June: A Wedding Reception Tea

Menu

Beverages:
Lady Grey hot tea from a silver urn
White Tea Champagne Punch
Cucumber Water (recipe not included) 

Savories: 
Cheese Platter including Brie, Bleu, and Cheddar with Assorted Crackers, Stuffed Dates, and Fig Jam
Leek and Spinach Tarts
Open-faced Crab Salad Sandwiches on Dark Bread
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Ribbon Tea Sandwiches
Poached Salmon with Dilled Crème Friaiche

Breads and Scones:
Parmesan Scones with Onion Marmalade
Cream Scones with Raspberry Variation
Lemon Curd

Sweets: 
Lily of the Valley Sugar Cookies
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Lemon Verbena Madeleines
Cherry Thumbprint Cookies
Lemon Yogurt Wedding Cake with Fresh Flower Decorations

Complete Wedding Reception Tea Menu Planning Guide (included with purchased Menu)

 

The bride and her family can save themselves a thousand headaches along with a reasonable sum of money by adapting the Wedding Reception to the Philosophy of Tea. Basing a wedding reception on Afternoon Tea makes decision-making much easier. All choices, from the menu, the flowers, the décor, and the music are made according to tea traditions and are thus simplified. Early June in the garden suggests soft greens and whites in flowers and food. Historically, Lily of the Valley has been a favorite wedding flower, signifying the springtime return to happiness, its literal French translation. Catherine Middleton, now the British Duchess of Cambridge, carried these delicate flowers in her bridal bouquet when she married Prince William. With careful thought and time management, your wedding reception can be just as memorable.

A tea reception with elegant and beautifully prepared food for about 50 or even 100 guests is a reachable goal with advanced planning and reliable help. You can set up one or more lovely buffet tables for the sandwiches, savories and scones, and the sweets and wedding cake will have their own beautifully decorated table. On the round tables where the guests will be seated, you can include charming teapots, teacups, cream pitchers and sugar bowls and even a two-tiered server with some of the decorated cookies for the guests to admire as they help themselves.

Using good china, linens, and stemware in an outdoor setting makes for a dignified, elegant event. Arrange to rent or borrow equipment, and coordinate the décor with the serving pieces. Mixed white serving ware with silver pieces would be lovely. The couple themselves will make the final decisions as to which elements of the Wedding Tea can be created by family members and friends and which will call for professional services. Professional flower arrangements and catering of at least some of the food would make sense, unless you have willing experts in your family.

A focal point of this joyful celebration will be the Homemade Wedding Cake, which a designated friend can make at home and transport to the wedding venue. Our recipe provides you with all of the information you will need, including a Planning Guide with an equipment list and timeline, to create a stunning Lemon Yogurt Cake, which Kathleen has made herself on numerous occasions for the weddings of special friends.

We also provide a comprehensive Planning Guide for the entire Wedding Reception Tea Menu including all of the logistics for a six-person team to create the Beverages, Savories, Sauces and Condiments, Scones, Sweets and the Wedding Cake. In addition to general recommendations about seating, table settings, arrangements for the buffet tables, the wedding party’s table and the wedding cake table as well as the budget and agenda for the initial Wedding Reception Team Meeting, this guide provides detailed equipment lists, ingredients lists, and timelines for each team member. We believe that no gift for the bride and groom could be more meaningful than a gorgeous Afternoon Tea presented in their honor by friends and family members who love them.

White Tea Champagne Punch
This charming punch, which contains both white tea and Champagne, also has notes of lemon and ginger. We think the Wedding Guests will love this unusual refresher with the sweet and savory foods on our tea menu. Double the recipe to make a larger batch. You may need two double batches of this sparkling refresher to keep your guests hydrated.

Stuffed Dates
Stuffed Dates have been a nutritious treat in the Middle East for centuries, and their popularity has spread worldwide. Traditionally, the dates are stuffed with marzipan, a sweetened almond paste, or whole almonds or pistachios can be stuffed inside dates after the pits have been removed. Since we are serving Stuffed Dates with the Cheese Platter, we will use a mild cream cheese, scented with honey and orange, to complement the other cheeses. There are approximately 16-20 Medjool dates per pound. Feel free to adjust the proportions of the ingredients in our recipe if you would like to make more or fewer Stuffed Dates.

Leek and Spinach Tarts
These green on green tarts are packed with spinach flavor complemented by sautéed leeks. They can be baked in standard muffin pans or tart pans. Though petit, they are rather hearty and will certainly be welcome on the Wedding Reception buffet.

Open-faced Crab Salad Sandwiches on Dark Bread
Freshness and simplicity are the keys to making these unforgettable and elegant sandwiches. Buy loaves of fresh, sliced dark bread, such as whole grain or German style dark seeded bread the day of the Wedding Reception, and pre-order freshly cooked and shelled crab to be picked up at a reliable fish market when you are out buying the bread. 

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Our Asian-inspired chicken mixture scooped right into little Bibb lettuce cups is both pretty and delicious.  Serve the chicken from a heated buffet server with a big basket of lettuce leaves along side. Your guests will love the fresh take on a party chicken entrée. You’ll find helpful lists at the end of the recipe to assist with shopping.

Ribbon Tea Sandwiches
Ribbon Sandwiches, with their charming visual appeal, have been favorite tea time savories since the 1950s. Using contrasting layers of fillings and types of bread, Ribbon Sandwiches make every event seem even more festive. For our Wedding Reception Tea, we offer several types of fillings and breads to appeal to your guests’ varied preferences. 

Iced Ribbon Sandwich Loaf
In addition to the layered ribbon tea sandwiches on alternating types of bread, we offer this show stopping Iced Ribbon Sandwich Loaf at our Wedding Reception Tea. The finished loaf looks exactly like an iced cake and serves as a savory preview of the real wedding cake to come.

Poached Salmon with Dilled Crème Fraiche
Cold poached salmon will be the star of your Wedding Reception buffet. Decorate this flavorful fish presentation with thinly sliced cucumbers and lemons, and serve with Dilled Cucumber Sauce. For the more adventurous among your guests, we also offer Yogurt Vegetable Sauce with Cumin, a fresh variation of Indian Raita. Both of the sauces can be made the day before the wedding, and the salmon can be poached and chilled the morning of the wedding. This recipe should provide plenty of salmon for 50 guests. Order the salmon from a reliable fish market several days before the wedding, and pick it up the morning of the wedding. Bring an ice chest with ice to the market to transport the salmon, and poach it, either at home or in the kitchen of the place where the reception will be held.

Parmesan Scones with Onion Marmalade
We look forward to enjoying scones with lemon curd or jam at tea parties, but savory scones can also be very much appreciated by those who do not care for sweets. These Parmesan Scones, enhanced with fresh basil, will be delicious with Poached Salmon and the other savory offerings on the Buffet Table. We also provide a stunning home made Onion Marmalade to spread on the Parmesan Scones. Our easy recipe makes twelve Parmesan Scones, but you will need to make about five batches to serve 50 wedding guests. This will not be a difficult task, as the scones are made in a food processor. We think you can make 5 batches of Parmesan Scones in about two hours.

Cream Scones with Raspberry Variation
These traditional English Scones, made with both butter and cream, are familiar additions to the Afternoon Tea table. You can include fresh berries in this recipe to create Blackberry, Blueberry or Raspberry Scones. For our June Wedding Reception Tea, we will serve Raspberry Scones. Depending on the size of the wedding party, you may want to make several batches of these delicious classic Scones. We recommend baking five or six batches to serve 50 guests. Serve these delicately browned wedges with homemade Lemon Curd while they are still warm.

Lemon Curd
A sweet, tart, creamy and custard-like creation, Lemon Curd has been a staple of British Afternoon tea for generations. Commercial versions are easy to find, but making your own will produce the best Lemon Curd possible. The most traditional way to serve Lemon Curd is to spread it in the middle of a Scone that you have gently pulled apart by hand. Lemon Curd can also serve as a layer cake filling, as it is used in our Lemon Yogurt Wedding Cake. Thus, the Raspberry Cream Scones with Lemon Curd will serve as a preview of the highlight of the wedding reception: The Wedding Cake.

Lily of the Valley Sugar Cookies
These elegant and symbolic cookies are made with a lily of the valley cookie stamp. We have always loved the look of stamped cookies but had both been disappointed when the carefully stamped image came out of the oven a puffy, unrecognizable blob. Kathleen had given up on stamped cookies until she came upon a beautiful lily of the valley cookie stamp at a Scottish Highland festival. She was lamenting to her mother about the truculent dough when the Scotsman in charge of the booth explained step by step exactly how to make perfect stamped cookies. She bought the stamp, followed his instructions carefully, and lo and behold, the cookies baked up with a crisp, beautiful image. If you have any cookie stamps that are appropriate for a wedding, do use them for this recipe. You can also use the bottom of an old juice glass that has a sunburst pattern. These cookies also taste delicious!

Mexican Wedding Cookies (Russian Tea Cakes)
You may have discovered after perusing some of the menus in this book, that Mexican Wedding Cookies and Russian Tea Cakes are in fact identical twins. This cookie, one of the best ever invented, appeals to many cultures and is appropriate for any number of special occasions, such as our June Wedding Reception Tea. Make at least two batches to serve 50 wedding guests. Fortunately, you can bake these several days before the wedding and store them in air-tight containers.

Lemon Verbena Madeleines
Lemon Verbena plants were introduced to North America by early Spanish explorers. Both the leaves and the very fragrant star-shaped white or violet flowers are edible. Lemon Verbena grows abundantly in Southern California from spring through autumn and is a refreshing addition to warm weather foods. To make Lemon Verbena Madeleines, follow the instructions for the Lemon Verbena Variation in our Madeleines recipe.

Cherry Thumbprint Cookies
Thumbprint cookies are an eternal favorite. These rich, buttery nuggets, filled with cherry preserves, will delight your wedding guests and bring back happy childhood memories on this festive day.

Lemon Yogurt Wedding Cake with Fresh Flower Decorations 
Making a wedding cake for someone you love is a gift that will be remembered for a lifetime. And there will be many photographs of it! It is a lot of work, but by breaking it into manageable steps, it can be done in a reasonably stress-free manner. A good cake baker can create a cake large enough to feed a wedding party with a plan, some tested recipes, some specific equipment, and a few tricks for handling large sized cakes. Planning is the most important step. 

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THE TEA BOOK
The Road Back to Civilization
A Brief History of Tea
  Philosophy of Tea
     Harmony
     Humility
     Respect
     Creativity

Guidelines for the Host/Hostess

  Gathering and Greeting
  Sharing Stories
  Sharing Food
  Sending the Guests Home

Guidelines for the Guest

  Respect your Hostess/Host
  Bring a Gift if You Wish
  Practice Humility
  Monitor Your Conversation
  Arrive With a Grateful Attitude
  Help if Help is Needed
  Do Not Criticize
  Leave Gracefully
  Send a Thank you Note

A Checklist for Planning a Tea Party
Teas of the World and How to Make Tea

  A Sampling of Teas
  Herbal Teas and Tisanes
  How to Make Tea
  Making Iced Tea
  Tea Concentrate
  Brewing Tea for a Crowd

Tea Utensils and Accessories

  Tea Kettle
  Tea Pot
  Tea Cozy
  Teacups
  Plates
  Silverware
  Teacart
  Tea Strainer
  Tea Infuser
  Three-Tiered Server
  Cream Pitcher and Sugar   Bowl
  Cake Pedestal
  Trifle Bowl
  Jam Pots
  Serving Dishes, Platters, and Trays
  Silver Tea Set or Silver Tray
  Linens
  Kitchen Equipment for Food Preparation

Tea Menu Basics

  Sandwiches and Savories
  Savory Spreads and Dips
  Scones and Tea Breads

About Lemons

  Afternoon Tea and the Four Seasons

     A Spring Tea
     An Outdoor Summer Tea
     A Winter Afternoon Tea
     An Autumn Afternoon Tea

A Calendar of Tea Parties

  January:A Japanese New Year’s Tea
  February:Valentine’s Day Tea
  March:A St. Patrick’s Day Irish Tea
  April:An Easter Tea
May:Mother’s day Tea
  June:A Wedding Reception Tea

Lemon Yogurt Wedding Cake

  July:A Picnic Tea
  AUGUST:A FAMILY REUNION TEA

A North American Family Reunion Tea
  An Eastern Mediterranean Family Reunion Tea
  A Kosher Family Reunion Tea
  A Scandinavian Family Reunion Tea

  September:An Ozark Farm Harvest Tea
  October:A Tea to Honor   Our Ancestors(Dia de los Muertos)
  November:A Post Thanksgiving Tea
  December: A Christmas Tea

  In Defense of Fruitcake:Fruitcakes and Candied Fruit

A World of Tea Parties

  A Chinese Dim Sum Tea
  A Portuguese Tea
  A Classic British Afternoon Tea
  An Indian Chai Party
  A California Tea
  A Hawaiian Tea
  An Italian Tea
  An American Southern Tea
  A Russian Tea
A French Afternoon Tea
  A Kosher Teawith  Traditional Jewish Foods

Afternoon Tea for Special Occasions

An Afternoon Tea for Children
  A Tea for Our Elders
  A Honey Bee Tea in the Garden
  An Urban Tea on the Go
  Tea for One
  Afternoon Tea For a Large Group
  A Vegan Tea
  A Rose Tea