“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue  and a silver sixpence in her shoe,” are tokens of good luck that a bride traditionally carries on her wedding day. Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolises borrowed happiness; something blue stands for love and fidelity; and a sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity.

This traditional rhyme captures the hopes, good wishes and above all else, the love that brings friends and family together for a wedding. What it doesn’t capture is the fun involved; both in the preparations and the event itself. To begin the countdown to the wedding and wishing for Lissa to feel a connection with our family’s country traditions, I decided to host a kitchen tea for her. I felt sure, that fueled with champagne, my friends, the bridesmaids and Lissa’s girlfriends would offer her hilarious and sage advice concerning her future wifely duties. I envisioned this event in the back garden and thankfully, the weather gods complied.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t serve just champagne for Afternoon Tea. My wonderful girlfriend, Julie offered to help me with the cooking but I couldn’t leave everything to her, much as I wanted to.

So, I practised my high tea skills. Alas, I’m no Adriano Zumbo. I had to cross chocolate macaroons off the menu as mine resembled the dark side of the Moon. I experimented with gluten free vanilla cup cakes, wrestling with piping bags and butter cream frosting. (It looked so easy on Youtube!) Still, they passed the taste test and didn’t look too bad when I smothered them in decorations. Wanting to serve mini lemon and caramel tarts, I blind baked pastry for the first time. Imagine my relief when they came out perfectly. Not a burnt crust among them! I only had to practice the time-honoured country art of scone making. I had assured Melissa that Scone making was in our genes! My mother could turn out a wonderful batch of scones in no time flat without having to measure a thing: surely so could I? Friends gave me the lemonade and cream recipe, however the scones didn’t rise enough for my liking. Next came a melted butter recipe. Disappointment ruled my kitchen! Finally, I adapted a traditional recipe and remembering Mum’s secret touches, a great batch.emerged from the oven needing only strawberry jam and cream.

Feeling reasonably confident that my guests wouldn’t starve, I organised the games that we would play. In keeping with the culinary theme, I decided on an identify a herb game.

There were ten herbs to identify including Lovage and the Mother of all Herbs There was much merriment and discussion as the pots were passed around, closely examined and answer sheets filled in.

There was also a Masterchef Challenge. The wonderful people at the Pass Cafe provided a tray of their unique gluten free brownies and a list of the ingredients. Everyone had to taste and decide what the ingredients were. These were so delicious that it was difficult to concentrate on separating the tastes in your mouth! This did provide a great segue into Afternoon Tea proper.

It was very difficult to choose what to have first! One good thing about fine china cups, saucers and plates is that the plates are small so that you don’t feel guilty about having seconds or indeed thirds. I couldn’t resist Leone’s White chocolate berry cheesecake or Julie’s chicken and cucumber sandwiches. And  I really do think that tea tastes so much better in bone china tea cups, don’t you?

Feeling very relaxed and replete, it was time for Lissa to open her presents. Helen got proceedings off to a hilarious start. She had Lissa don kitchen attire that would keep her future husband, Ben very interested in the kitchen, though one could wonder what was on the menu!

Each lovely gift came with a family recipe and the story behind it.  I had sent the recipe cards out with the invitations.  Lissa was thrilled. I’m sure, she’ll enjoy making each of them  and adding to them as she embraces married life.

My gift was a sentimental one.As  Lissa loves candles,  I asked Kate Hogan,  Lissa’s cousin, creator of beautiful hand-crafted soy candles produced under her brand (www.numberninetyseven.com.au)  to make three special candles for Melissa. They will celebrate Ben and Melissa’s first Christmas as a married couple, their first anniversary and the birth of their first child. I wrote a small verse for each candle and Kate and her sister, Mel, did the rest. They were simply stunning.

It was time for more fun. The bridesmaids, Toni and Brooke, volunteered to be models as the rest of us created two alternative wedding dresses for Melissa out of toilet paper and masking tape. Don’t they look adorable?

More champagne and all too soon, it was home time. It had been such a fun afternoon!  Lissa and I had put together a small collection of kitchen goodies which we wrapped in a flour sack tea towel to thank our guests for coming.

Love is definitely in the air!