety of floral card stocks.
The real showstopper was my Grandma’s Petit Point china teacups and saucers, which were a special part of our childhood growing up and a tribute to my beautiful Grandma.
I also made little miniature pinwheel toothpicks that I adorned some of the desserts with.
Attire:
The guest wore floral garden inspired dresses of their choosing, and some wore fascinators on their heads. Others wore British hats with fussy details. For the Mum-to-be we reserved a special chair with a choice of hat or tiara for Jen to choose between.
Food:
We put together a lovely assortment of scrumptious, bite-sized sweet and savory treats for our high tea. My Mom baked white chocolate, raspberry scones which she served with raspberry jelly and clotted cream, which is a traditional British delicacy. She also made egg salad as well as cream cheese with cucumber tea sandwiches that she cut the crusts off of and piled high on a platter. Fancy little opened faced sandwich rounds topped with caviar and other delectables were a nice touch as well. I made antipasto skewers and veggie cups to accompany the mini sandwiches.
The lemon meringue cups were made using shot glasses that I layered up with graham cracker crumble, lemon curd and meringue whipped topping. I baked mini vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting and placed them in three glass pedestals to bring some height to the table. I made pink cake-pops out of vanilla cake crumble and buttercream frosting that I formed into balls and dipped in pink chocolate candy melts and sprinkled with edible purls. I also made strawberry and raspberry Linzer Cookies and displayed them on a pretty turquoise pedestal.
There were lemon tarts topped with blueberries, and Turkish delight in honor of my Mom. Finally, we order Petite Fours and mini tarts and pastries from a local bakery. Guests enjoyed champagne orange juice and none other than their choice of loose leaf tea from David’s Tea Company.
Games:
We created a fun personalized Mum-to-be Trivia game that my Mom and I put together with specific British/Jen references, which acted as the perfect ice-breaker. I also printed images of little dresses for guests to write words of advice or wisdom for the soon to be Mum and then had little mini clothes pegs to fasten them to a clothesline/garland. We had a calendar for guest to guess Jen’s delivery date with a baby foot stamp. We all watched as Jen was showered with precious baby gifts and all sorts of sentimental items. She was truly showered with love from family and friends, and it was a day that we will all no doubt remember forever.
On October 10th, 2015 my sister welcomed her beautiful baby girl, Abigaile into the world. It was such a special moment when I got to meet my little niece for the first time. I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of such a special day and to celebrate my sister’s upcoming arrival in true British fashion.