I’m sending my wedding invitations out this week, which got me in the mood to make little cocktail hour-appropriate tea sandwiches.

Yesterday I mentioned that I wasn’t happy with the way the envelopes for my invitations turned out. They just didn’t look as vibrant as what I had expected, plus the logo of the company where I bought the invites is in the corner. Which I can’t stand. But E’s response to the generic looking envelopes? “They’re just going to get dirty and wet and bent and scraped in the mail. The invitations themselves are what matters.” He had a point. I let it go. I bought stamps and started tucking the pretty invites into the not so pretty envelopes.

While I tried to breathe through my disappointment, I thought about our beach reception at our villa overlooking the ocean. I thought about all of the friends that will be at the wedding who RSVPed months before I even ordered invitations—their decision didn’t lie on what the stupid envelopes looked like. I thought about the fun we’ll be having while we sip Champagne and snacked on small hors d’oevers poolside while a steel drum player entertains my friends.

Then, I thought about the snacks. What would make good sandwiches for the wedding?

Tea sandwiches. The perfect cocktail hour snack.

I looked in our refrigerator. We had some tasty options that would keep a peckish crowd, much less a peckish computer programmer, happy until dinner was served.

I could come up with hundreds of combinations for tea sandwiches based on the jams meats and fruit in the fridge. I spied pear, prosciutto, fig jam and some yummy manchego cheese, and served up yummy finger sandwiches for E and I. One tip with tea sandwiches—it’s is here that plain ol’ Wonder Bread can be used to its fullest potential. Soft square slices of white bead are perfect for tea sandwiches. They’re easier to cut into squares, and the soft bread is the perfect texture for both crunchy and creamy fillings.

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