Hello 2015

Last night I welcomed in the new year with these gorgeous faces. We had drinks, dinner, more drinks, some dancing and general goodtimes celebrating the year that was 2014. Weddings, engagements, promotions, new homes and various other happy occasions that we had all been lucky to be a part of these past 12 months. No negativity allowed. Plenty of amaretto sours allowed!

Today I slept until the afternoon, spent the day finishing more christmas leftovers (mainly chocolate and cheese based), watching movies and colouring in pictures of shoes (thanks Jo!). All from the comfort of my sofa, in my PJs under a blanket. Bliss.

So, before I go back to work tomorrow (not a bad thing, I'm looking forward to wearing clothes, having spent far too much time in a onesie for a human older than 3 months) there's one last thing to do: make some resolutions. 

Last year I made only two (here, if you're interested) 

1. "... my main resolution; say “No!” when I really don’t want to do something and to look after myself in the same way I look try to look after others..."

2. "... absolutely get my photos sorted..."

Well, number 1 went ok. There were a few issues, but I'm getting there. Sometimes I stepped back and looked at the situations I was in and wondered where the TV cameras were. And then I remembered that I have a job, mortgage and friends that aren't scripted and I don't have a yacht, millionaire parents and an endless string of bitchy brunches to attend. Basically that I'm not a character on Made in Chelsea or TOWIE and this crazy sh*t is really happening to me. So I just stopped engaging with it, and it's mostly gone away. Brilliant! Winning! 

Number 2 is getting there. Lots of inkifi prints ordered and holes being drilled in walls. Next up, photobooks! 

So, to 2015. 

My resolutions are:

1) to keep up 2014's good work - I'm going to stay away from the haters, two-faced cowards and frenemies (in real life and on social media) and focus on those gorgeous faces that make my heart sing... and put more pictures of them on my walls! 

2) to look after my body, inside and out - I'm starting to notice the wear and tear and signs of bodily distress. I need to pay attention to what my body is telling me, and, let's be honest, this little sugar plum ain't getting any younger. Ahem!

3) to be more focused (and ambitious and confident) and make my dreams happen - I lost my spark for a while. I spent too long dwelling on the wrong and bad things. But I achieved a lot in the past 12-18 months. It's no coincidence that those achievements came from the increased focus and energy I found when I cut out a lot of distractions and negativity. In terms of more tangible plans, I have exciting things to focus on at work, we have some big ideas for our home and, of course, the world is our oyster... as soon as my annual leave requests are approved!

4) to be happy more - see above. 

5) to tell you all about it on the blog - which should be easier with this new app I've found!

And with that, back to the sofa, Sky Movies and five types of cheese (number 2 starts Monday!)

xoxo

Five photos

When the lovely Gemma tagged me in her "Five photos that make me smile" post, I ran my battery down to zero trying to work out how to select five photos from what must be the thousands I've uploaded over the last eight years. Eight years? How is that possible?

What was easy though, was what I wanted to represent. I know exactly what makes me smile...

Family
Nuclear, extended, blood, those I've acquired through marriage, those I've lost over the years and my god family - they all count. They all matter.
My wonderful, amazing family make me smile.
Even the crazies.
Especially the crazies!

Mr G
I found a goodun. I snared him. I'm keeping him. I'm not smiling because I'm married to him. I'm married to him because he always knows when and how to make me smile.
Always.

My friends
I wrote a long smushy post about this a while ago. Wow, how things have changed. Some of the faces have gone, new ones have arrived (hello WAGs, Dirty Thirties, Pineapple Club, work roomies old and new), but the sentiment still stands... that I am lucky beyond my wildest dreams to have the love, support and companionship of so many lovely people that are here, beside me because they want to be, not because they have to be (through marriage, blood or shared office space!)
My friends make me smile.
I hope I make them smile in return...

Opportunity
The world is my oyster.
I can go where I want. I can be who and what I want. I can believe what I want. I'm so lucky that I have choice, means, direction and support.
This photo represents two things - travel and work (yup, these days, my work makes me smile - check it here).  Traveling broadens horizons, I get to see, feel, experience new things. My job affords me the means to do that, but often presents opportunities (in this photo I was en route to Paris to start my secondment . One of the best things, ever. Ever!). Having a job that challenges me and surrounds me with inspiring people means I also have a reason to get up in the morning and take on the day. Having opportunities make me smile.

A place to call home
Opportunity, travel, the world is my oyster. But I have a place to call "home". I know I will always have somewhere to go. I know where home is. I know where I belong. I know where I'm safe. Somewhere to be still, calm, secure. I know that no matter what. No. Matter. What. I can go "home" and be welcomed, loved, nurtured and healed. It's not a place per se (though my family home and the home I bought and made great with Mr G make me very happy indeed), it's a feeling. A feeling not everyone is lucky enough to have and so I cherish it.
It makes me smile on the inside.

I suppose in the literal sense the effort I've put in to making our actual house full of fun, love, pretty, and parties also makes me smile.

Who was it that said "They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for"?

Don't say "Instagram"...! Whomever it was, I'm minded to agree.

So there we go - five pictures (yes I know I bent interpreted the rules slightly) that make me smile.

Thanks Gemma. YOU make me smile!

As an aside, this post has been a bit like therapy for me. I haven't blogged for a while as I lost a bit of my spark. I lost some people that I thought my spark depended on and I found it hard to articulate those feelings of hurt, loss and bewilderment without reference to that loss.

However, I've always tried to be grateful for what I do have rather than dwelling on what I don't (cough, Chanel handbag, cough), and I've just realised that this situation is no different.

So in writing this status-update-that-grew-in-to-a-blog-post post I managed to get it off my chest and get back in the game.

I've also been bonkers-mad-busy. Double busy.

So, now I'm back in the game* look out for a "catch up" post!

There'll be pictures. Lots. And they'll all make me smile.

Ciao 

*too many Micky Flanagan references? :-)

Resting Bitch Face

I have a friend who used to tell me off all the time for my Resting Bitch Face* She said that I always looked aloof and people were scared to talk to us when we went out. I thought it was more along the lines that they were embarrassed to be seen with us due to our cliché fancy dress and bonkers dance routines we insisted on doing, en masse, on the dancefloor (it likely was the latter!).

I had a boss, back in the day, that said I gave off a constant air of "don't approach me, don't talk to me and certainly don't touch me" when we were out drinking. Not in a bad way, just in the way that when everyone at work was hitting on or hooking up with anything that moved, everyone steered well clear of me. I thought it was because everyone else was way way hotter than me (they actually were/are!).

From the age of about 3 until... well, probably even now, my mum told/tells me, repeatedly, that my standard response to all questions, comments and critique was/is a lip-curl of a sneer. I disagree, I think I'm screwing my face up while ruminating my response to make sure I say the right thing (but, fair enough, in my teenage years, I probably snarled some kind of sarky retort, once cogitated).

One of Mr G's friends also told me that his (now ex) girlfriend thought I was highly unapproachable, because I was always giving her "evils". I thought she was staying away from me because she was just too cool for me (she was!).

I took umbrage at all these suggestions.

I smile at strangers in the street as we walk past each other as I worry that they may think I'm unfriendly. I yell "good morning" to people as I walk to the bus stop each morning, even if they always ignore me, and I worry ALL.THE.TIME. that people might not like me. For some stupid reason my life's mission is to make everyone like me.

Anyway, on a hen weekend recently one of the other hens took a lot of reportage style photography and it was only in looking through her expert pics that I noticed the extent of my Resting Bitch Face. I'd never seen it before.

It's bad.

Check it.

Papped by Manita Khanna

So, I'm sorry. I get it!

But, check this Buzzfeed blog post out, it explains my plight.

Help me!

* at the time we didn't know that's what it was called. She just told me to stop looking like such a sullen bitch!

Feelin' Good: Recapping Jan - Mar

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life, for me... and I'm Feelin' Good.

That's one of my fave songs of all time, and that's how I'm feeling today.

Nothing, of course, related to the fact that we've FINALLY booked a 2014 holiday.

I'm Makin'Whoopee (kinda), and excited for Summertime. Yup, I've gone all Jazz and Blues in homage to the fact that we're gonna be coasting around the deep, deep south in the heat of summer - I'm *squeeeeeeee*ing with excitement at all the music and cocktails in New Orleans.

#Sizzling

So, it's the first day of April and I'm feeling HAPPY. You would be forgiven for thinking that that's an April Fool, but I'm very superstitious, and it's after midday, so no, I actually am happy, after months of walking around like the grumpus!

It's the start of a new quarter, I have some solid travel plans in the diary, we can finally feel springtime in the air and I'm feeling like a breath of fresh air has finally wafted through my life.

So, onwards.

But first, a quick three-month re-cap...

January

It was my birthday, I kept it low key and took myself off for a ski trip with work. I had SO. MUCH. FUN. But only when I wasn't wearing ski boots. Ski boots are the devil. I hate ski boots and ski boots hate me.

I had some low key birthday celebrations with various groups, drinks on the sofa, dinners out, afternoon teas in (Chez Wal-cey), and an amazing Sunday brunch at Hakkasan with the Mister.

We celebrated some other big birthdays as well, including a 60^th for Mummy Anne and a 21^st for Baby Griff and christened the dining table Chez Katy with a boozy Sunday brunch.

February

February is where I always plan to reduce my alcohol intake after the excesses of Christmas, New Year and the Big Month of Birthdays (there are about 10 in January and early Feb), but this year that just didn't happen. We started it off with a glorious hen house party for the lovely Laura, full of food, fizz, cocktail making, arts, crafts, country walks and old-school film faves (in our own private cinema room, no less) showed Gemma the sights of our home town city with a bar crawl through Chelmsford, Katy, Claire and I thoroughly disgraced ourselves at Proud Cabaret, dancing with (pilfered) feather boas on our heads until 3 in the morning. We tried to reign it in for the rest of the month, to no avail, with Katy and I wreaking havoc in our onesies in the conservatory on Valentine's Day and then Gemma and I caused our Beaux much embarrassment with our havoc-wreaking  slick moves on the dance floor at the Gilbert nuptials

Let's just have a pause for that wonderful, glorious day...

...sigh...

And we're back in the game.

February ended with another trip to The Drowned Man (read about it on Florence Finds here) I'm still thinking about it...

March

March began with a fringe, a Tea Shop Luvvie brunch  (which of course lasted until tea time), birthday love potion cocktails for Nicky and a shopping trip for Indian wedding outfits. Which turns out to be dangerous... so much embellishment means multiple face and arm lacerations when being pulled in and out of multiple outfits. I found an outfit though, so it was a successful day.

March continued in much the same way as January and February: BOOZY. A night of Indian food and cocktails with Kim followed by an all-you-can-drink brunch and a bottle of Veuve at Sushi Samba with the god family, a trip to the Quaglino's Meringue and Bellini Bar, a visit to my grandparents in Yorkshire (including a stay in my parents' and grandparents' wedding night hotel) were all filled with fizz and fun.

Next up was a weekend in Paris (ahhh, Paris, my love) for Bhavisha's hen celebrations – food, fizz, hot chocolate, LBDs and colour pop shoes... I came home a stone heavier and with some new friends.

I rounded off the month, and Q1 2014 with Caroline's  birthday dinner a trip to the James Bond inMotion exhibition at the London Film Museum, a burger-fest Chez Gilbert, a big family-and-friend gathering for Mothering Sunday at a friend's lovely country pub and some much needed pampering time. 

So, April, and the rest of 2014... I'm ready for you.

Ciao Bella Twenty Thirteen

Woooooooah! All of a sudden it's NYE. I haven't posted in an aaaaaaage. I've just been so busy... living the last days of 2013, it seems.

It's been a year of spectacular highs and some rather upsetting lows. Ultimately though, the happy faces have outweighed the tears, and I can hand on heart say I've had a great year full of amazing opportunities, self discovery and life lessons... oh, and a LOT of fun with my loved ones. Even, a little on my own.

I shan't go in to it all. I shan't get all mushy and wordy about it. I shan't do a month-by-month analysis. I have NYE cocktails to plan and glitter to apply...

Instead, I shall reminisce in the way I know best - with pictures! Click play, or on the link below, and turn up the sound...

http://flipagram.com/f/Or2pnpUdYK
 

Ahhhh, memories.

Right now, at the same time as reliving my 2013 highlights, I'm mega excited about the funtimes and new experiences 2014 has to offer and putting a fresh start in to action. Oh, and the fact that Sherlock is finally back... tomorrow! *squeeeeee*

See you next year, peas and love!
x

Big Brother - I'm (not) watching you

I haven't watched it for years but I used to be really in to it.  I mean really in to it. Shouting at the telly-and-calling-friends-to-discuss in to it. Sitting-up-all-night-with-them-on-the-telly-but-asleep in to it.

Big Brother eye logos from over the years - C4 and C5 ones!

Big Brother started when I was at the end of a Sociology A level and so, with its bona fide "Social Experiment" status, the original series held great interest for me.

After that, I fell in love with the concept as I've always said that my dream home would be a ma-husive mansion house, full of separate apartments and communal spaces, where all my family and friends could live together in perfect (Coca Cola-sponsored?) harmoneeeeeeeeeeee.

I know the concept of communal living scares the bajeezus out of most people, but I just love the idea. The theory that you have your own space when necessary but the rest of the time you can mingle with others.

I think I love it because, due to Mr G's job I spend a lot of time on my own wishing there were more people about to chat to. I spend a lot of time planning trips, excursions, parties, meet ups and days and nights out and almost every weekend and every evening is packed with people to see so that I don't get bored in my own company. So not only would it keep me happy, it'd probably save me a hell of a lot of money as well!

I love the idea of waking up in the morning and wandering out of my room to find people to talk to. Or perhaps not my room. Perhaps I'll have stayed late chatting with a buddy and snoozed in their room for the night. You never know! I love winding down at the end of the day in a pool of low light in the corner as everyone is heading off to bed in dribs and drabs. I love being part of a big group. I love falling asleep to the sounds of life and activity, knowing that if I want to, I could get up and join in.

It's why I love Christmas in my parents' house. It's why it was actually really lovely moving back in with my parents for a short while last summer. It's why I adore big group holidays, trips and hen dos. It's why I won't be upset when my family puts me in an old people's home when I'm old. It's one of the only things I about university I look back at and wonder if I should have opted in for... and then realise no... I like living amongst people, NOT in (student) poverty! I watch reality TV or sitcoms where everyone just congregates together in one person's house and wish my life was like that (also for the fact that no one is working, cleaning, doing chores, etc, but that's by the by) and when my friends come from big families and always have a house full of family members, friends and even randoms I just want to pack a bag and move in!

Anyway, I digress. Over the years I watched Big Brother thinking about how much fun it'd be to spend the summer hanging out in a big house with all my buddies. I watched it almost obsessively from series one through eight (except, strangely with the exception of series four, of which I watched zilch. Sorry Cameron). At series nine, ten and eleven I kind of checked out, watching it less religiously and keeping up with updates mainly via the media.

But it wasn't just the fantasy living arrangements I tuned in for, nor the sociological/psychological analysis on Sunday nights, the weird human behvaiour, the big personalities and the exhibitionism, the fun camaraderie (and the not so factions that then developed) the crazy tasks or the fact that I fell head over heels in love with Davina, Dermot and Russell and needed my daily/nightly/weekly fix of them. The other thing that I just LOVED, and perhaps still love, about Big Brother is the interior design.

I love colour. I love a theme. I love kitsch and so I love all the crazy random crap that they just stick everywhere for, well, just because, really. Check out some of the BB house design schemes over the years here. Ah, the memories!

Even on the most recent Channel 5 episodes, I've completely avoided anything to do with the people, but have still gone looking for pictures of the house interior.

Imagine how excited I was, when the other day I found this little section of the Very.co.uk website. Now you too can decorate your house to look like.... well, like what? How on earth would you describe the BB houses over the years? 

 

 

Anyway - think of all the multi-coloured, crazily-patterned, non-matchy, useless-but-fun, kitschy junk I can buy now for my house?  Excellent!

So who wants to come and live with me for the summer? I promise there are no cameras... well, maybe some instagramming...

Out and about: BRGR.co Soho



About a month or so ago I met up with my usual afternoon tea crew for afternoon tea with a twist - BURGERS!

 

Check out my review here, on Florence Finds: http://www.florencefinds.com/girl-about-town-with-a-boy/



The Afternoon Tea Crew



BRGR.co Soho - boy-friendly afternoon tea!

Releasing my inner child at The Fling Festival

This weekend, some friends and I took ourselves in to our local town centre under the premise of "releasing our inner children" at The Fling Festival.

I'd heard good things and was excited about the promise of just being silly and having plain old simple fun in the sun. I like a good cocktail bar, a pretentious venue, a swish restaurant, the next big thing on the club scene and a dressy night out more than most (if I can afford it!) but I hate the "too cool for school" mentality.

I like to go out and have fun for having fun's sake, and not to have fun because someone else thinks it might be cool. I'm a geek, a goon and a bit fat goof.

I like fancy dress. I like cheesy tunes. I like being silly. I like hanging out with people who think the same.

Turns out The Fling Festival is my new silly happy place (after Disneyland and Vegas) and I fitted right in.

We turned up, collected our wrist bands and did a quick reccie of the site to discover, amongst other things giant water lilies, a chaise lounge set up for sung riverside therapy sessions (Melodies for Maladies anyone), an interactive metal "tree" and an army of moving bins that squirted water at passers by, a Human Juke Box (pay 10pence and Juke Box Jenny'll sing for you!), a story telling tent, a debating tent (I had to stay away from that one), a stand for checking in your "emotional baggage", an interactive puppet show with a full whizz-banging Roald Dahl style chemistry set and puppets, a skating rink, a school sports day arena (5-legged race? girls vs boys tug of war?) faery wand-making workshops, a tent teaching different styles of dance (from burlesque to hip hop and everything in between), a Bollywood tent (with food, music, stories and dance), body painting (both painting for your body and using your body to do the painting), a party bus (complete with conductor and tickets), a silent disco and a giant sandpit with buckets and spades in amongst your usual festival stands, stages and tents offering an array of food, drink, cocktails, music, comedy, cabaret and burlesque.

My favourite area by far had to be the Rubbish Area. On first look it gave me shivers as it reminded me way too much of one of my recurring nightmares about the junk yard witch from Labyrinth, but after a few Pimm's Slushies (yup, you heard me) I was brave enough to face my fears of piles of other people's junk and got settled on a floor cushion with my glue gun and did what my inner child does best... making silly costumes out of crap I find laying around!

After that I spent the rest of the day trying to keep it on my head and telling people I bought it at M&S.

I'm saving it for next year so I'm ahead of the game!

Hat and a mask

The Human Juke Box



Chemistry and puppets

Treasure from rubbish

Skating!

Wand-making



Dancing... silently

posing... stupidly



The beach



The Forum



The End!

I'm a Mini Me Maker

It was my gorgeous God Daughter's birthday last week so this weekend we celebrated with fizz and cake.

Of course.

It's also her Baby Bro's birthday next weekend (well coordinated Kim!), so after fizz and cake we celebrated his special day, in advance, with special edition blackberry and elderflower Pimm's and more cake.

Excellent.

For Isabelle's birthday every year I try to think about her presents as much as I do for her mummy and get her something cool, fun, something she wouldn't be expecting and something that's a bit of a treat. But she's getting a bit older now and it's hard to know what to buy for a head-strong, independent, girly-but-not-overly-so girl with some very specific interests. I've bought books, clothes, items that her mummy would appreciate when she was still too little to appreciate a present herself (e.g. the "reading" that Joey "performed" at Emma's first birthday in Friends! We were MASSIVE Friends fans!), fancy dress, toys, DVDs, donations to her future car fund...

This year however I think I excelled myself.

Upon her, I bestowed... myself! I jest, but it wasn't far off.

We all know I love a fifties-style frock, I live for afternoon tea and one of my proudest achievements in recent years is collecting the cutest set of pastel coloured vintage tea sets from which to serve it. It was only when I was wrapping her presents that I realised I had actually bought Isabelle miniature versions of everything I love.

A pastel tea set from Ikea, a fifties-style dress with Paris postcard print from Next and wooden patisserie.

anyone for cake?

I had accidentally attempted to mould Isabelle in to a Mini Me. Her poor parents!

Now, what is also interesting is that what I bought for her Baby Bro, Luke, mirrors one of Mr G's interests... cooking.

I don't go in for gender-stereotype toys, so when someone suggested these amazing food toys, I jumped on them for him. I bought Luke a Melissa and Doug felt sandwich set (complete with a bap, white sliced bread and a pitta, and then all the meat, cheese and salad fillings you can imagine) and a pizza set (with four slices, a pizza pan, cheese, tomato and all the best toppings - no tuna and sweetcorn here!).

I think this year Mr G and I had more fun with the presents than the kids!

Obsession: The Wal-Cey Wedding

This weekend I had the most amazing time celebrating with my wonderful friends, Claire Wacey and Richard Walsh as they tied the knot. I'm having serious Wal-Cey wedding withdrawal!

Was it amazing because the setting was Claire's parents' beautiful home, where we have already shared so many happy times with her incredibly welcoming, generous and gracious family over the years gone by?
 
Was it amazing because she's a stylist and so (politely) requested that we go to town on our outfits... and we all eagerly complied?
 
Was it amazing because my talented friend Jasmine set up some seriously brilliant Vanity Fair cover shoot style photography (and thankfully, the bridal party come complete with some Vanity Fair style looks)?

Was it amazing because she themed the day loosely on A Midsummer Night's Dream, a close second in my list of favourite tales, behind Alice in Wonderland (on which we themed her hen do)?

 
Was it amazing because the theme allowed for tumbling floral arrangements and twinkling crystals hanging above our heads, urns, jars and vases abundant with sweet scented blooms, a marquee worked into and around the existing flora and ornaments of her parents’ garden with an "enchanted forest" feel, escort cards fluttering in the wind on the boughs of a blossoming tree, ethereal bridesmaid dresses, fairy wings for the littluns, colourful canapés appearing from all sides on giant platters, an incredibly genteel croquet and putting lawn for that  "Ye Olde Englishe" feel, Secret Garden hideaways, complete with love seats to escape the heat of the sun,  or for a stolen moment and photos taken next to a bubbling brook as ducklings floated lazily on the pond?

 
Was it amazing because of the delicious delicacies served up by her locally renowned caterers?

Was it amazing because there were M&Ms (or were they W&Ws?), which are my absolute fave, with their faces on?

 Was it amazing because there was a technicolour photo-cab outside?

Was it amazing because every tiny detail was so magnificently planned, executed perfectly and with such great style?

Was it amazing because the dancefloor was full from the first note until the last thanks to the incredible band?
 
Was it amazing because the whole place was filled with so much love, friendship and happiness our faces hurt from grinning, our sides hurt from laughter, our throats hurt from singing, our feet hurt from dancing (despite the overflowing flip flip basket) and our eyes stung with happy tears?
 
Was it amazing because the bride wore blue?

 
Well... all of the above really.
 
From the moment I woke up on Saturday 8^thJune (not that I'd managed to sleep much, due to my excitement) I was buzzing with anticipation as to how all Claire's plans would come to life on the day. I thought I was holding it together well, until a heartfelt dedication on the local radio station sent me over the edge. Crumbs. A quick reapplication of mascara and I was back in the zone, the hair got bouffed, the dress went on and the hat placed neatly in my lap in the car, all in good time to head to the hotel, meet up with the WonderHens, squeal loudly in reception for a few moments, gush at everyone’s outfits and pose for some photos before boarding the bus to make our way to the ceremony.

As the sounds of the Trumpet Voluntary rang out in the beautiful church (a special one for me as I also walked in to this piece) the bridesmaids (a vision in white tulle and carrying my fave: blue hydrangeas) and the bride entered.

Mr G will vouch for the fact that I did an actual fist pump and an exclamation of “YESSSS!” as she came in to sight. Long ago we’d talked about a delicately coloured dress, I was sworn to secrecy and then it was never mentioned again and I was worried that she’d changed her mind. I was over the moon that she’d stuck to her super-stylish guns and made such a statement with her dress… albeit an understated, elegant statement, but a statement nevertheless.

Although, those curves. Nothing understated about those. No siree.  

Traditional vows, some emotional readings (a teeny tiny Pineapple Club reference even made it in during Liz’s poem), a few tears, a beautiful solo followed by Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Wedding March (another of my faves) a tunnel of confetti and cheers and we found ourselves waving off the bride and groom in their sleek and shiny Rolls Royce, followed by the ‘maids in their own version and the ‘men in a cream taxi.

Back at Ludham Hall the bridal party posed briefly by the water for their portraits while we guests mingled on the front lawn or explored the nooks and crannies and hidden alcoves in and around her parents’ lovingly tended garden, chatting, drinking, eating, looking for our names on the tree and posing for hat pictures. The refined summer garden party tableau was ruined only by my inability to keep my bubbles in my glass, instead pouring them all over my silk dress… and thus ruining most of the pictures.

#MustTryHarderToBeRefinedAndClassy

As the afternoon began to close we were called through to dinner and as we entered the marquee I don’t think a single guest managed to keep their breath in their lungs. The entire marquee was festooned with flower garlands and bedecked in swags of petals and individually hanging stems twirling in the breeze. Thousands of fairy lights twinkled on the ceiling, chandeliers sparkled in amongst the flowers and hanging crystals winked in the late afternoon sunshine. The tables were overflowing with pink, blue and cream flowers in giant arrangements surrounded by fairy-sized bouquets.

Like I said… breathtaking.

We welcomed the newlyweds to their top table with a resounding round of applause, laughed along with the amazing video that Sister of the Bride Nicky made as a surprise [watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGcDUzvAcyI&list=FLcXaccfKqeaixNWCo5Mx7EA] featuring a number of rather embarrassed guests (including yours truly in an Annie wig, on a shoe phone and singing out of tune an inch from the lens) and then settled in for a delicious wedding breakfast of salmon ravioli, guinea fowl with fresh veg followed by a trio of desserts, coffee, chocolates and then champagne.

We listened intently to heartfelt words from the father of the bride, emotional words from the groom, impromptu thanks from the bride and a bestman/groomsmen speech comprising five parts (he’s a popular guy) and by then we had cried, cheered, laughed and toasted our way well in to the evening.

The bride and groom invited the mother of the bride and her bestie to join in the cake cutting, which was only fair as they worked so hard to plan, make and construct it, and then word started to spread about a photo-cab outside… you can imagine the hysteria amongst Pineapple Club members and the Wonder Hens. Props were grabbed, poses were pulled and shrieks were emitted!

Then it was time for the big reveal… a curtain in the bar/dance/lounge tent was pulled back, the band sprang in to life and the first dance commenced. Cue more tears as the new Mr and Mrs cut some shapes on the dancefloor and shared a special moment, surrounded by their nearest dearest.

And then we let the good time roll…

… and roll…

… and roll!

In fact they rolled until the small hours when we waved off our newlyweds in a cab to their hotel and we took our leave of the house, letting her parents and sister get some well-earned rest. Although as we departed (at about 3am) there were shouts from Nicky of “if there’s an after party at your hotel call me!”… no chance. I left the hard core contingent in the bar and headed off to our room, which turned out to be occupied by someone else. Cue some curt conversations in reception – whilst wearing two fascinators, a pair of mismatched flip-flops and Mr G’s suit jacket over my (champagne-stained) dress but eventually they found us a new room and I slept soundly until check out, despite an odd blue glow emanating from the corner of the room.

You know it’s been a good wedding when you wake up with mild concussion (a freak dancefloor injury), glow sticks on your pillow and a stolen borrowed cone in your room.

A quick trip to Frankie and Benny’s for a Sunday morning fry up with Katy and R and then we were back in the swing at Ludham Hall, albeit a slightly more mellow swing in slightly more comfy shoes, excitedly talking about the events of the day before, swapping dancefloor/photo-cab/portaloo stories over BBQ’d meats, salads, cheesecake and strawberries. The girls enjoyed a few glasses of fizz (zy water for those on driving detail) as we watched and re-watched the video, pored over the photo-cab pictures, hen do album and wedding guest book messages, that got messier, gushier and more incoherent as the pages went on, while the boys challenged each other to giant Jenga and a putting session over a few hair-of-the-dog beers.

Later that evening I snuggled up on the sofa in my PJs and some pedicure socks with a bucket of tea and a slice slab of wedding cake and spent a happy few hours uploading my photos to Stalkbook and working out how best to put the wonder of the Wal-cey Wedding in to words…

I hope I did it justice.