Our 2016 Pumpkin Carving Party

Tags

friends, Halloween, pumpkin carving party, pumpkins

I meant to share this last year but never got round to it, and in a phone clear out session I saw all the pics and felt sad I’d never share them so (although it’s technically December 2016) I thought I’d be all super prepared and share them in advance for 2017… 

This is how you have yourself a pumpkin carving party….

1, buy pumpkins

2, collect together all your pumpkins carving tools (scrapers/spoons/knives/stabby things etc) 

3, gather friends

4, give friends hot rum & cider punch

5, put on a Halloween play list

6, encourage pumpkin carving rivalry and healthy competition

7, finish and bask in glory of skills

8, take awesome pumpkins outside, fill with candle light and take a million photos

9, return inside and line up pumpkins in fireplace

10, put on cheesy Halloween film and feed friends warming food! 

So there you have it! Follow these simple steps and you’ll have yourself a ball!!! 🎃

Here’s some pics….

Lo Fest 2017 Part 2

Tags

Boho Hen Do, hen do, Lo Fest

Hey Strangers!!! I’ve been MIA for what seems like ages but you know I have a good excuse, being a married woman and all!!

Life is slowly returning to normal and I have the last prep post from the wedding series all ready to go but I realised that before we get on to wedding I need to finish telling you all about my amazing hen do.

I’ve just read through part one, which you can read here and am smiling ear to ear!!! What a flipping amazing weekend it was!!

So… Part 2…. After the late night festivities we all appreciated a lazy start to the Sunday… The day began with an amazing alfresco shower experience staring out over the beautiful countryside!! Incredibly special, then it was campfire breakfast time to rid any fuzzy heads and we all returned to the gorgeous outdoor chill out spaces…

First up was a must for any proper party… pass the parcel! haha!! The girls had filled this parcel with the cutest little bohemian trinkets and presents… and as it always seems to happen with pass the parcel everyone took home a little something special.   

After the parcel had shed it’s last layer the girls bought out all the crafty fun which they knew this little creative geek would love… We decorated pebbles with mendhi designs and my toes became the focal point of a macrame how to lesson!

Whilst all of this was going on Mumma Lo pampered all the girls to an amazing Indian Head Massage!!! Ultimate chill day!

After more games, lunch and a chilled afternoon in the commune it was time that these festival babes donned their gladrags and obviously took the hen do compulsory selfies!!

Knowing how much I love a good meal the girls had booked us all into the Amazing Pig on the Beach.

We had the most amazing meal and it was such a glorious end to one of the funnest weekends of my life!!!

It goes without saying the food was divine and I can’t wait to go back one day with Maxwell!! We returned in a massive thunderstorm which illuminated the yurts in a spectacular nighttime light show and we all fell asleep full of good food and good wine and happy thoughts!!

And there you have it…. The next morning we packed up camp and cramped more stuff into 4 cars then humanly possibly, tears were cried as we said goodbye to the best group of girls imaginable!!!

Coming home to my boy I talked his ear off about how wonderful my girls are and how loved and spoilt I felt! What a blooming amazing Hen Do… Roll on Lo Fest 2018!!!! ❤

 

Wedding Series #19

Tags

Bride to be, DIY Bride, uk bride, wedding, wedding post, Wedding prep

Super late again but as it’s my last official pre-wedding post you have to be nice and not mind. We’ve gone from saying months away, to weeks away and today I said 9 days away!!!! 9!!!!!!

I’m not going to lie we’ve both been feeling a little overwhelmed the last week or so (not helped by hormones doing their thing, lack of sleep, work being manic, brain being on overload and an accidental fall down the stairs) and for the first time in our 18months wedding planning journey we’ve both been feeling a little stressed.

The last few days have been better and I’ve nearly finished with work and the big jobs are getting ticked off… We’re getting there. but I’m not going to lie I’m ready for the wedding now, I want to marry my man and relax with my husband!!!

Maxwell has also been working so hard and we’re both so excited to see our day become a reality, all those hours and hours we’ve spent making and crafting and designing… we’ve utterly poured our hearts and souls into making the 27/7/17 a day we will remember, love and cherish always.

We’ve had our ups obviously… so many ups…. but in this last month we’ve had quite a few downs too… We found out our wedding hotel would be wrapped in scaffolding & opaque wrap, my MUA cancelled, My Uncle had a heart attack and he and my Auntie would be unable to come, I slipped and fell down the stairs and landed on a family heirloom of a cakestand… Fun huh?? We’ve had our fair share of mishaps in the last 30 days but it’s brought us closer and we’re coming out the other side.

We’ve come to terms with people not being able to come, we’ve dealt with delays and missing gifts… we’ve reorganised seating plans, sourced new suppliers, put plasters on cut bums and it’s all ok… A heads up that a DIY wedding is a lot of work, but it’s also wholey rewarding… stick with it. Be prepared, make a lot of lists, make sure you’re kind to yourself, get sleep when you can. Make time to kiss and check in with your other half and celebrate everything thing checked off that to-do list, hell, write down jobs you’ve just done just so you can tick them off!!!

So for the last pre wedding post I thought rather then dwell on the negatives we’ve encountered, I am instead going to be my optimistic self and thought I could share with you a few sneak peeks of things we’ve been working on…. I’m a bit too knackered to do a proper full detailed post but not wanting to miss out on my last wedding post as a Miss here’s some teasers for you….

So there you go… DIY confetti, handmade labels, immaculately put together engines, pre-planned table decor, wedding outfits ready to be returned, Wonderful new MUA’s, trinkets, treasures and hand painted signs….

So…. till next month I guess… I’m going to be missing in action for the next few weeks but I will be back, as Mrs Hyde and I promise I’ll share everything then…. xxxx

 

Lo Fest 2017

Tags

best friends, Boho Hen Do, Campfires, hen do, wedding

So…. it’s time to tell you about my amazing, once in a lifetime, unforgettable Hen Do…. Lo Fest.

I should start by telling you that I wanted a low key affair, a few of my best girls, a few pretty things to photograph and definitely no typical pink fluff/willies/L plates etc etc.

Onion (MOH) and I started a pinterest board way back when with some ideas; boho dinners, flower crowns, tipi’s, henna… you get the feeling…

Luckily a few of my other best girls got involved too and the secret squirrel club was born. These ladies, took my ideas and ran with them… what they created was a weekend I will never forget, one that I will treasure forever, one that was SO PERFECT I just can’t describe.

So instead… I’ll show you…

The weekend started before I even arrived; Anna, Chloe & Mumma Lo headed down to our awesome base, Brickles Camp, loaded with more bohemian goodies then you could find in a gypsy bazaar. Borrowed, brought and loaned treasure was crammed into 2 small cars all set to transform Brickles Yurt Camp into the bohemian oasis that was Lo Fest. 

For me, the butterflies set in and my Hen Do officially began as I sat front seat, blindfolded in my best buds car, the chinking of bottles and excited chatter of directions being whispered down the phone. Car honking and giggles from Nat in the back seat we clearly turned off a main road and onto a bumpy dirt track… I’m not gonna lie, at this point I was getting a little nervous… As the car started slowing down ‘I wish I was a Punk Rocker’ started blaring out, a song that always gives me goosebumps (Uni Fashion show moment) I was helped out of the car and led, still blindfolded along a definite dirt track… At this moment, my blindfold was whipped off and before me stood the most gorgeous gaggle of babes in front of a HUGE Lo Fest banner tied amongst the trees….

At this moment butterflies flew away and excited eagles took their place, emotion and the biggest grin know to man took over and it sunk it that it was finally here, my hen do!!!

After tears, the biggest of bear hugs all round and being handed my VIP festival lanyard, my Lo Lo Girls took me on a grand tour of our camp…

Our home for the weekend consisted of 3 gorgeous yurts… 2 bedrooms and a lounge/kitchen/commune. The centre piece of the camp was a campfire surrounded by handmade wooden benches… Nestled out the back was a little outdoor kitchen and open air bathroom. Yay! The girls had set up two chill out areas, a cosy plush cushion and throw strewn snug under a gazebo and a beautiful bohemian gypsy tea table set up surrounded by vintage rugs and cushions… heaven!!!!

Once I’d got my bearings and had explored the camp it was time for the celebrations to begin… Homemade cake, mini tambourines and champagne a go go…

Once we’d indulged in some Hen Do treats we headed over to the Gypsy Table set up, goody bags in tow and all got a few more treats… Mumma Lo had made the most gorgeous goody bags for everyone… Inside were all the camp necessities you could need… a torch, a pop up wine glass, hand sanitiser, chocolate willies (haha) There was also little dream catcher rings, candy bracelets, nail polishes…. super super cute and so thoughtful… I also got a chance to finally look at and take in my lanyard… which hinted at the most fun weekend ever, at this moment in time, off ran Chloe and Anna and they returned moments later with the biggest most gorgeous looking pressies you ever did see…

At this point I need to stress again how blooming wonderful my friends are… I sat there surrounded my the best girls ever, all with the biggest smiles on their faces, all gathered together, friends old and new, to be with me, to send me off in the best way possible! Also… they may be creative geniuses… A present from Chloe came first, labeled with cryptic clue and a nod to one of our favourite cult films… inside nestled the most gorgeous hand painted leather jacket… WOW!!

Next up was a grown up version of pass the parcel… except I won every time… and I really did win… An embroidered Lo Fest fringed kimono, my own customised festival booties, the most gorgeous embroidered ‘Lo to Hyde’ sash (like seriously beautiful… Judi, Ann’s mum is amazing) a handmade macrame Veil and a hen do book overflowing so much love and happy memories. 

So…. goodies given, already feeling utterly overwhelmed it was time for the activities to begin… and boy did they begin… First up was the lovely Manraj who spent 3 blissful hours giving up all the most sensational henna designs! I have always adored Henna and have been doing it myself since I was about 13… it was such a treat to have a pro do the honours though!!

Amazing huh?!? Straight after Henna it was time for another activity and another surprise….  Out popped my gorgeous second cousin (who also happens to be getting married a day after us) and Chloe took the lead on another activity I was really wanting to do…. Gathering all the fresh flowers from around the camp Chloe helped us all design and make beautiful fresh flower crowns. Busy hands and talk turned to upcoming nuptials and comparing to-do lists and exciting times ahead…

Flower crowns in place and it was time for some lunch and the hen do classic of ‘Mr & Mrs’… Cue hilarious answers, tears of joy, bunny hop demonstrations, tears of emotion and SO much laughter!!!! haha

Shortly after that the girls sneaked off one by one for some top secret squirrelling behaviour…. about 5 minutes later…i was called outside and apparently my love of indian culture was set to continue… gone were my festival boho babes, in their place were gorgeous sari’d colourful queens ❤

Gifted with another parcel, containing my own beautiful Indian dress, Sophie then announced that the real reason for her joining us was that she was going to lead us in a Bollywood dance class!!!!!!

I’m not gonna lie… we were pretty good! haha…

Post dance class I was poured a drink and told to chill and get dressed for the evenings shenanigans… I was instructed to dress in a long black floral dress and so I busied myself getting ready. Once dressed, I was again blindfolded and lead into the commune which had been transformed into our own glitter bar!!!

The girls joined me, all looking stunning and ready for our very own white party!!!!

We got stuck in with the glitter and suddenly in walked a girl, Miss Mathis had officially joined the party!!! ❤ Fast forward 5 minutes and in walks a boy!!!! Fret not, our Hen hadn’t been infiltrated by the groom-to-be, oh no… this boy was wearing a dickie bow and was carrying a tray of bellini’s… Any boy like that was welcome to stay at my Hen Do!

By this stage, no secrets left to unveil I was allowed back outside and could admire the most gorgeous sunset, lanterns lit, candles flickering, campfire burning and the dinner table set…

First things first it was time to take some selfies… this was a hen do after all!! Out come the selfie stick, the pouts and the cocktails started to flow…

Soon after, we headed to the dinner table to enjoy a sensational Moroccan Feast cooked by Mumma Lo… For starter we enjoyed a beetroot and goats cheese stack with warm flatbread and dukka…. seriously… it was like we were in a 5* restaurant not in a field in the middle of the Dorset country side. For main course there was cous cous, spiced carrot salad, lamb kofta and Chicken tagine…. Seriously, I know every girl thinks their mum is the best cook, but this would take some beating!!!

Plates cleared… its was time for the White party to really get started….

We decamped to the campfire and what turned into the best night ever truly began.

Picture the scene if you will… take the best girls you could ever imagine, dress them all in white, a bevy of angels if you will… slightly drunk angels, but everyone knows they’re the best kind! Dress them up in glitter and flower crowns. A continuous flow of cocktails, a clear night sky full of twinkling stars, a roaring campfire, music that makes you want to dance blasting from a speaker and more love then you can cram into a campfire circle.

With no neighbours the music was turned up loud, inhibitions were cast aside and like wild women we danced in circles around the flames. Feeling utterly free and so unbelievably happy we danced until the bar packed up and went home, we danced until we’d sung our hearts out, till our clothes were infused with smoke and knickers were burnt in the flames!

The night ended how any good campfire should end… With toasted marshmellows in the embers…

And there you have it… Part one of my hen do… of Lo Fest… I’m going to split the Do into two.. (as you do) and save the rest for another time… Till then, I’m going to go over what was the most perfect day!!!  ❤

 

 

 

Post Wedding Series #1

Tags

Bride to be, DIY Bride, DIY Wedding, Handmade favours, Making things, Name cards, Oyster shell candles, Oyster Shell Place names, The Oyster Shed, Wedding Blog, wedding decor, Wedding tutorial

The funny thing about planning a wedding and being a blogger is you want to share everything and talk about your DIYing and all the amazing things you’ve made, designed or created, but as a bride, you want to keep all these ideas private so they’re a surprise for your guests.

Because of this I have decided to schedule a load of Post Wedding blog posts which share all the things I have been doing for my (and friends) weddings.

I’m actually writing this post in September 2016 but will schedule it for late June 2017 a few days after the wedding.

Hold on you might be thinking…. You’re not getting married till next month and you’re correct! This first post is for bestfriend B, the new Mrs Baker.  I will be sharing the favours which we made for their wedding which was on 10 June.

Being a bridesmaid is a wonderful thing and I loved helping B make these beautiful favours and place names. I first wrote about this here, but what I didn’t mention in the post was that The Oyster Shed was actually the reception venue for the new Mr & Mrs Baker.

Because of this, and actually it was my mum’s suggestions, we made candles from oyster shells for the favours and used the unsuitable ones as place names (and idea I spotted on Pinterest)

The Oyster Shed kindly kept a load of oyster shells for B to use for this little DIY project… We hysterically carried them home in a big black sack in a slightly drunken state on a balmy night in August last year and chuckled how Becca was like a tipsy oyster santa…. Something we found highly amusing at the time!

Now… Let’s talk how we did it… Candles first.

I should mention first that the Oyster Shed, in addition to collecting the shells, also cleaned and baked them in the oven to remove the little connective thing that attaches the shell to the oyster. This meant when we collected the shells they were ready to go and nice and clean.

If you’re thinking about trying to make some I’d recommend doing the same… No one likes a stinky fishy candle!

Once you have your nice clean shells lay them down and sort out which ones lay flat with a good depth (ie none that have a really low side)

Once you’ve sorted the usable shells from the non usable ones it’s time to get your candle making game going…

Now being an artist I own a batik pot which we used for the activity, If you don’t have one though I recommend visiting this site. It’s where I bought the scents, wicks and bases from. They have everything you’d need and were fast with their delivery too!

We used paraffin wax which despite the name, actually contains no paraffin. It’s made from a bi-product of the oil refining industry – a bi-product that would otherwise be thrown away, which is good but also because I read that paraffin wax is excellent a taking scents and is the ideal choice for most candle making purposes, especially for beginners. yay!

So a big old bag of paraffin wax nuggets came with me to london. I also ordered 10m of wick and some bases…. again all from this site.

I cleaned the batik pot and added the fresh wax and once it had melted added some concentrated scents, Bec wanted clean fresh smells so I bought ‘fresh laundry’ and ‘cut grass’… which were both light and not to stuff/heavy.

At the point Becca and Edwards house smelt amazing.

we popped the bases into the flattest part of the shell and pressed down lightly so the metal moulded to the bottom of the shell. We then threaded the wick through and trimmed with a cm or 2 to spare.

We constructed a tiny ladle from a tea spoon and slowly and carefully poured the hot wax in around the wick which was held upright for a few seconds until the wax began to cool and set a bit. For the first few I’d suggest working together as one can hold the wick upright whist the other is spooning the wax in! Teamwork! We still had to trim the wicks down when this photo was take but you get the general idea!

Once done and set they looked beautiful and I know the guests are going to love them! Such a lovely memento of a special day.

Not wanting to be wasteful and because we knew they’d look beautiful, I used all the empty non flat shells for the place names. I got this pen and just wrote the names on in a delicate script. I think they look great don’t you?

So there you go… My first post wedding post in this new series! (It’s exciting I get to continue the wedding talk after the big day(s) Hooray!

Wedding Series #18

Tags

Bride to be, DIY Wedding, wedding, Wedding prep

You’ll have to forgive me for the lateness of this post but on the 27th of last month I was other wise engaged…. on my hen do!!!! Whoooop!!!! More on that later though…It’s also been a busy few weeks leading up to my best friends wedding yesterday (again more on that later)

I can’t believe that this is my second to last pre wedding series ever… how bizarre… where has that time gone?!?!

So…. what have we been up to in the last month? There’s been a lot more crafting and as we’ve entered June a big ol’ firework has been lit under the both our butts and there’s a sudden sense of urgency as our countdown has gone from ‘months away…’ to ‘weeks away…’ ahhhhh

We’ve been busy ensuring the little guests are throughly entertained throughout the day so have been collecting games and making dressing up items for them to enjoy.

We’re gonna make sure there’s a couple of footballs and a frisbee for the sporty ones and Mumma Lo is on the case making butterfly wings! (lets be honest which little girl doesn’t like dressing up) and with that in mind I’ve also made some cute little Native Indian-esq feather headdresses and some twirly whirly ribbon wands! (The photos are going to look adorable)

I also saw a cute idea on Pinterest of giving the littles disposable cameras so with that in mind I set a list of photo challenges and boxed them all up… I can’t wait to see what images they come up with… hopefully there’s some good ones in there amongst the photos of feet and blurry selfies! haha

Another little project I’ve been loving is collecting lots of old photos from our parents and grandparents from their wedding day… We’re going to have a little area in Miss Piggy for our guestbook and put them up in there, with some of our fave photos and some of my favourite love quotes, but for now they’re sat on my mantlepiece & looking gorgeous…

I’m also beyond excited that we have finally booked a few days away for our minimoon. I really wanted to disappear away for a few days after the big day and let everything sink in, away from chores, work, people, distractions etc. We’ve been a fan of Canopy & Stars for some time and we lucked out again with our minimoon.

We’re escaping to France for 5 nights and I cant imagine anything more beautiful & tranquil looking then this gorgeous place….

So in addition to that Maxwell is also plowing on with Kermit, our wedding car. Maxwell’s friend Pieter was over from Rotterdam last week and was able to help Maxwell start putting him back together again… How odd it’ll be to have our dining room back!! (it has resembled a car garage for months now) haha

Next week is my family do, which I’m beyond excited about! We’re off to Limewood for afternoon tea, which’ll be blooming lovely and I’ve given in to the fact that for the next 6 weeks (ahhhhhh) the house will be over taken with wedding stuff…. we have bridesmaid dresses hanging from the doors, petals drying in front of all the windows, boxes of decor being washed, dried and re packed…. it’s all starting to feel very real and quite exciting and having just attended another spectacular wedding the bar has been set even higher and I can’t blooming wait to wallow in my own bubble of ‘wedding’…. I’ll be back soon for our 1 month count down…… WHAT!!?!?!?!?!?!?!/ ❤

 

A Harry Potter Hen Do Part 2

Tags

best friends, Harry Potter Hen Do, hen do, Liverpool, The Cavern Club, The Shankley Hotel

So now you know everything we had planned / prepped before hand…. Let’s talk about what happened on the actual Hen Do!

On the Thursday night on the eve of the hen do, I headed over to Becs after work & joined our bride-to-be for a chilled night in and a bit of advice on packing.

No one tells you that being a hen is an odd experience… with my hen do approaching I can completely appreciate the bizarre feeling of excitement and feeling left out! Haha… I reassured our girl and we went over what to pack, making sure she had lots in her case that made her feel amazing!

The morning of the hen and we woke excited and nervous… and made our way over to Euston to meet up with the other girls and grab some brunch. We met with another few girls and began some hen fun!!

Once on the train the fun really began, we popped some corks and played some games and started with the hen do selfies!! Be sure to check out #SnitchAndSnatch17 if you wanna see some of our shenanigans…

We arrived in Liverpool and headed to a cheap & cheerful pub for some lunch and a few more glasses of bubbles! As soon as the bridesmaids were done off we headed and set about decorating he hotel room in preparation of the arrival of our gal ❤

Fast forward 45 mins or so and after a whistle-stop tour to Ruby Blues (haha) the girls arrived and still I am overjoyed when I see the photo of Bec seeing the room for the first time!!! Yay….

First things first the sorting had to take place… as you can tell by the pics the gals found the whole thing rather amusing and after being sorted into teams the fun could really begin….

Armed with goodie bags and plenty of prosecco it wasn’t long before the bikinis were on and girls were in the tub…

The evening was spent in true hen party style, lots of alcohol, dancing, pizza, laughing, selfies, fun and shenanigans.

We stumbled into our beds happy and smiling and ready for a new day of fun!

Saturday morning and it was time to get about and about in Liverpool. Divided into our houses, a list of tasks and missions to attempt in hand, and off we headed for an hour and half of fun and hilarity.

I think it best the evidence stays a hen party secret so instead I shall move onto our Saturday afternoon activity potions making, ahem… cocktail making!

We headed to the Alchemist, and it was amazing…. We spent hours and hours making different cocktails and enjoying them too! Our lovely barman Eric was amazing and very patient with this huge gaggle of gals! The cocktails were all delicious and so was the food! If you’re ever looking to do a cocktail making session I cannot recommend The Alchemist enough…!

After that we headed home and readied ourselves for the evening… The hotel was perfect for getting ready for a girls night out! First destination on our list was Wildwood for some dinner! Delicious!!

After that we headed back to Ruby Blues, an amusing old mans bar and music spot, I think we were the youngest people in there by about 20 years but it was so funny and we had ourselves a little boogie!

After we had our fill of Ruby Blues we headed to the only destination that was on our books, The Cavern Club!! We had so much fun, it was literally the best night out I’ve had in ages!!!! We befriended the house band and got up on stage a few times to badly belt out some classics like Valerie and Proud Mary…. A pretty surreal and special moment I must admit! After a few hours dancing the night away and singing so loud we nearly lost our voices it was 2am and we were being asked to leave. A burger and a slow walk home and another successful hen do day was had!!

Sunday and it was time to pack up and head home…

The rest of the girls left after checking out but the bridesmaids hung around a little longer to enjoy a bit of indulgence. We headed down to the docks and had ourselves a lovely little lunch then went on to enjoy an afternoon relaxing in the Efora Spa.

A few hours of pampering later and a quick dash to the train and it was home time… We finished off the rest of the Hen Do book and reminisced over the best moments of the last few days!!

So there you have it…. The perfect weekend for my beautiful bestie! We literally had the best time ever…

A Harry Potter Hen Do Part 1

Tags

Harry Potter, Harry Potter Hen Do, hen do, Liverpool

Way back when Miss Rebecca Higgins first asked me to be one of her bridesmaids I was beyond excited!! Not only for the wedding, but also because I’d get to help organise her hen do!!

Once all the bridesmaids had joined the ‘hen do planning must have group whatsapp chat’ the discussions began and it was decided early on that Becca’s love for Harry Potter should 100% be a part of the weekend, but also that it should just be blooming amazing, lots of fun and a little bit naughty!!! haha

This excited me no end, as I too am a massive potter head! So we all went off and started thinking about ideas and where we could go and of course, good old pinterest played a huge part in the inspiration for the weekend!

I’ve made the board public now so feel free to take a look if you fancy doing something similar. We DIY’d a lot of the things ourselves to save money but there are so many resources and things out there, which you can buy if crafting isn’t really your thing!

I mixed and matched things up and customized a lot of free online downloads too to make them fit Becca’s Hen!

The first thing we had to sort was the location, the brief just said ‘a big city’, and because Becca lives in London we were thinking of Leeds, Liverpool or Manchester….

During one late night online research session along the lines of ‘Hen Do Venues for 20 people’ I stumbled across The Shankley Hotel in Liverpool and its amazing rooms!!

The hotel was obviously designed for hen and stag dos and boasted loads of big dormitory style rooms. We initially fell in love with ‘The Vault’ a huge room with bunk beds for grown ups and your own private underground bar with Jacuzzi…. Sounds good right!!!?!?!?

As fate would have it, it wasn’t available on the dates we wanted and it was also quite a bit over our budget. When I say fate, I mean it, as this meant I kept looking and discovered ‘The Laurent Perrier Suite’.

This room could have been made for us, and Becca, and the theme. A huge, indulgent room that slept 24; 12 nooks, each containing a comfy double bed and wet room behind plush gold velvet curtains all around the star feature of the suite; a huge roman bath which ran the length of the room! The sleeping nooks were split over two floors from a split staircase on the back wall and overlooked the lower level! As you came in through the huge medieval looking, vault-like doors there was also a seating area and a small kitchenette. It was perfect!! We contacted them straight away and booked it…. It was obviously meant to be!!

Not only was the room impressive to look at, it had an amazing luxurious feel to it (think hues of gold everywhere) but it also meant we’d all be together, all weekend!! Any girl will tell you that one of the best parts of a night out is the getting ready, the gossiping, the trying outfits on for approval, the doing hair for each other and obviously the vast amounts of prosecco that are needed to fuel the getting ready process.

By being all-together, it would ensure no one would feel left out or that they were missing out on some of the fun, a must have for our beautiful bride to be! The other obvious bonus to the room was that it looked like it cold have been plucked from the pages of Harry Potter; a mash up of a prefects bathroom and what I imagine the Hufflepuff dormitory would have looked liked!

So with a city and the accommodation sorted it was on to the décor, the games and the general tomfoolery!

Being a creative little sod I was in my element and now that it’s been and gone, I kinda miss my HP themed crafting evenings!! (all though the wedding has taken over all crafting evenings)

In this post I’m gonna concentrate on a few of the things we made to make the room even more special!

First up goody bags!

No good hen do is complete without a few goodies for the brides best gals. One of the bridesmaids suggested Velvet for the ultimate wizard-esq bag so a trip to fabricland and a day at my sewing machine later 17 little velvet pouches (in house colours don’t ya know) where made and waiting to be filled.

Any Harry Potter themed party needs a wand so I spent an amusing evening crafting these from wooden chopsticks, glue guns and some various spray paints/pens! The fact they were somewhat phallic also added to the Hen Party vibe too!

Being it was a hen do alcohol was also required. We brought and found a collection of various miniatures and these were then transformed into potion bottles that Severus Snape himself would have been proud of! I soaked off the labels and replaced them with ones I made or downloaded. Check out these links for some of the ones I used.

I was so happy with how they turned out and with potions including Love Potion, Truth Serum and Liquid Luck, I felt all pretty apt considering their alcoholic contents!!

We also had some sweet treats, some chocolates (incase of dementor attacks), a golden snitch (made from a good old Ferrero roche) and also some miniature boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans!! I made small versions of these by scanning in a full size box (which I brought at the Harry Potter Studios which we visited in November for Maxwell’s Birthday) and scaling it down on photoshop. These were then constructed and filled with good ol’ Jellybeans!! Cute huh!!

Also in the goody bag were Dark Mark tattoos (which I also brought from the HP Studio), A personalized champagne flute, a little deathly hallows bracelet which I made, ‘I solemnly Swear I’m up to no good’ badge (which you can get here), a lumos sparkler (get it?!), A HP themed hangover kit and some Butter Beer lip balms which I pimped!!

All of which were super easy to do, it just needed a bit of imagination and quite a bit of time! At some point, after all the weddings have been and gone, I’ll share some of the templates I made/used/created!!

Goody Bags sorted; lets talk about Décor…

The Room didn’t need much, but we did a few bits here and there…

Lindsay found and printed off a load of harry potter themed photobooth props which towards the end of the first night were brought out and amused and abused! Haha. We also did directional signposts (Diagon Alley, Privet Drive, Gringotts etc_ and I used some of my trusty Kraft DIY bunting to spell out phrases such as Muggle to Mrs, Team Gryffindor, I solemnly Swear I’m up to no good and our hilarious hashtag #SnitchAndSnatch17

Kelly and I also made loads of quite amusing Education Decree Posters using this really good downloadable template and some undesirable no.1 posters of Becca!! Haha

We also did a few signs and bits and bobs here and there, which if you’re HP fan, you’d really get and would make you chuckle!! These included:

*Beware, the stairs move (on the stairs obviously)

*A Fat Lady (for the front door)

*A moaning Myrtle (stuck on the inside of Becca’s toilet lid – haha)

*A Potions Making Station Sign (to hang above the bar)

*Plastic spiders (as in ‘follow the spiders’)

*’The third floor corridor is strictly off bounds to anyone not wanting to die a most painful death’ sign

*’Free Invisibility Cloaks’ sign

*Photos of Bec throughout her life (super cute idea for any hen!)

Urm….. and some balloons?! Haha…

All this came together to just make the room look even more magical!

Caroline also made the most AMAZING sorting hat!!! (I’ll explain a little bit more about that below) When Becca walked in to the room and saw it all for the first time her face was priceless and was worth every second and every penny!!!! So So Good!!!

The last thing we need to discuss is the games…. A hen do is not a hen do with out a bit of gaming so here goes… Here’s what we did and how we did it:

THE SORTING

Being that there was such a big group of us we thought it wise to split the group up into smaller teams, and being that this was a HP themed Hen Do the answer was easy. The girls would all be split into the 4 Hogwarts houses and we 4 bridesmaids would be house prefects!! The idea was that over the course of the weekend any good behavior (excessive drinking, impressive dance moves, winning games) would earn house points, any bad behavior (going to bed early, being sensible/boring) would loose you house points!! The team with the most points at the end of the weekend could win the house cup (aka mini bottle of champagne!!! 😉

To do the sorting we used the fab hat, which Caroline had made and asked Bernie, Becca’s lovely dad, to record a pre written script which (as if by magic) made hilarious comments and musings about the person whom it sat on and decided what house they would be in!! This was so funny and even the girls who were utterly HP clueless still found the whole thing very silly and funny!!

MR & MRS

A Hen Do Favourite!! In a book I created for Bec, We asked Edward her Fiancé 20 questions that Bec had to guess his anwsers!! I used tiny envelopes brought from Paperchase and my favourite Typewriter!!

I MUST NOT TELL LIES

A fun game of our own invention… We asked the girls to share with us a naughty/funny/saucy/embarrassing story about Becca and we may have also added in a few fake stories…. The game is simple, Becca would read them one at a time, out loud, and the girls (split into house teams) would then have to guess if she was telling the truth or not! Correct answers = house points… you get the jist!!

QUIDDITCH PROSECCO PONG

A pimped up HP hen do version of Beer Pong (with quidditch hoops made by my lovely fiancé)

LIVERPOOL SCAVENGER HUNT

This was a great way to get out and about and see all the best bits of Liverpool. Lindsay used the add called GooseChase and added in loads of funny HP/Hen Do tasks as well as some standard Liverpool-esq ones.

This was such good fun and the teams could do as much or as little as they wanted…. Fab fun!!!!

PIN THE LIGHTENING BOLT SCAR ON EDDY POTTER

An amusing take on the kids party game of pin the tail on the donkey!! Unfortunately the Eddy Potter face I’d made got a little chopped up! Whoops! Haha but we improvised and it was still very funny!!

THE NAKED HARRY POTTER CAST GAME

This was probably one of the funniest games I invented!!! Haha….. I spent an amusing evening googling naked/topless pictures of the cast of Harry potter then chopped off their heads! The game was to match the actor with the character, extra points given if you also knew the character name!!! Very funny/very childish/very hen party appropriate and thanks to Daniel Radcliffe’s stint on the stage quite exciting too!!! Haha

POTIONS MAKING

Quite simply – cocktail making/ pimp your prosecco station… We renamed some classic Prosecco Cocktails with a HP-esq title and provided all the herbs/fruits and mixers to create! Simple and obviously well used!

HEN DO BOOK

I also created a hen do book for Bec, a little tradition of mine, but this one was my most impressive/fullest yet!! I asked to girls to sent me notes/photos to include…. I also left space to put all the pics in which we’d inevitably take over the weekend and also other funny things like ‘design a dress for Becca’ and a space for well wishes and a card/letter from her mum and hubby to be!!

So there you have it!

A few hints and tips of you’re thinking of planning a HP Hen Do!! I hope you find this useful!! I post the actual pics separately as I think this post has enough content!!

 

A belated lovey post

Tags

photobook, present, valentines day

I’m having a huge clear out of my phone (does anyone else get continually told by apple that they don’t have enough space?!? Pfft-annoying) 

Anyway…. this has forced me to get a bit organised, clear out old whatsapp chats, upload stuff to Pinterest and do stupidly late non relevant posts on here…. sorry for that!! Haha!!! 

So a group of pics that fall into this category are pics from our Valentine’s Day together! I don’t want to just delete them so here I am, in May, doing a verrrrryyyyyy belated valentines post… haha 

Basically I will share a few picks I snapped from our morning where I gifted maxwell a few pressies…. I made him a photobox album of our engagement pics and brought him a 3yr Q&A book too!! 

I’ll let the pictures do the talking….. 

Cute huh?!?! 

If you’ve never used photobox before fear not!! It was my first time too and I found it really easy!! There are always discount codes flying round too so that helps the cost be really affordable!! I opted for an A4 lay flat design and loved it!!!! 

And how gorgeousdo our pics from Hayley look?!? Can’t wait for the wedding and all the wonderful pics we’ll get then too!! I’ll probably make another one then… I was so impressed with the quality!! If you want to have a play click here and have fun!!! 

Off Beet

Tags

birthday, eating out, lunch, Vegan, Vegan food, Wickham

Any one who knows me know that Southsea Coffee Co and their innovative approach to raw & vegan food has me hooked. For a while now I have seen ‘rival’ food posts on a similar theme on instagram from ‘Offbeet’. Cue a little snooping and I was intrigued by what I saw. Turns out they’re not rivals at all but two unique establishments both doing their bit for creating raw/gluten free/vegan food that everyone can enjoy, smashing down stereotypes surrounding this kind of food!

As a birthday treat from my bestie Anna, we headed over to Wickham one Sunny weekday and sat outside enjoying the sunshine and a bloomin good meal!

Off Beet is located on the side of the Chesapeake Mill, a huge vintage and shabby chic emporium. Check out the Offbeet website for more info/menu/staff details etc

The menu was great, lots to choose from and lots we wanted. In the end we both opted for the Burger (so we didn’t get food envy obviously) See the menu listing above for details but let me tell you this… It was scrumptious!

Looks good huh?? After the burger we had a mooch round the shop and then returned a little later for a slice of cake (because it’s a birthday treat and it’d be rude not to)

Over all I was super impressed and I’m keen to go back again and try something different! Hat’s off to Offbeet and keep doing what you’re doing!