Weddings - Is it really that hard?

For those who do not know, I got engaged in August last year. For those who do know me, you are probably well aware I've been waiting for this for a long, long, long, long time.

Whenever people mention weddings the response always starts "yay congratulations" swiftly followed by "I do not envy you". Quite honestly I don't see what all the fuss is about.

I love planning. Give me an excuse to research and make lists and I'm one happy lady! So wedding planning so far has been a breeze. We had venue, catering, entertainment, photobooth and registration for the registrar tied down in the first initial month.

Wedding 4 months away (BLOODY HELL THSTS CREPT UP ON ME) and other than the misters suit and rings we are done! Oh and the little thing that is payment..... Yeah that too.

I've really enjoyed wedding planning. The only thing I didn't enjoy was dress shopping which I will elaborate on in another episode sometime.

To any new brides to be out there I say don't panic! Wedding planning is only stressful if you let it be. Enjoy every moment and don't let anyone rush you into a decision.

Wedding sneak peaks to follow in future episodes...

Peace out ✌️🕊️

The Chronicles of trying to be more woman - Episode 3, masked mayhem

So I'm trying to be more woman I am learning one must attempt to take care of oneself. One of the ways to do this is using masks and such (or so I am told).

Pre besties wedding the bride-to-be decided she wanted to use a face mask. It was her first time as well as mine which is a bold move thinking of it since it was the night before the wedding and we could have had a horrendous reaction. Luckily for us... we didn't. She chose a brand which I'm usually OK with (i have pretty sensitive skin) and which she too is OK with. The other three bridesmaids have used masks of various brands in the past and knew they could use this. One of the bridesmaids was also vegan so we chose a brand, animal and skin friendly. So here goes blog audience.....

At what I think is a fairly hefty price tag of £16.00 this Himalayan Charcoal mask was my first attempt at woman-ing up with a mask. We used the below body shop Facial Mask Brush to apply the mask as we were advised to by the store assistant.... we didn't pay for the brush however as the bride bought another mask for later use which mean the brush was FREE. In the pot the mask looked like dried lava. It wasn't particularly something you would usually choose to lather onto your face.

Regardless, it applied nicely with the brush. So well in fact that i would suggest to others to purchase the brush to along with the mask. The first bridesmaid to put DID NOT read the instructions and ended up with sore runny eyes. THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS TEA TREE. It is therefore advised that you leave generous rings around the eyes to avoid discomfort. Heed this advice. The rest of us did and like the general feel of the mask whilst on. It gives a cooling, tingling sensation. Some found it a little burn-y on their blemishes but not too uncomfortable. To remove you must ruin a flannel (or three in our case). Using hot water and a flannel, massage and remove in circular movements. Its an exfoliant too see..... Or as i felt.... SCRAPING OFF MY WHOLE FACE. Me and one other were left looking a little red and blotchy after the mask however my skin felt FANTASTIC. The next morning the blotchyness was entirely gone and my skin felt soft and clean! I will be buying this and using it again. I will also try to convince my man fella to use it too. Below is my face looking muddy and beautiful:

As you can see this doesn't apply on too thickly actually. You can also see the massive tea tree leaves which are very apparent. I should point out that the Pyjama's were a primark special care of the lovely bride herself as a last gift to us bridesmaids. She's lovely isn't she? Below this I've include a picture of the PJ's and a link to Primark's website if you care to take a look....

£10.00 https://m.primark.com/en/products/category/women,nightwear

After the wedding i was dehydrated.... I'm not sure why? It wasn't like i drank that much.....

Regardless not only was i thirsty but my skin was also dry and greasy all at the same time. It needed lotion and deep cleansing all at once. Not only this but after dancing all night I had blisters and super sore feet. I decided this would be a perfect time to try and woman and do womanly things in a womanly way, so i could recover....womanly like. I had got a free paper face mask with my order from Latest In Beauty, and a foot thing which I picked up months ago in the pound shop. On a lazy Sunday midday i decided... NOW was the time to try these things out.

A colleague at work (who also has a beauty blog which you should all check out http://riettezemakeupchapette.blogspot.co.uk/ ) recognised the make Maskorea and said it should be pretty good. WELL.... it gave me spots. To use it was sticky and unpleasant though at least easy. 

Step 1.... use cleanser in pouch labelled 1. 

Step 2.... open mask and apply to now cleansed and DRY face. Step 3.... after the specified time, remove mask and apply lotion from ouch labelled 3. This lotion is to be left on face all night. 

Well i woke up with some pretty bad spots after this. Maybe my skin didn't need a drink as much as i thought it did?

The foot thing wasn't half bad. Its simply a plastic bad with some fabric saturated in lotion. Pop feet in for the specified time. Remove from bag, chuck bag and let feet dry. Feet smelt glorious and it was a nice little lotion but with no lasting affects. At least it didn't give my feet spots.....

Below is a picture of me using said Maskorea mask.... enjoy:

p.s YES those are unicorn and rainbow PJ's.... AND WHAT?!?!?!!

That concludes this episode of trying to be more woman. I do actually feel more woman for using a mask. Its a silly little thing but you see and hear of it in movies and i always thought "women don't really do that"... turns out they do.... Can i join woman-dom yet?

Well I am most certainly #trying.

Peace out ☮

Tis the season for WEDDINGS - Summer 2017

In the past month I have had the privilege to be a bridesmaid at two weddings. One was for my boyfriends sister, and the other for my best friend of 16 years. I'm not sure how many pictures either party would want me to include so.... here goes.

 Both weddings had one huge thing in common.... I love the brides a tonne.... as illustrated below........

 I digress... let me get back to the meat of the article. WEDDINGS. If you care to visit my pinterest page you will see that I've put a fair amount of thought in what I'd want for my own wedding. For both the blushing (ha ha ha, makes them seem innocent) brides I thoroughly enjoyed my bridesmaids duties.

Wedding 1 - The coopers

Wedding no.1 was my other half's sister. She is his younger sibling with an imagination and a half. She planned and executed most of the wedding whilst her groom remained focused on getting their first property purchase completed. This beautiful couple got engaged in Paris, on the Eiffel tower in 2015 (watch me be wrong on this date) and soon checked out wedding venues.

Their final choice of venue was:

Looks like Hogwarts from this angle. This is the roadside view which shows off the original and older ascetic. From the other side it is a little more modern, including a car park.... As a wedding venue this was really convenient. The wedding couple live up the road but also as it was a Best Western, it meant guests could stay over. Size wise the venue was a lovely size for the Cooper wedding party with a really traditional aesthetic which matches the above pictured exterior. As a venue, I could only point out one downfall which was that the bar was not in the same room as the main reception room. In the case of the Cooper wedding, luckily the personality of the majority of the guests meant that the wedding was still kept to the main reception room with brief visits to the bar. It did however mean that the party poopers stayed in the bar area (which was used by the rest of the hotel guests too) for most of the night, not involving themselves with the main wedding party (and PARTY it was).

Our bride no.1 was also a vegan and with that she brought a few twists I'd never seen at a wedding. The main meal included vegan options which is so rare but also the cake and cupcakes were all vegan. Some vegan options (by this i mean which are available in supermarkets) are grim replacements, such as vegan cheese. Violife smells and tastes like feet..... The cake however was one of the best cakes I've ever eaten! The icing was AMAZING. (sorry for the poor pic quality)

More quirks that our bride brought to this wedding was her choice of flowers and colours. Her favourite colour is electric/royal blue which was reflected in the brides parties flowers and clothing:

Wedding 2 - The Tamplin's

Wedding no.2 was my best friend of 16 years. Although not actual family, I've known this lovely lady so long that her family are just like family. I've been away with these lovely people on holiday and seen all her siblings finish primary school and begin secondary, finish secondary and then move onto jobs and adulthood. Her wedding was last night so not as many pictures as yet (being bridesmaid I was without my phone for most the time).

The Tamplin wedding was held in Bromley in:

As a venue this ticks all boxes really. The wedding, as it was a sunny day was held outside under a pergola. It was picturesque! The inside of the venue was decorated tastefully with the sit down meal and reception being held in the same area without the need to move tables. The bar was also in the main reception room. Although the picture above shows the lovely dated exterior of this venue, the indoor reception part of the wedding was held in a more modern extension of the building which didn't hold the same period charm. It was however a lovely big reception room which accommodated all the day and evening guests comfortably and kept the whole party together all night.

Food wise, we didn't have a food selection so the food chosen by the bride and groom were chosen to suit all. A Cesar salad, followed by a roast chicken main and a meringue, cream and ice cream desert. All three courses were delicious and also servings were really big for a three course meal.

Our bride no.2 decided not to have a number of floral room decorations nor bouquets. She worries these are costly and get wasted which is a huge pity. Instead she only chose to have button holes for the gents and one bouquet for herself. Instead us bridesmaids had fans to hold on the day which came in use on this hot September day!

Mine

I have provide you with a collage of what I'd like my wedding to be if i won the lottery and could have it all (can find links to all of these on my pinterest page):

As you can tell by the above, currently i have an idea of a red and navy wedding. This will likely never happen as my Mr hates Navy. Too school uniform in his mind. Oh well. A gal can dream....

ALSO.... not engaged.


Two beautiful days with two beautiful brides. I'm so happy to have been involved and privileged to have been bridesmaids for both these ladies!

Wishing them and their Hubby's many happy loved up years!

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