After the engagement is known, immediately the friends of the bride-to-be begin to think of showers for her.  One friend or a group of friends or her club may be hostesses and give such an affair.

There are different ways of planning them.  For instance, they may be appropriate to the month, like a Christmas Tree Shower in December or an Indian Summer Shower in November or a Rainy Day Shower in April.  Or they may take as keynotes the engaged girl’s special likes, as in the case of an apple shower, a kitty shower or an old rose shower.  And then again, they may be just plain, ordinary, handkerchief showers, or linen showers, or kitchen showers, with an original touch somewhere.

“A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME” LUNCHEON

At a recent engagement luncheon the announcement was made in a unique way.

A large wooden embroidery hoop was hung from the ceiling over the table and in the ring perched a gaily painted wooden parrot, the kind that rocks back and forth when touched.

From the parrot streamers of colored baby ribbon led to the different places, and tied to the ends of the ribbons were tiny notes in envelopes.  These on being opened showed the names of the engaged couple and a short rhyme reading thus: 

  A little bird told me
    A very nice thing,
  That Randolph gave Sally
    A diamond ring.

The refreshments followed somewhat the parrot color scheme, with halves of grapefruit garnished with cherries, chicken a la King, pimento, walnut and cream cheese salad, orange ice, and little cakes with colored frosting.

Small celluloid parrots perched on the rims of the glasses were appropriate souvenirs.

A HAPPINESS TEA

  Sing a song of sixpence,
     A pocket full o’ rye,
  Four and twenty bluebirds
     Baked in a pie;

  When the pie was opened
    The birds began to sing,
  About a certain couple here
    Who have some news to spring_.

Thus did one girl announce her engagement in the month of May.  She had asked twenty-four of her best friends to come to a bluebird tea one Saturday afternoon, and nobody suspected her secret, although they did remember that the bluebird stands for happiness.

The party was held out on the hostess’s big porch, which was decorated with jars of pink and white apple blossoms.  Everybody had a very good time dancing to the music of the phonograph until it was time for the tea to be served.  The waitresses were Betty’s two little sisters, who wore as insignia big blue bows on their hair and cunning little aprons made of bluebird cretonne.

The tea was iced and served with lemon and mint in tall glasses.  The sandwiches were tiny and round and filled with pink strawberry jam which made them seem like delectable apple-blossom petals.  Betty happened to have bluebird plates and she used paper napkins with a bluebird motif.