It was near the end of October when my cousin Faatimah announced that she’d be getting married on 22 November. There wasn’t time for much breathing with a month between the announcement and the wedding date, but I couldn’t see her not having a bridal shower. I believe every bride should be celebrated before her wedding day and she was no exception especially because she’s so dear to me. (We ran a successful business together when we were aged 10 and 12, but I’ll tell you more about that some other time.)

I quickly conferred with her mom to settle on a date. We decided on 9 November, which really only left me with about a week and a half to plan and shop for the event. But I love a challenge and I love putting parties together so I enjoyed doing this.

The first thing I did was decide on a theme: Afternoon tea with the bride-to-be.

I put these posters up on the day. With thanks to my aunt for printing.

Next I made some invitations and sent them out electronically. In this digital age, a tangible invitation isn’t necessary. It also saves time when you don’t have to hand-deliver invitations to a bunch of people who live scattered around the city.

I blacked out some details but you can get the idea here. In hindsight I should have gone with a purple background.

I also included some gift ideas. Since she’d be leaving for China soon, the gifts needed to be appropriate for this eventuality in her life.

And people gave her such lovely things.

After that, I went to get some decor items in China Town. You can get a lot there for a really good price. My aunt (the mother of the bride) also got the purple table cloths for the decor and the silver overlays, which was draped in front of the buffet table. I also added vases of fresh flowers to the tables. Flowers add a nice touch to any table.

A collage of what it looked like.

Then of course I had to put together an afternoon tea menu. Since it took place after lunch on a Sunday I didn’t want heavy things but also didn’t want an empty buffet.

For savoury: Crostini with various toppings; samoosas, springrolls; sausage rolls; pies; mini quiches; pizza puffs and a chicken platter. For sweets: Fruit; scones; cupcakes; lamingtons; milktart; carrot cake; mini puddings.

Cupcakes fashioned into a wedding dress

There was also a question of games. I decided to keep those to a minimum so that the rest of the afternoon could be dedicated to spending time with the bride-to-be before her big day.

All of this was kept as a surprise for her and boy was she surprised. She had no clue what she was walking into and burst into (happy, I’m sure) tears as soon as she realised what was going on.

As always, I’m thankful for those who help out and contribute to any event. This time the females in my family get a huge shout out for their help.