Ashley’s Bridal Shower: A Whimsical Tea Party

A colorful cake for a whimsical bridal shower (made by yours truly & her mom)

A few weeks back, I wrote about my sister’s upcoming bridal shower. At the time, I didn’t want to reveal everything I was doing because I wanted Ashley to be surprised. Now that the shower is over, I can finally blog about it. First, a quick reminder of what I had planned. For her bridal shower, Ashley wanted a tea party, complete with the traditional High Tea menu of tea sandwiches, scones, and pastries. I decided to make it more Alice in Wonderland/whimsical and less Queen of England/formal, with a bit of a garden party feel.

The Shower Site - The Carriage Barn at Mill Hollow Metropark in Vermilion, Ohio

When I started planning, I had a million ideas bouncing around my head. And I wasn’t entirely sure I could use them all. I was also a little nervous, as I had never thrown such a big and important party. And, in addition to planning and hosting the shower, I was determined to make the food and the cake. Fortunately, the wonderful ladies in my family were there to help me pull everything together for Ashley’s shower. I am happy to say that it turned out exactly how I’d pictured it in my head.

Teapot Centerpieces & Lollipop Flower Favors

Click below for my tea party menu and lots of pictures of the event. Maybe they’ll inspire you to host your own tea party!

Tea Party Menu

• Cucumber Sandwiches with Cream Cheese & Dill
• Tomato Sandwiches with Cream Cheese & Italian Parsley
• Mini Egg Salad Croissants with Green Leaf Lettuce
• Tortilla Roll-ups
• Raw vegetables with Dill Dip
• My Tropical Fruit Salad & Key Lime Dip



• White Chocolate Cranberry, Orange & Maple Scones from Avenue Fine Pastries in Lakewood, Ohio, served with clotted cream & preserves
• Strawberry Cake with Buttercream Frosting
• Chocolate-Cherry Cupcakes with Almond Whipped Cream Frosting

• White Cherry & Lemon-Mint Iced Teas, Raspberry Limeade & Coffee

With the exception of the tortilla roll-ups, scones and raspberry limeade, everything was made from scratch by me or one of the ladies in my family. I used cake recipes I had tried before, though they were in a different form. For the cake, I used this Strawberry Cupcake recipe. I like it because it does not call for cake mix or strawberry-flavored gelatin, which a lot of strawberry cake recipes do require. Also, it isn’t overly sweet which is nice when you’re using a frosting that’s as sugary as buttercream. For the cupcakes, I used this recipe for the Great American Chocolate Cherry Cake. Both recipes turned out moist & fluffy cakes that were easy to frost and work with. (A quick aside on the cake. It’s maybe the fifth cake I’ve ever made and the first tiered one. Considering this, I’m extremely happy with how it turned out!)

The Beautiful Bride showing off her edible cake topper

Of course, we had to play a game. I hate the majority of shower games, especially the one that involves making a wedding dress out of toilet paper. Instead, I decided to do a quiz called “Getting to Know the Bride & Groom”. I asked 21 questions: 7 about Ashley, 7 about Justin & 7 about them as a couple. The questions asked about things like his winter hobby (snowboarding), her (a daycare) and where they’re honeymooning (Ocho Rios, Jamaica). The winner was the person who got the most questions right.

After the game, my grandma (Honey) cut and served the cake. Everyone had cake and chatted while Ashley opened her presents. Unfortunately, we didn’t know that someone had booked the Carriage Barn for right when the shower was scheduled to end. So we had to leave in a bigger hurry than I would have liked. But the rest of the day went so smoothly that I couldn’t be too upset over it. I am so thankful that I had the chance to throw this shower for Ashley, and that it allowed so many wonderful ladies to get together and enjoy good food and celebration on a Saturday afternoon.

From L-R: Me, Mom & Ashley modeling our tea hats

Finally, I can’t thank my Mom, Honey, Aunt Ruby and Cousin Dianna enough for helping me make this such a special day for Ashley. They put up with my bossiness and helped me with anything I asked them to do. Without them, this wouldn’t have been such a success.