These buttery madeleines are spiced with ground cardamom and coated with a sweet citrus icing, a tasty spin on the traditional French tea treats.

Few things look or smell fresher than sprigs of aromatic herbs. Display a variety of them at a tea station after your meal so guests can select their favorites. Keep a few pots of hot water on hand so they can infuse their picks.

Just as the coffee is being served, give guests one of these caramel wafers to place on top of their cups. It will keep their coffee warm and the heat of the cup will soften the caramel, turning the wafer into a sweet, gooey treat.

Tart and sweet, these hazelnut cheesecake squares are a delightful dessert option for any bridal shower.

Subtly infused with tea, this fresh take on the classic dessert is sure to satisfy everyone's sweet tooth. Just bake the custard right in the cups and serve with a cookie or biscuit.

Colorful blooms pressed between squares of glass make coasters that are just as beautiful as they are useful. We used pansies here, but you can choose your favorite flowers in shades that match your palette.

Make a cup of coffee look and taste extra special by pairing it with fresh cherries dipped in melted white chocolate. Leave the stems attached to let the cherries perch daintily on the saucer.

Package metal tins containing your favorite tea blends in pretty prints and ribbons for guests to bring home with them. The favors will match the theme of the shower, and your guests can think of you every time they brew a cup.

With their sugar-brushed flower petals and fragrant, rose-flavored glaze, these delicate cupcakes are pretty in pink and perfect to serve to shower guests. On the inside, jewels of candied ginger are hidden in a zesty ginger cake that's just the right amount of sweet.

A platter of these fruity cream scones will pair quite nicely with your favorite coffee and tea blends.

This shower takes the tea theme one step further than most. Each guest is asked to bring an antique cup and saucer set as a gift. The result is a tabletop no bride could ever plan -- or resist.

No tea party is complete without a few bite-sized treats to snack on. These citrusy tea cakes are sure to be crowd pleasers.

Dress up a tea party with these adorable handmade doilies in the colors of your shower. They're easy to make and a great decoration for the tables at the shower.

Flowers fade, but beautiful china can be enjoyed long after the shower is over. Collect cups and saucers from flea markets, rent them from party rental companies, or, for a sweet touch, borrow them from family members of the bride. Stack them high, secure with Museum Wax, set votive candles in the cups, grace every saucer with a single rose or more, and you've got yourself a super-inexpensive centerpiece that's graceful, unique, and perfect for a tea-themed bridal shower.

If you want to truly personalize your tea shower, try serving cookies shaped in the profile of the bride and groom. The Victor Trading Co. will create custom cookie cutters using silhouettes (trace the outline of their profiles from a photograph). To yield the best results, use the cutters on a firm dough that holds its shape while baking.

Everyone knows the special couple is cut out for each other; these monogrammed shortbread sandwich cookies just drive home the point. Let store-bought cookie cutters do the heavy lifting; we used a round ruffly one to get the shape, and mini alphabet cutters for the monogram. Between the layers lies sweet-tart rhubarb jam -- another perfect match.

Serve up these personalized tea bags at the shower, or send guests home with them after the party is over. Simply place your favorite tea inside a glassine pouch. To get the classic tea bag shape, fold the corners in, then the top of the pouch down. Use a needle and thread to stitch closed, and add a tag. Bags, Nashville Wraps.

Warm up shower guests by adding a handwritten note to a tea bag. Cut two hearts out of red construction paper using a heart-shaped crafter's hole punch (available at crafts stores). Use a metallic pen to write a short message on one of the hearts. Next, remove a tea-bag tag; at the end of the string, affix two hearts, back-to-back, using double-sided tape or a stapler.

With their beautiful ornamentation and lettering, biscuit and tea tins bring old-fashioned charm to a bridal shower and perfectly fit in with a tea theme. New or vintage, the containers are inexpensive and easy to find at specialty food stores, tag sales, and online auctions. Test tins to make sure they're watertight before filling with single-flower arrangements. If any do leak, use plastic bags as liners. Choose an array of flowers in the color palette of the shower or wedding.

These cookies put a cute spin on the idea of a "shower." We used umbrella cookie cutters to make these sweet treats that are sure to make your shower guests smile.

A dainty rose petal makes the perfect dish for a sugar cube awaiting a cup of coffee, tea, or espresso. These pale-pink rose petals are subtle and feminine, but any favorite blossom can be used, provided it's organic and nontoxic. Pluck petals from the flower, and set one sugar cube onto each.

Use colored rock-candy sticks from Candy Warehouse that match the color palette of your shower, and you'll add a touch of sweetness and style to the tea.

The classic English teatime elements are reinvented and made modern with ingredients from the sushi bar. This food is as decorative as it is delectable. These tea sandwiches combine the familiar (smoked salmon, poached chicken, cucumbers, dill, watercress, and cream cheese) with the unexpected (wasabi, shiso leaf, fresh salmon roe, black caviar, and black and white sesame seeds). Guests (and the bride) will be delighted with these on the shower menu.

A classic served at a proper tea is shortbread; here we give it a modern twist, making it with green tea. The classic cookies are round with small spoon and fork imprints; the green tea shortbread is cut into the shape of leaves and looks beautiful displayed on a simple tray.

Nothing goes better with tea than a sweet homemade cookie. Create a cookie bar by making some homemade treats and placing them in labeled jars -- this way, your guests can choose their favorites. They can eat them during the shower, or you can set out glassine-lined bags and seals for packaging cookies to go.

Another sweet option to serve guests are these madeleines edged in pale pink sugar and baked in unusual scallop-shell shapes. Use different colored sugar to go with the palette of the shower.

Do double duty by creating centerpieces that guests can also take home as favors after the shower. Our arrangements include 'Ping Pong' mums, chamomile, and lady's mantle, but you can use any blooms to fit your color scheme. The flowers are held in small plastic floral tubes filled with water.

Japanese green tea leaves surrounded by French tilleul leaves are nestled in small wooden boxes and make beautiful party favors. They're wrapped in pale-pink vellum paper and ribbon, then decorated with antique waxed leaves. Use different color paper and ribbon to match the color palette of the shower.

After the shower, send guests home with a bundle of your favorite tea. Buy loose tea in bulk, trim the tops of tea bags (by T-sac, available where loose tea is sold) with scalloping scissors, and fill with one teaspoon of tea. Tie with baker's twine. Print a personalized message onto card stock, and cut out. Punch a hole, thread onto twine, and knot.

Guests will remember you warmly as they sip this gift. Place loose tea in the center of a 12-inch square of cellophane. Pull up edges, tie with twine, and place in a teacup. Slip one end of the twine through slits in a monogrammed tag, and knot.

Tea is twice as nice coupled with cookies flavored the same way. These Earl Grey tea cookies were made by mixing tea leaves into shortbread batter. Customize a box with corrugated paper to form sections for cookies and tea bags. Ours is wrapped with damask paper and ribbon, but feel free to use paper and ribbon that matches the color palette of the shower or wedding. Monogrammed tags, shaped like ones for tea bags, reveal the gift inside.

Get inspired by pretty and practical ideas for a bridal shower tea.

Start by sending guests invitations that fit the tea theme. These invites are tea bags with handwritten, accordion-pleated messages enclosed in pink envelopes.

Garlands of delphiniums are hung across a mirror to create a soft and feminine decoration at a bridal tea. The garland is made by stringing the flowers and buds by hand on green embroidery thread.