kitchen tea recaps - the decor

First of all, let me say that my Kitchen Tea on the 05/08/2012 was AMAZING. So amazing in fact, that I've decided to dedicate 3 recap posts to it - Decor, Games and Random Fun - so as not to bombard you all with a million photos all at once...and mostly because I just can't help myself! I feel so incredibly blessed to have such amazing friends and family around me who threw me such a great day filled with such love and laughter! I could not have asked for a better day!

Today's post focuses on the decor and set up, and let me tell you - I was blown away by how gorgeous the day was! My SIL most *definitely* had fun stalking my Pinterest boards (I'm sure you might recognise some variations of this, this, this, this and this!)

My mum, SIL and sister spent the morning setting up, with my MOH coming over to help. After doing my hair and make-up I headed out in my track pants (hot!) to help set up and make some dips as well. I just loved seeing everything as it was set up! Without further ado, I'll let the gorgeous pictures (taken by my little brother and my MOH mostly) speak for themselves!

The Overall Look

My mum and dad own a white marquee which comes in handy for events such as these!! We had our pink and white paper lanterns saved from our engagement party, that you can see along the roof of the marquee. I loved how they looked! The decor around the marquee was kept simple, but my mum was very excited when she and I stumbled upon these Kitchen Tea balloons in pink and green on a shopping trip one day!

The Game Prize Table!
Pink and Green Prizes...of course!

The Table Details
This is by far my favourite part. As you can see from the early pictures, there was a long line of tables along the back wall of the marque, filled with goodies! Here are a few close ups of the details that were included in our "Garden Tea Party" (as I found out my Nan was later describing it to her neighbours!)

The Food
My SIL made delicious cake pops for all of our guests as their party favour, to take home. They were either vanilla or chocolate and let me tell you, they were delicious! They either had pink or green sprinkles on top, with a matching ribbon. They looked fantastic! She also made a gorgeous vanilla cake.

My Nan (paternal grandmother) made her FAMOUS chocolate and caramel slice (trust me, this slice is famous amongst my family AND my friends!) and my Mum made her amazing (and just as famous!) scones and fruit punch (both a "kid-friendly" (ie. non-alcoholic) and a "spiked" version)

Amongst the other delicious options available to guests were - mini pancakes with strawberries and banana, various mini sandwiches, cob dip (a favourite of mine!), vegetable rice wraps, marshmallow pops (BIG hit with the kiddies!), pink lemonade and cloudy lemonade, jam tarts, pink and white marshmallows, mini muffins and various dips and biscuits! We definitely had our share of yummy food that day!

The Pretty Details!
As you can tell from the above posts, each item of food had their own little paper doily description tag. I love how these turned out - they looked amazing! This was one detail I was aware of before the day, as I helped my Mum and SIL cut them out one night. But the flowers and all of the little "tea party" details blew me away. I knew that they had been hunting for some tiered cake stands...but the way everything came together was just amazing! There's a mix of fantastic thrifted finds by my SIL, borrowed items from her mother's awesome collection and some new purchases mixed among there (including some amazing cake stands that my SIL found - they have Eiffel Towers and hydrangeas on them (two of my favourite things!) AND they were pink and green...talk about perfect!). The little glassware vases and spotted pots were borrowed from a recent family friend's wedding...but a post on that soon!

For now, some pictures of the amazing details...I love that they included lavender in the decor - one of our wedding colours/flavours! (PS. My Nan has an amazing green thumb and snuck some roses/lavender home to try and strike them. If she is successful, guess what I'll be growing at our new home!)

So that wraps up the decor for the moment! I think that is likely to be the longest post so thanks for sticking through it for the end. I promise you a reward for it in the next few days - and you can vote for it in the comments! I'm going to post my first recipe post here on the blog! Which would you prefer to see - My Mum's Amazing Punch or Yummy Scones? Vote below and I promise a recipe post with the winning entry by the end of the week!

In the meantime, a Games recap is coming up next! I hope you can all bear with me through reliving my Kitchen Tea - I just loved the day so much that I couldn't squeeze it all into one post!