Royal Wedding Tea Party

The royal wedding was all we hoped it would be. ‘We’ being the small group of celebratory guests gathered at my parents’ house for the early morning event. We arrived on Thursday evening, settled in to sleeping bags around the house, set alarms, and drifted to sleep with visions of wedding dresses and fashionable hats dancing in our heads.

At 3:45am, we awoke with excitement…and very sleepy eyes…just in time to watch the procession of royalty begin. First it was the princes, followed by family members and the queen, and finally, the soon-to-be-princess. We were in awe as Miss Kate stepped from the car to reveal her much anticipated bridal gown.

Although we remained in our wee-hour jammies, fancy hats and fascinators could not be dismissed.

My mum looked quite festive in her lovely, purple wedding hat.

My Auntie Bue sported this amazing style. It’s an official police helmet from England! She was given it as a gift from the class of DARE officers she recently taught. They added the E 911 just for her. Pretty sure that won her the prize for best hat. (The flowers are behind the hat, not attached to it.)

We nibbled on scones and real English tea but never took our eyes off the TV in fear we would miss a beautiful moment.

Another of our royal treats – shortbread cookies with crowns. How appropriate.

Did you know that “jellies” are very popular in England? It’s quite amazing the things you can learn on The Today Show. I discovered this treat just a few days before the event and happened to already have a little copper Jell-o mold. (It looks cute on top of my kitchen cupboards.) The top layer was cherry, the bottom was black cherry, and between the layers I slipped in a mix of berries. My first jelly! Perfectly memorable for the wedding.

I couldn’t resist making cupcakes for such a celebration. Another popular tea party dessert in England. These chocolate cakes were decorated with regal, purple, almond frosting and white fondant circles stamped with a W. For Windsor, of course.