Who does not love bridal showers and their yummy snacks and drinks? Especially on a sunny day outside in the backyard, the umbrellas up, and all the beautiful flowing dresses and hats. I could picture it now.
Brunch (1-15)
1) Mini Quiche Assortment
I love quiches. Who doesn’t love breakfast? I’ll eat breakfast all day long.
Quiches are perfect, especially those little frozen ones that you can find that usually have two different flavors. There’s a greenish colored one that has some spinach in it, and then there’s usually a more yellowy one that I think has some caramelized onions in there.
It’s perfect. You don’t need to make them yourself, you just pop these in the oven and everyone’s going to love these. And it gives you some protein to your day.
2) Smoked Salmon Tea Sandwiches
Absolutely, yes. I would try to make sure that these stay cool and don’t have them out for too long in the sun.
But this is going to be super delicious. You’re gonna have some protein there with the smoked salmon, and then they’re on sandwiches, so you have some carbs there. You can use some cucumbers and there’s a lot that you can do with this. They’re going to be delicious, everyone’s going to be grabbing them for sure.
3) Classic Deviled Eggs
Of course, the classic. Nothing says summertime or springtime like deviled eggs. It’s going to be delicious.
When you cook these hard-boiled eggs, make sure you cook them properly so that you don’t get that greenish hue. But they’re so nostalgic. Then you could put some sort of seasoning on top. This is great for a finger food type and you’re going to have some nice protein in there.
Making sure that if these are used for a bridal shower, you have some sort of way to keep them cool. Maybe only put a little bit out at a time and the rest can stay cool, then replenish as needed.
4) Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Delicious. This is a perfect brunch item. There’s some yummy ricotta cheese in these.
These are going to be so delicious and really complement the saltiness of some of the other items they may have on their plate. You can top it off with some syrup and some fruit if you’d like.
5) French Toast Casserole
Let me tell you, my family does not have a get together in the morning without French toast casserole. This is a classic, a favorite. Everyone has our recipe and it’s amazing.
You use a casserole dish, make sure to spray that down. Chop up your French toast bread and put that in there. There are a number of different recipes. You can cube up some cream cheese and put that in there if you’d like. Scramble up some eggs, pour that on top, and squish it down.
We like to put that in the fridge overnight and in the morning you pop it in the oven. It depends how well you like it done. If you like it crispy, you could do 30 minutes, or you could do 45, probably around 45 is good.
You could also put some berries in there if you’d like. We like to do blackberries or blueberries and that’s going to really add some color. And you could top it off with some syrup if you’d like. Super super delicious, everyone’s gonna love that one.
Nathaniel’s Pantry Notes: Carry out your ideas for a buffet
- The first thing in line should be plates. Then napkins should be placed on top, along with forks. Be sure to not bury the napkin halfway down the line.
- Store hot and cold items in the hot and cold items respectively. Cold items are at the front as they are out the longest so will probably cause slow decision making. The middle sections of the warmer can be used for hot items.
- At the end there are pastries, fruit, and scone treats. This is designed so guests finish all the savory bits first before going for the sweets. People may only take a cinnamon roll but then it will feel strange for them to have had just that for lunch.
- The drinks are at a separate table from the food. Carafes of coffee, juice, mimosas, and water. They are separated from the food table so the food line moves and the drink table doesn’t become a secondary social point.
- Please do not throw trash or used dishes at the food station, do that at the drinks. To make it easy for staff to keep the food table clean, guests are encouraged to dispose of their plates as they go up to refill their drinks.
6) Yogurt Parfait Bar
So perfect. You could have a couple different flavors of yogurt out there. You can have some Greek yogurt for some extra protein. You could have a few different types of granola. There are some yummy granolas that have nuts in them, so make sure to label that in case there are any nut allergies in the group.
Some of them have some dried fruit in there, but it would be really fun to also get some fresh fruit on the side, some raspberries and blueberries and blackberries. Let people add that. I like chia seed in my yogurt so that’s an option, or you can leave it off to make it a little more simple. And then some cute little glass jars for everyone to add their own toppings to their yogurt. That would be really cute.
7) Croissant Breakfast Sandwiches
Absolutely yes. You could get some tiny cute little croissants if you’d like, or you can get the larger ones and halve them.
You could put some scrambled eggs and add some ham or bacon, and some sort of fancy cheeses if you’d like, some gruyere or cheddar. You could put an avocado spread out so people can add that if they’d like. That would be a really fun complete offering.
8) Caprese Skewers
Absolutely yum. Caprese skewers, I feel like, is an appetizer that works for any occasion. It’s super simple. You can take a little toothpick and put a little cherry tomato and some mozzarella cheese.
You could do a fancy mozzarella cheese, the ones that come in the little balls, in the liquid in the bag at the grocery store. Or if you don’t want to be that fancy you could just take string cheese and chop a bite-sized piece off. And of course put a fresh basil leaf on there.
You could get some of that balsamic vinaigrette glaze from Trader Joe’s and put that right on top, or you have it on the side. And that is delish.
9) Lox Dip
This would be like a lox and bagel sort of feel. It’s gonna have some cream cheese, some smoked salmon, some lemon, and some dill. You can also have an everything bagel seasoning there as well.
You could do the bagel or you could do the seasoning, and you can make this into a dip. It would be really fun to have some sort of chips or crackers, something that you could dip inside this salmon lox dip. So good.
10) Fresh Fruit Salad
Of course you’ve got to have it. Find some seasonal fruits, ones that are more cost-effective for whatever season you’re in right now. Some favorites would be any berries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries.
Some cost-effective ones would be maybe some pineapples, some melons like cantaloupe and honeydew. I’d steer away from the bananas personally because they’re going to brown so quickly, although we do love them. I would steer away from those for a fruit salad that’s going to be sitting out for more than 10 minutes. Grapes are a great option too. There’s a lot you can do with this fruit salad to make it a delicious side.
11) Savory Scones
Oh yes, scones are delicious. I’ll take them any day.
You can buy them in the store, or you can make them at home. There are so many different types of scones. I love a good glazed scone or a savory rosemary flavored one. There’s a lot you could do there with the scones.
12) Shakshuka Cups
This sounds super delicious. It’s spicy and tomatoey, and also warm and cozy at the same time.
This is a fun dish because you have an egg sunny side up in these cute little ramekins, and it kind of makes it look like you’re a little bit fancy. You could serve this with some pita or any sort of bread on the side. And don’t worry, your egg doesn’t have to be sunny side up, but that’s just an idea. This is a really fun and different type of dish that maybe some of your guests haven’t tried before.
13) Avocado Toast Platter
Who doesn’t love a good avocado toast? There are so many options that you can do with it. I personally like sourdough, but even with sourdough you could do so many different types. I love a good rosemary sourdough, and you can put some avocado on top and really any toppings that you want.
I love the everything but the bagel seasoning, I’m going to put that right on top. You could put some sort of meat like the lox on top, or an egg on top, or a piece of bacon or ham. There’s so much you could do with an avocado toast, and it’s going to be a crowd pleaser.
14) Breakfast Potatoes
Gotta love breakfast potatoes. You could do so many things with them. You could do them kind of like the shredded potato look, like a hash brown, or you could do the cubed breakfast potatoes.
You could add some sort of seasoning. I like marjoram, it’s like an herb. I like that on top of them, or you could do some garlic powder on top. Super super delicious.
15) Mini Cinnamon Rolls
Yes, super warm and cozy and cinnamony with the icing on top. I would just get these from the grocery store if I were you, unless you’re super fancy and know how to make them.
This will be a crowd pleaser. It’d be so great if you could find some tiny ones so they can be like a finger food. That would be really fun.
Nathaniel’s Pantry Notes: The Mini Format Trick (Why Tiny Versions Feel Generous)
- Mini quiches are preferred over whole quiches. Each order comes in two-bite portions so no slicing is required, and guests can easily take three without feeling greedy. Just a regular muffin tin works.
- From what I’ve seen, the used espresso cups (or shot glasses) have made an awkward-to-eat dish transform into a one-bite wonder. It will be a sip-and-move-on situation for guests.
- We have mini cinnamon rolls! They are made from the same dough as the giant cinnamon rolls but are made with smaller dough portions so you get more rolls. Also, since the rolls are pre-portioned, no one will have to awkwardly cut a roll at the table!
- Instead of cheesecake slices, we have individual mini cheesecakes. Each mini cheesecake is baked in a muffin liner with a graham cracker crust on the bottom, cooled, and then topped individually. They look like they belong in a bakery display case.
- Strawberry shortcake cups in clear glasses. Visibly layered. No plating drama, eats with one hand.
Lunch (16-27)
16) Chicken Salad Croissants
Absolutely yes. Chicken salad is amazing. There are so many different recipes that you could do with chicken salad. I love a good chicken salad that’s going to have some fruit in there, whether it’s dried cranberries or fresh grapes. A crunch of celery is amazing on there.
I love them on the croissants. You could find tiny little croissants, or bigger croissants and cut them in half. Everyone’s going to love these, I guarantee it.
17) Quinoa Vegetable Salad
This is really great, especially if you have some vegetarians in the group. You could have some roasted vegetables, and the quinoa is going to give you some protein. You could do a zesty lemon vinaigrette on top and some sort of cheese like feta. Super good.
18) Tomato Soup Shooters
You take some sort of small glass, almost like a shot glass, and you could put some yummy tomato soup in there. It doesn’t have to be homemade. Campbell’s does it right, or Progresso, one of the other brands as well.
For fanciness you could have a little bit of basil right on top. That’s going to be delicious, especially if it’s served with some little bite-sized grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum.
19) Turkey Brie Sandwiches
Delicious, this will be so great. Have some brie, some turkey, and whatever type of bread that you like. You could do a rye or pumpernickel or a sourdough.
You could do some sort of jam in there if you liked as well, like a cranberry jam, something to add some color and a little bit of sweetness. It’ll taste like Thanksgiving.
20) Spinach Strawberry Salad
Absolutely my go-to favorite salad. I love it with some balsamic vinaigrette and some shaved almonds in there, or you could do pistachios.
You could do other fruits or vegetables in there as well. I like to chop up some avocados and put them there. You could do pecans too if you like pecans better. It’s such a delicious, colorful salad with a pop of red and green.
21) Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
Super yummy and easy to throw together, actually. You just take the asparagus spear, chop off the end of it, and take some prosciutto from the grocery store, wrap that right around, put it on a cookie sheet with some parchment paper, and bake it until it’s cooked. The asparagus will be a hit.
22) Pesto Pasta Salad
So much you could do with a pesto salad. You could throw some tomatoes, some basil, some spinach, and you could throw some meat in there if you’d like, some chicken. We also like to do a little salami in there sometimes and some olives.
A lot can happen with a pesto salad. You can make a vegetarian and a carnivore version of that. That’d be really fun too.
Nathaniel’s Pantry Notes: What Holds Up on a Buffet (and What Wilts)
23) Crudités Board
Think about having a vegetable board with some dips on it. You could do some sort of garlic herb dip, a tahini, or hummus. You could do lots of veggies on there.
Like the cute little carrots, the mini ones where you could still see the green on the top. Those are so cute. That would be cute to have on there. Just a lot of those sweet little vegetables, like the little pickles. Oh my gosh, I die for those tiny little pickles. They’re so cute.
24) Mini Chicken and Waffle Bites
Absolutely yes, this is great. You could take a chicken nugget. I like the chicken nuggets from Costco, and Just Bare is a good brand as well.
You can take a little skewer, a little bit bigger than a toothpick, and stab through the chicken nugget and a mini waffle bite. Serve it with a side of syrup, and it’s like a sweet and salty. A very fun item.
25) Mediterranean Hummus Platter
Yes absolutely. There are so many different types of hummus that you can offer. You could do a garlic hummus, a classic hummus, a red pepper hummus. I have a favorite hummus, maybe you do as well. Mine’s from Trader Joe’s, it’s the Mediterranean hummus. It’s my favorite, has some pine nuts on top, and that’ll be delish.
You can also make hummus from home if you’d like. I heard it’s actually not very difficult to make if you want to cater it more to your liking.
26) Salmon Salad
Delicious, such a great idea. I like spinach lettuce, you might like a spring lettuce, that’s perfect. You can combine this with whatever you like. You can bake this salmon right on a cookie sheet with lemon, pepper, and some salt, then combine with your salad of choice and your dressing of choice, like a balsamic vinaigrette or just a regular vinaigrette.
Or you can have some salad dressings on the side and let everyone top theirs with their own dressing of their choosing. I would add some sort of other ingredients, maybe some edamame in there to go with the salad. That would be really cute. And you get some little wonton crispies from the produce section of the grocery store, that would be a fun addition. Maybe some mandarin oranges would be fun too.
27) Mac and Cheese Cups
This is really great, especially if it’s a family friendly shower with some little kids there. But hey, adults can like mac and cheese as well. Mac and cheese is delicious, and you can even get fancy and make this at home, or you can use the boxed one. That’s okay too.
If you make it from home there are a lot of options as far as which sort of cheese you like to use. I make mac and cheese from home all the time. We use whatever pasta we have laying around, then afterward I strain the pasta and put some butter and some milk in the pot.
Then I shred up sharp cheddar cheese because it’s my fave and melt that in there until I get a good consistency, then I’ll add the pasta back in. We like to top it off with some nutritional yeast just to give it a little bit more. And there you go, it’s going to be delicious.
Dessert (28-35)
28) Mini Pavlovas
Delish. This is going to be such a hit with all of your guests. They actually are super easy because they’re made with egg whites, a little bit of sugar, and just a little bit of patience to allow the egg whites to cook.
They’re going to be soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. You could do some berries to add a little more sweetness. This will be a really fun and special item.
29) Lemon Bars
I feel like this is a classic when it comes to bridal showers. You could get these ready to go in the box at the grocery store and they’re not hard to put together, or you could make them yourself if you’re fancy.
But they’re so yummy. You can cut them into little squares and put a little powdered sugar on top. Super zesty and refreshing for an outdoor shower.
30) Strawberry Shortcake Cups
These are delicious, and I always see the cute little cakes in the grocery store. Then you could just take some strawberries, slice them up, and put them on top with a little bit of whipped cream. It’s something simple, but it’s a crowd pleaser as well.
Nathaniel’s Pantry Notes: Showstopper Rule (1 Big Visual, Others Casual)
31) Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Delicious. I would make these the night before. I would just get some melting chocolate and dip whatever kind you want. It could be dark chocolate, it could be milk chocolate, or you could do white if you’d like. You could have all three as different options.
You could just dip it and set it on parchment paper after you’ve melted the chocolate, of course, and let it cool there. Then I would put it in the fridge. Make sure that chocolate gets solid and then set it out as needed. The chocolate obviously will melt if it’s left outside in the sun.
But this is such a yummy delicious option. You don’t have to take the greens off the strawberries, it kind of gives people something to grab onto when they’re eating it.
32) Thumbprint Cookies
Delicious. My mom makes these all the time. It’s basically just a yummy, very mild cookie, like a shortbread cookie. You make a little thumbprint in the middle and put a little jam down.
You can put different kinds of jams, apricot, blackberry, strawberry, whatever you want. And these are so delicious.
33) Cupcakes with Vanilla
Cupcakes are always a crowd pleaser. If you think people are going to be wanting numerous desserts, who doesn’t, then I would make these bite-sized cupcakes if you can.
Vanilla, I feel like, is just going to be so refreshing and so pretty. You can put a little decorations like those little pearly beads on top, or whatever the theme is of the shower, to really dazzle these out.
34) Mini Cheesecakes
Absolutely. I love when you find the mini cheesecakes or the cheesecake slices in the grocery store that have all the different kinds, so you could do something like that. Or you could buy a big cheesecake and get some sort of circle stencil and cut out circles.
Or you can just buy it as is. Buy some mini frozen cheesecakes and make your life simple. It’s going to have that yummy graham cracker crust. It’s going to be delicious.
35) Grapefruit Sorbet
So yummy, so refreshing. Something about sorbet, it’s just going to be so delicious. And it’s going to go really well with the champagne or sparkling wine that you’re going to be serving at this bridal shower. That’s going to be delicious.
