A kitchen tea is a wonderful way to celebrate an exciting new chapter in the bride’s life, and to help equip the newlyweds get off to a festive and fun – yet also practical and caring – start to their marriage. Don’t be intimidated by the idea of organising the kitchen-tea party: a fabulous get-together is easier to pull off than you think.
Critical to success is to remember that this occasion is all about the bride – not you, and not her family and friends. The first thing is to put yourself in her shoes and arrange a get-together that she will love. If she is a classy cupcake queen, think high style instead of a noisy bachelorette party. In fact, a fabulous high-tea bridal shower is an all-inclusive celebration that will be enjoyed equally by everyone from the precious little flowergirl to her intimidating granny and lovely new mother-in-law.
ACTION PLAN
Here is our easy plan to help you take the stress and strain out of organising and hosting this once-in-a-lifetime affair. You may want to arrange the shower solo or form an organising committee together with the bride’s bridesmaids, sisters and mom.
Guest list. Do not make the mistake of inviting someone to the kitchen tea who has not been invited to the wedding. (Yes, this has happened, and it creates a very embarrassing situation for the bride and the guest.) Ask the bride’s mother, the groom or her chief bridesmaid for a list of the wedding guests and their email addresses and/or phone numbers. Once you’ve sent out the invitations, follow up on guests who’ve forgotten to RSVP so you are certain how many guests to cater for.
Top secret or not? Decide up front whether it is to be a surprise party or not. (Some people absolutely detest surprises and others love them, so check in with her mother and besties before you make your decision.) If it is to be a surprise, ensure you emphasise this in all party correspondence (emails, invitations, etc.) right from the word go.
Choose a colour scheme. A fun idea is to find out what the bride’s favourite Le Creuset colour is, and then create your colour scheme accordingly. This will also help with gift choices.
Clockwise from top left: Pear Cake in Cassis Heritage Dish, Mediterranean Mezze Trio on Marseille Barbecue Platter, 2 Tier Vanilla Cake served on Footed Cake Stand in Cherry, Pink Lemonade served in a Caribbean Blue Jug
Food. Delegate, delegate, delegate! You do not have to cook everything yourself just because you’re organising the kitchen tea. If you’re not a foodie, get one of the guests with culinary flair to draw up the menu (or make sure the organising committee does this) so you don’t end up with mismatched food or too much of one thing. Try to balance a good spread of savoury eats and sweet treats.
Once you’ve decided on the menu and on quantities, create an online spreadsheet to send to all the guests who’ve accepted the kitchen-tea invitation. Ask them to fill in their names next to the item they are volunteering to contribute. Hint: if there are special items you need (for example, urns, extra teapots, coffee presses, ice buckets, platters and cake stands, special colour-coded napkins or paper serviettes, etc.), add them to the spreadsheet too so that all the guests can help out as much as they wish to.
|
INSPIRATION FOR A HIGH-TEA MENU Savoury eats Sweet treats Healthy options Drinks |
Clockwise from top left: Blinis with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese, Chocolate Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Ganache, Cucumber and Mint Lemonade and Baked Cheesecake with Berry Compote
Party decor. Set the scene for an indulgent high tea with a beautifully decorated table. Ask everyone to bring their food contributions on white or cream platters (so they don’t detract from the decorations), lay the dining table with a white tablecloth and then use flowers, napkins, bunting, balloons and other pretty decor items to create pops of colour in your chosen colour scheme. Use Le Creuset cake stands for height and colour-coded ramekins for interest
.
Tip: if your party has a one-colour theme, choose your menu to match. For example, for a pink-themed party, choose pink icing for cupcakes, a berry pavlova, pink bubbly, a bowl of seedless red grapes or strawberries, and so on.)
Clockwise from top left: Jug, Cake Stand, Espresso Mug, Footed Cake Stand
Staff members. Arrange some extra help on the domestic front so even if you’re the hostess you’ll be able to join in the fun instead of constantly having to boil the kettle and refill teapots. Add a sentence to the menu spreadsheet along the lines of: “Calling all reluctant cooks: we’ll have two lovely ladies helping us, so if you’d prefer to contribute cash towards their wages instead of a platter of snacks, then bring some money on the day – thanks!” This is an understated way to get guests to contribute according their means, capacity and strengths.
Gifts. We’ve got inspired gift ideas for everyone from a young bride who is starting out in her first home to the consummate entertainer who has it all. If the bride would like to choose her own kitchen-tea gifts, why don’t you suggest to her that she creates a gift registry at Le Creuset? This takes the guesswork out of choosing presents she will love and treasure – plus she will easily be able to exchange colours and sizes if necessary. Note that it is increasingly popular for guests to club together to treat the bride to an indulgent heirloom item, especially if she already has a well-equipped kitchen.
For more hints and tips for making the bridal shower – and the wedding itself – a truly happy and stress-free occasion, visit our Le Creuset Wedding & Gift Registry website.
Did you know that you can choose a gift at our online store, ask for it to be gift-wrapped and then delivered to your friend’s front door? And if she is a little unsure about your choice she can either swap the item via the online store or pop in to her closest Le Creuset store.
Submit a Comment