Before COVID-19 wrecked my world and metal health (still not knowing what is to become of my wedding day), I wanted to have a Bridal Brunch with my ladies. I knew I wanted to do a Sunday tea party bridal shower with my bridesmaids, friends, and family at my Nana's wrap-around porch. Since the hosts of my bridal shower had different ideas, we decided to have something in Tyler. I wanted to do it in Tyler so it wouldn't be so far for my out of town bridesmaids and friends. Finding a date with my Nana and Grandmother was a challenge since they were doing a lot of out of town trips. (Trips now canceled.) The date that would work for everyone was going to be a short turn around, two weeks away.
We went back and forth about where we wanted to have it. I looked around at all the places in Tyler and decided maybe to do it at the Grove until my grandmother came up with the idea to do it at our new house. I loved this idea because we could take all the time we wanted to set up and choose whatever we wanted to serve to eat. (If you are interested I was quoted $514.63 for 15 People at the grove. With 15 Mins set up and break down.) I really wanted to have the brunch outside for a "garden party," but the weather was not on our side.
For this brunch, we decided to rent tables and garden chairs (it would be easier for my grandmothers to rent them instead of having to bring them by themselves.) Something I didn't know was most companies drop off what you ordered Friday and pick up the items on Monday. So, this gave us a full day to set up the tables and chairs, and we didn't have to scramble Sunday morning to get everything set up.
I found inspiration on Pinterest and decided to have a lemon theme for the brunch. I knew I wanted to do greenery on the tables and have different china patterns. Saturday morning my grandmothers came over to my house to get things set up. They brought over their china, serving dishes, pitchers, table cloths, etc. My grandmother trimmed greenery off her trees to get an idea of what we wanted and how much we needed. She also bought a lot of lemons to decorated the tables and house. We set up the tables in the hall with the table clothes, plates, glasses, silverware, and napkins with the decor. Then we filled one table with greenery to get an idea of what we liked. We set up the food and desert table with labels saying what will go where and did the flower arrangements.
The next morning before the guests arrived we took out all of the furniture in the living room, (the weather was not good enough to have this party outside) and moved the tables into the living room. One thing I wish I would have done differently was make the drinks the night before. I felt rushed trying to do last minute things, get the house in order (making the bed and putting random stuff away stuff), getting ready, and making drinks. I ended up panicking, and poured most of the bottle of vodka into the Lemon Drop pitcher. Other than that we had a great time. I don't know if other hosts feel weird and wonder if everyone thought it was a nice party, maybe just me. But everyone had nothing but nice things to say, so I guess we did an awesome job. I couldnt have done it without my Nana , Grandmother, and Kayleigh so shout out to them!
The Essentials:
6' Tables (Seats 6 comfortably)
20 Garden Chairs
Table clothes + Lace Table Clothes
Napkins (with fake lemon slices and twine)
Dishes, Glasses & Silverware
Tables decorated with Greenery and Lemons (Whole and Sliced)
Food Table
Desert Table (if necessary)
A place for gifts
Shower favors
Vases and Yellow Flowers
The Menu:
Fruits
Vegetables
Bagels and Muffins (Corner Bakery Cafe)
Sausage Balls
Bacon
Cinnamon Rolls
Banana Bread
and a Breakfast Bundt with sausage, egg, cheese, and biscuit breading
Deserts:
Cookies
Lemon Bars
Lemon Bites
Refreshments:
Infused water
Mimosas
Lemon Drops
Shower Favors: Both were made by my sweet Nana.
Lemon Sugar Scrub (Recipe in the next post!) and a Yellow Candy Bag (made up of yellow Starburst, Recees, Butterfingers, and caramel hard candies)
Invitations and Games:
Purchased on Etsy!