Bridal Shower - Bridal High Tea

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This past weekend, my sister threw me an amazing bridal shower. The theme was "Bridal High Tea," in honor of the ever fabulous afternoon tea.

Before tea, however, there was a little mimosa drinking...

When our guests arrived, we had mimosas on the patio. My mom made a beautiful set up of champagne and orange juice.

My mother had wedding albums from her wedding as well as my grandmother's wedding out, so some of the guests looked at that as we talked and drank mimosas on the patio.

It was really fun seeing what everyone chose to wear for their "tea party" attire. Many strands of pearls and floppy hats were donned. 

My aunt totally took it to the nines with her get up and hat. We all agreed that she was channeling Jackie O.

Once all of the guests had arrived and had a chance to mingle a bit, we moved into the living room, which my sister had decorated for an elegant tea party.

I was truly amazed by her ability to transform our living room into something light and girly. 

Our guests were spread out among 4 tables, and everyone was able to sit by some people they knew well, and some people they didn't. 

My sister hired High Tea with Gerri to cater the shower, and the experience was truly unforgettable. She brought with her endless amounts of silver and mis-matched china. It was delicate, girly, and wonderful! 

Check out Gerri in her Victorian garb in the back!

We started with some tea that was steeped and poured the traditional way: through a tiny strainer that Gerri transfered around with her. She made her way around the shower and poured everyone's first cup of tea.

We began our meal with a number of beautiful mini sandwiches. Everyone got to try lots of different flavors and tastes, and we were all excited to be able to pass the plates around and experience the various flavors. I was given a plate of gluten free bites to sample.

After the sandwiches, we moved on to scones. The table had a basket of scones as well as a few different types of homemade jellies and jams.

My gluten-free scone was delicious. I finished the whole thing, which is impressive, as I'm not typically a fan of bread in general. It was just a bit sweet and paired perfectly with the lemon custard jam.

After scones, we had our first taste of dessert. There was a strawberry rhubarb pie that Gerri and her daughter made. It looked delicious, but I couldn't eat any because it wasn't gluten free. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, though!

As if we needed any more sugar, we then moved on to a second dessert course! What is a girls-only event for, if not to justify two rounds of dessert?! :)

We had a number of gorgeous petit fours that were so beautiful and elegant, it almost hurt to eat them. Until your first bite. When you realized they were delicious!

As we finished dessert, my sister passed out the first game: Bridal Bingo. Each guest wrote down the gifts they thought I might get, and they were able to track the gifts as I received them to determine if they got a Bingo!

When we got outside, before opening gifts, we played another game: Purse Raid! There were designated numbers of points for each object we could find in our purses. It was funny to be awarded points for having things like pennies and library cards!

After that, we moved on to gifts.

I was so truly blessed by all of my friends and family. They truly did "shower" me with seemingly endless gifts!

About thirty minutes into gift opening, my fiance showed up with three dozen roses! He looked so handsome as he walked out onto the patio. Everyone swooned and it was a perfect moment.

For the next hour, my fiance helped me open the rest of my gifts. 

As we finished opening the gifts, my sister and cousin put them through a paper plate to be my rehearsal dinner bouquet. Here was the finished product:

We also made sure to get in a picture of my bridal party. We're missing one girl, but this is the rest of us! I love these girls!

As the women left, they were given a jar of loose-leaf tea from Teavana. There were two options, and everyone seemed to love the favor!

My sister was the mastermind behind these beautiful favors. She even attached tags on which she had written, "Love is Brewing." How cute is that?!

Many, many thank yous to everyone who came to my bridal shower... as well as my sister and mother, who worked so hard on the details! I love you!