A Vintage Bridal Tea

I flew all the way home from LA for three nights to make this one happen!  We were hosting the Bridal Shower for Lauren, my cousin and the bride-to-be, at our Charlotte home.  Lauren's December wedding is taking place in a breathtaking white barn fit for events surrounding by gorgeous country side and horse pastures!  Her usual elegant, classy taste will have a rustic flair with vintage accents for both her ceremony and reception soooo... I wanted to create a theme that still retained the feel of the wedding, but was a little more feminine and fun for the all-female guest list.

The result was a Vintage Bridal Tea theme that would include everything from a hot and cold tea bar complete with all the fixins to tea cakes and pearly lace white chocolate strawberries.  I created oversized teabag cutouts, each with a unique vintage inspired design or special photo, and used them to decorate not only the mantle, but all four table displays that I was working with.  I also borrowed very special chinaware, tea sets, lace hankies, vintage pearls, and artistic tea pots from Lauren's Nana (My Nana too!), Lauren's mother-in-law to be, and a few other good friends.  I used all of these items in the centerpiece decorations which added personal and sentimental value to the decor.  With a trip to the fabric store, the flower store, and Hobby Lobby, a hot glue gun, and a whole lot of mason jars I was able to transform our house into a tea party wonderland.  Enjoy!

We served.... 

Peach Bellini Cocktails

Fresh Peach and Strawberry infused Peach Iced Tea sweetened with Agave

Minted Arnold Palmer with fresh lemon slices sweetened with Stevia

Iced Vanilla Almond Tea sweetened with Stevia

Hot British Breakfast Tea

Hot Mint Tea

The Tea Bar Fixins included...

Lemon Slices

Lime Slices

Honeycomb

Cinnamon Sticks 

Sugar Cubes

Fresh Mint

Catered Aperitif Finger Food Buffet included...

Vegetable Sushi bites

Various tea cake inspired bite-sized sandwiches  

 Stuffed Mushrooms

Hummus and Veggie Dip

Shrimp Cocktail

Petits Fours 

Various amazing bite sized desserts

Nana's homemade lemon squares

Pearl (sprinkles) and Lace (fresh coconut flakes) White Chocolate Covered Strawberries (made by me)

Jennasis Decor and Special Touches... 

Oversized tea bag cutouts

Mason Jar Rose Arrangements

High Cocktail Table Lace, Ribbon, and Fabric Coverings

Centerpiece Table displays comprised of vintage tea sets, pearls, candles, and anything else I could find.

Teacup favors (painted by Allison Chambers) 

"Recipes and Love for the Bride" Guest Scrapbook

Welcome sign with oversized photo of baby princess Lauren

"The Lauren or Adam Game" halfway through present time

Papa playing upbeat love songs on the piano

Pearls and Lace White Chocolate Strawberries

The Beautiful Bride

Tea Bar

Blush Rose Bouquet

Fresh Peach Bellini Cocktail

Vintage Teacups and Pearls

Mantle of Tea Bags and Memories

Tea Bar Fixins

Most Loving Hands in the World

Personal Touches (keepsake for the Bride after)

Favors

Only man in attendance with his Chucks on : )

The Lauren or Adam Game

Lauren's Bachelorette Day!

What a privilege it was to be able to plan and orchestrate a bachelorette party for my beautiful cousin and best friend for life.  Lauren is getting married December 22nd and is fully responsible for the initiative to get "Jennasis" up and running.  I've been a busy girl planning all of her wedding festivities!  With a team of highly trained and organized MOH's (yes... she has four), we started out the day by kidnapping her from her apartment at 10 am.  We threw this DIY bride sash on her that I handmade the night before out of different kinds of ribbon, a hot glue gun, glitter, cheetah print (duh) and some sparkly poster paper.  What can I say... I hated all the pre-made bride-to-be sashes so I just said to hell with it and made my own.  

Our first trip was to breakfast at Terrace Cafe in the Southpark area of Charlotte.  Lauren got Red Velvet Waffles with Cream Cheese frosting...the motto for the day was "Screw the Bride Diet!"  I had no bride diet to screw so I just stuck with my normal eating habits and ordered a scrumptious veggie, cheeseless, egg white omelete, fruit bowl, and whole wheat toast with fresh preserves! Umm... amazing and I could actually still stand up for the rest of the day's activities.  Next stop was the nail salon where we tied up five chairs for an hour, gossiped, and planned out more wedding details.  

We had a special afternoon at the Dairy Barn, Lauren's wedding and reception venue, where we tested out the aisle in the most wedding-inappropriate and hilarious of ways and also worked on composing the song she's going to walk down the aisle to with her talented musicians.  I would post pictures but I don't want to spoil the surprise so you'll just have to wait!  

Lauren was allowed a short nap and shower while Cameron, Brooke, Haley, and I scrambled to decorate the house, make the appetizers, and attempt to transform ourselves from frantic, sweaty beasts into pretty bachelorette party hostesses.  Naturally it was a whopping 105 degrees outside with the humidity of the amazon.  Great timing! 

Now I know most of you don't know Lauren but she is a very special Bride.  She cherishes close friendships, would rather talk all night than prowl the vegas strip, sips instead of chugs her martinis, is cranky if she's not in bed by midnight, and it would take approximately five minutes for her to have a typical bachelorette party male stripper in a chokehold reading the bible.  Her favorite cocktail is a Pineapple Martini, she loves anything and everything pink, glitter, and girly, and her honeymoon destination to Jamaica leaves her wanting both lingerie and sexy cover-ups.  Take a look at what I came up with... 

Here are photos of the finished project for our "Honeymoon Happy Hour" lingerie and cover-up shower for Lauren!  It was followed by a Hummer limo ride to a private Italian dinner with her closest friends where we shared our favorite stories, both funny and touching about Lauren.  After toasting the Bride with champagne we got back in the limo for late-night milkshakes at Cowfish.  And by late-night I mean 11:00 pm.  We were snuggled in bed by midnight.  

Screw the Bride Diet!  Appetizer Bar

Malibu heart box favors with light-up rings and necklaces

Lingerie Sugar Cookies with Pearly Lace White Chocolate Strawberries

Pineapple Martini Bar

The Bride with her Pineapple Martini rimmed with Colorful Rock Sugar and garnished with a rum soaked pineapple

All in all it was a successful day and night with lots of pictures and fun memories!  Can't wait to plan another one!