An Alice in Wonderland Themed Bridal Tea Party

This Saturday we are throwing one of my BFFs (Jessica over at Leopurrd, check her out) a bridal shower, which inspired me to post this Wedding Wednesday about my bridal tea party, hosted by my Mother-in-law and godmother-in-law. I know, it seems rare to have a good relationship with an in-law, but I really do feel like mine is just like a second mother, and we have a great relationship. When we got engaged, her and her lifelong BFF (aka Joe’s godmother) said they wanted to throw a tea party for me and my girlfriends. It was super cute and fun, and I definitely want to do it again sometime! Here’s a little bit about my “Kirsten in Wonderland” tea party last summer.

The tea party was held at the Tea Rose Cottage in Ybor City, which was a very cute little tea house that had the usual “old” Ybor feel to it, and it had a lot of natural lighting. The women who worked there were friendly for the most part, except when it came to cutting the cake, they were a little difficult because the cake was brought from an outside vendor, so they weren’t very helpful in that aspect. And there wasn’t a good airflow in there, so it got a little warm at the end. Other than those minor setbacks, it was the perfect location.

When we arrived, we had a whole room to ourselves with several tables covered in Alice in Wonderland tea party decor. Everyone had a skeleton key with a name tag on it to place at their seat, there were pictures and quotes from Alice in Wonderland, and cut tags on everything. The hosts put so much thought and detail into this party, and I loved every little piece of it!

Each table had a 3-tier buffet stand full of tea sandwiches, scones with delicious creme, and some small desserts. It looks like we ate all of the sandwiches before a picture was taken. Haha.

Then it was on to my favorite part (besides spending a fun day with my favorite ladies) – the dessert table! There was a 3 tier Alice in Wonderland themed cake, cupcakes, and sugar cookies all made by the very talented Elise Garcia from Elise’s Pieces. (If you remember last week’s Wedding Wednesday post, Elise also created the groom’s cake for our wedding. Of course, that was decided after I saw what she was capable of at this tea party.) I would highly recommend using her for your next party, she’s awesome! You can see more of her amazing work on her Instagram, her name on there is ElisesPieces22.

The cake was red velvet, my favorite, and it was the best red velvet cake I’ve ever eaten. Even the fondant was delicious, which is rare! There was so much detail involved, it looked like a cake straight out of Wonderland. Elise drew scenes from the story around the bottom tier of the cake, and I believe she did it by hand, if I remember correctly. The giant tea pot (rice crispy with fondant) with flowers at the top was stunning, and the little mushrooms around the bottom of the cake were the perfect addition. The cupcakes also had a fondant topping, as well as other details from the story like stacked tea pots, the Cheshire Cat’s smile, clocks, and gold keys. Same with the sugar cookies. I was amazed at how creative and well put together everything was. And they were incredibly delicious, so that helped too!

A party isn’t complete without a few pictures of good friends, and we have A LOT. But, for the sake of the post, here’s one with some of my closest girlfriends all scrunched together at one table, and missing a few who couldn’t make it. My pink dress is from Lilly Pulitzer, and my white fascinator headband is from a local hat shop in Largo, Fl called I&M Classy Hats + More that I had to drive out to because Nordstrom’s didn’t have any white ones at the time. And a picture of me with the wonderful hosts, my godmother-in-law on the left and my awesome mother-in-law on the right. I am so lucky to have married into such an awesome and caring family, and to have a good relationship with them as well. This was definitely my most favorite tea party ever! And only, but still. Now I just need an excuse to wear my cute fascinator again!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from my bridal tea party, and hopefully it provides some inspiration if you are currently planning a bridal shower or party! I would love to hear what you did to celebrate your engagement/impending wedding with your girlfriends, or if you have any questions about the party, in the comments below!

xx,

Kirsten

Photography via: Jessica at Leopurrd