Baby Shower: the Tea-less Tea


I had the pleasure of hostessing Ali's baby shower.  I secured my position as Thrower-Of-The-Party early because I wanted to make a big deal. There has been a lot of eager waiting where this little guy is concerned - and a lot of struggles on the part of his mom and dad.  Ali's adorable little bump is a triumph against odds and challenges.  A celebration was due.

I joined host-forces with Rischelle - who knows how to throw a party.  She's one of those people with a lot of creative muscle.  You know what I mean?  I'm not just talking about the fact that on the day of the shower, she moved all of her living room furniture to her garage to make room for the tables.

"all out" is not a foreign phrase to her lexicon.

I wanted the shower to be different.  I wanted something that would be both elegant and refined (to show my great esteem for mother and baby), but also casual and relaxed; something enjoyable to all.

Result: the Tea-less Tea

I mean, who doesn't love a tea party!? Minus the actual tea, of course.

I made the invitations (with some help from my graphic-designer husband):

(PIC COMING SOON!)

You pull the tag and the 'tea bag' comes out with the RSVP information.

Party colors: White and baby blue.  I loved the simple, classic look of it.

Rischelle was kind enough to host the party at her house (which is beautiful).  We borrowed some round tables and chairs from her church building and covered them with white cloths, accented with baby blue napkins and white tissue POOFS! 



We borrowed tea sets from some of the women in the family, so each table had cups and saucers from different sets.  Mismatched.  Adorable.

Each place setting had:


Teacup and saucer
Ettiquette scroll listing some fun facts about traditional teas and some 'rules of ettiquette' for attending a tea.
Game Packet (with four custom-made games) and pencil
Teabag favor - made with care and skill by Rischelle.

Here's a better look:


The initials stand for Malachi Steven Cope - which is the little guys name.  Don't you love the paper she chose?

Here's how they work:

You open the flap (which is secured by a velcro dot)


Inside is a little bag filled with chocolate covered almonds - oh the joy! - and a little tag secured by a little blue ribbon...


The tag says:

Grateful are we
for joining our tea
celebrating the arrival
soon to be!

And on the back:

Sorry about the horrible shot - the label says:

Ingredients: Ten toes, a button nose
a sweet smileand chubby elbows
Malachi Steven Cope Tea
is a product of Cope enterprises.

DON'T YOU LOVE IT?!



We had little teacups full of light and dark chocolate m&m's for prizes for the games - and the big prize was this adorable teapot filled with miniature chocolate bars:


I made a banner to compliment the white and blue motif:


And now...the SPREAD!

A tea is really just an excuse to have a lot of really tasty, adorable and bite sized edibles.

Rischelle and 'the spread':



Our Tea featured the following:

For 'tea', we had raspberry limeade and hot apple cider.


I made blueberry scones (first time ever!) to be served with strawberry freezer jam:

Tomato basil bruschetta:

Baby blue frosted sugar cookies and mock Bavarian Cream Eclaires:

and Banana Carrot bread, which I forgot to take a picture of.

Rischelle made cucumber sandwiches:

and Ribbon sandwiches:

And Jamie made pumpkin cookies - which I had on good authority were a favorite of Mommy-to-Be's:

My mom made an incredible salad of spinach and spring greens, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, nuts and a homemade sweet vinagrette dressing.  I am an idiot and didn't get a good picture of it - though you can see it in the 'spread' picture above.

It was heaven.  I had two helpings.

Ali's loot:


Toward the end of the evening, Ali presented Rischelle and I with a "hostess gift" - again, didn't get a picture, which is TRAGIC, because it was incredibly cool!  We got gift bags with a soft blanket, some decadent chocolates (I got chocolate covered apricots!), and a sparkling beverage.  I was surprised and delighted - and very impressed!

It was a wonderful afternoon; and we actually ended right on time!  That, for me, is miraculous.

And now we just have to wait for little Mal's arrival!  (drumming fingers on table, watching Ali's tummy impatiently)

Special thanks to:

Rischelle - for the home, the favors - which were a lot of work! - the sammies, and all the email correspondences before the big event.

Daughters of Rischelle: Victoria, Annika, Hadley  - for helping us pull it all together right before the guests began to arrive.  I've never seen such charming scrolls, such sharp pencils, nor such poofy poofs!

Mom - for the amazing salad, the use of your china, and all the help and support before and during the event!

Jamie - for the pumpkin cookies, for the use of your china, and for filling all those darn eclaires with cream!

Megan - for picking up the balloons, for the decorating expertise (the room looked amazing!), and all the food help!

Ali - for letting us borrow your china cups, for the AWESOME hostess gift, and for giving us such a great reason to celebrate!

 And Shawn - for letting us take over your house.




*Planning a shower/party/no-reason tea?  Want to know how to make/bake/create something featured here?  Leave a comment or email me directly.  We here at Stepper Was Here do not believe in reinventing the wheel.






5 comments:

That Girl said...

Will you throw me a shower? Seriously?

Mandy@ a sorta fairytale said...

Wow!! Looks like you throw an awesome shower/party!! What a lucky friend you have! Everything looked beautiful! :-)

MikkSolo said...

Awesome... Just Awesome! You are so complimentary. it makes us want to help again.

Shawn

Tamsin said...

Let's be honest: you just really raised the bar for yourself where shower throwing is concerned. Now I'm even more super-excited for my shower!!!

Ali Marie said...

It was amazing! Thank you again for all of the hard work. I am so greatful that you took so many pictures since my camera is off in Europe with Steve... You are the best Stephanie sister ever!