I recently hosted a bridal shower for a daughter of a dear friend, and this is the food I served! The food was easy to make, presented very well, and a hit with everyone who came. It would be perfect for so many different types of parties and get togethers!
I include lots of tips below on how to prep the food in advance, as well as bonus ideas for other easy, delicious things to serve at parties like this.
What to Serve at a Bridal Shower
I wanted to keep the food simple and delicious for my friend’s bridal shower. The party was held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., so I tailored the food to be more on the snacky/brunchy side of things. It went over so well, and I would absolutely do this same food spread again!
Yogurt Parfait Bar
This build-your-own yogurt parfait bar was so easy to put together, and a great way for guests to customize their own portion.
Below is what I served. As you can see, this entire spread is easily customizable to different flavors of yogurt and toppings.
Yogurt:
Vanilla yogurtPeach yogurtStrawberry yogurtThe vanilla yogurt was by far the most popular, but I still recommend having a few additional flavors for options.
Granola:
For this yogurt bar, I had four varieties of granola. I think all were equally popular!
Honey oat yogurt from my cookbook (but any basic granola would work great). Chocolate love crunch knockoff granola (didn’t add the yogurt bites or strawberries)Love Crunch dark chocolate coconut granolaTrader Joe’s passion fruit granolaToppings:
Chopped strawberriesBlueberriesRaspberriesDiced mangos Chopped pineappleLemon curd (this was so popular!)Chia seedsToasted coconutChopped pecansDried cranberriesMini chocolate chipsToasted pumpkin seeds
MAKE AHEAD TIPS: I chopped the fruit the night before, and put the toppings that didn’t need to be refrigerated in serving bowls on the counter and covered with saran wrap. Everything else was super easy to scoop/place into bowls before the shower started.
Supplies for Yogurt Bar:
These 10-ounce cups (aff. link) are a perfect size/width for yogurt plus toppings. The rounded design is a bit elevated and cute.Every day disposable spoons work great, but I love these slightly fancier ones (aff. link) for bridal showers and parties. I put the spoons in this wicker silverware caddy (I have the brown one).I use these white serving bowls (aff. link) for yogurt. These shallow white bowls (aff. link) are perfect for granola and toppings (and on a sidenote, I use them almost daily for dinners). These reuseable chalkboard signs (aff. link) are perfect for labeling food (with these chalkboard markers – easily wipe off with a damp paper towel).Mini Charcuterie Cups
I opted for mini charcuterie cups rather than larger cups (that are popular when you search for ideas) or big charcuterie platters.
This size ended up being perfect! Just like the yogurt bar, all of the ingredients in these charcuterie cups can be adapted or varied based on your own creative inspiration or what you can easily find.
MAKE AHEAD TIPS: The night before, I placed the nuts and pirouline sticks in the cups and placed all the cups on a large baking sheet and covered the cups with saran wrap. I also assembled the cheese skewers the night before, as well as rolled the salami slices and placed them close together in a baking dish so they didn’t unravel. The morning of, it was easy to finish off the cups with the assembled cheese skewers, salami, fruit and cracker. The fully assembled cups can be refrigerated for an hour or two (any longer and the crackers can soften or stale).
How to assemble the mini charcuterie cups:
Fill the bottom of each cup with mixed nuts (or nuts of choice). Add a pirouline stick to one back corner and a cheese skewer (a long bamboo toothpick with three cheese cubes) to the other corner. Drop in a cherry tomato and several grapes of any variety. Place a large cracker diagonally across the tomato and grapes.Tuck a blackberry or other berrie(s) in one of the front corners. Roll two slices of salami into a rose shape and tuck into the other front corner. Optional: Place a sprig of rosemary in front of the cracker.
Supplies I Used:
5-ounce square cups (aff. link) for the mini charcuterie cupsBamboo skewers (aff. link) for the cheese ssorted Variety of Mini MuffinsI chose mini muffins over regular-size muffins for several reasons:
The bridal shower was in the morning in between meals, and I figured guests might be eating lighter/smaller portions. Mini muffins are perfect for that. Mini muffins give people the chance to try more than one flavor, since the muffins are small. Mini muffins are just cute.
MAKE AHEAD TIPS: I made the following recipes several weeks in advance. I made the muffins, let them cool on a cooling rack, and then placed them in these containers to freeze. I took them out of the freezer the morning of and put them on the serving trays frozen (they defrosted within an hour). Lemon Poppyseed Muffins (this recipe is for regular-size muffins; for mini muffins, portion the batter into mini muffin tins, filling about 1/2 to 2/3 full, and bake for 9 to 11 minutes)Mini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (these were the most popular of the three recipes! Everyone raved about them)Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (this recipe is also for regular-size muffins; for mini muffins, use mini chocolate chips, portion the batter into mini muffin tins filling about 1/2 to 2/3 full, and bake for 9 to 11 minutes). Here is a non-zucchini chocolate muffin recipe that is delicious as mini muffins.
Supplies I Used:
Highly recommend these mini muffin tins (aff. link). I didn’t use mini muffin liners when baking the muffins for the bridal shower. I served the muffins on this tiered tray (aff. linkThese reuseable chalkboard signs (aff. link) are perfect for labeling food (with these chalkboard markers – easily wipe off with a damp paper towel). I had these plates sitting out next to the silverware and they were the perfect size if guests grabbed any or all of the offerings: mini muffins, a charcuterie cup, yogurt parfait.Other Food Ideas for Bridal Showers and Parties
Build-Your-Own (or already prepped) acai bowls with a variety of toppings.Chicken salad sandwiches. I’ve found when serving these, it’s better to use smaller croissants (from Albertsons or Walmart) vs the gargantuan croissants from Costco (however, if using large croissants, you can cut them in half). Mini quiches served on a platter. Variety of different baked scones. Finger foods, like caprese skewers, sweet berry bruschettta, easy caprese salad served on baquettes, toffee apple dip, candied almonds, and puff pastry brie bites.Variety of dips served with crackers, like this sesame Thai dip, 7-layer dip, cowboy caviar dip, 7-layer Greek hummus dip, feta dip, the best veggie dip, peanut butter cookie dough dip, fruit salsa served with cinnamon chips.French macarons or mini crème brûlées or other favorite cookies (I like making cookies in smaller sizes for bridal and baby showers).Leave YOUR favorite ideas for bridal or baby showers below! ⬇️
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