A vintage wave, live music and liquor, 1930s style.

Last weekend we headed to Cecil's, a basement bar of a Victorian tea warehouse, 200 metres from London Bridge and under the looming presence of the Shard to celebrate our gorgeous friend Lisa's birthday. In a private, intimate venue holding a maximum of 120, the high ceilings of Cecil's shelter a delightful stage & impressive sound system, with live Jazz, attentive waiters and some very delicious beverage options.

The dress code on the website states:

"Outrageous, extravagant or hedonistic, the only scandal would be to remain unremarkable betwixt the glittering moths that come and go among the whisperings, champagne and stars. Be it strapless, off the shoulder or a plunging backless crowd pleaser, Ladies this is the night to adorn yourself in that dress with the perfect décolletage"

Having recently bought a stunning Jarlo floor length velvet gown that I'd been eyeing up for months, I was so excited to have the opportunity to wear it.

I also decided that in order to try and fulfil the 1930s look I wanted to try and do my hair myself, by creating a vintage wave. One of my very best friends, Ami sent me a link to a brilliant You Tube clip which I followed to the tee and urge you all to try! My hair is naturally very thick and curly, but recently - in wedding prep mode- I have had a Brazilian Blow Dry so it's a lot more relaxed with a lot less frizz.

What you need to complete the vintage wave:

• Foam Curlers (I bought mine from Boots)
• Mousse (I bought mine from Umberto Gianni)
• A comb
• Kirby grips
• Hair spray

I wore about 12 foam curlers (from Boots) for the whole night before, which was very uncomfortable and I definitely didn't sleep well, however, the results couldn't have been better when taking them out the following day. I probably kept the rollers in for about 16 hrs in total as my hair was damp as I put them in . . . and I will admit I wasn't expecting it to work at all.

On taking out the curlers your hair literally springs up in to tight spiral curls - very Jane Eyre! You have to brush the curls out against the palm of your hand (to avoid frizz) and literally keep on brushing! I also sprayed some super hold hair spray every now and then just to keep the curls set in place. 

I was totally astounded by the results, bouncy, voluminous, glossy curls and all for the fraction of a cost of going to the hair salon!

                 

                   

I took my brush along with me to the event and a couple of times throughout the night I gave my hair a little brush and amazingly the curls stayed more or less in place!









                 

                  
                  Lisa dazzled us all in an incredible gown lent to her from a friend who works in the world of theatre.

                 



               

I think the pictures will speak for themselves in detailing what an amazing evening it was! If you want to experience something similar than for a Saturday night tickets are £20 each and this includes a welcome drink. The drinks themselves are very reasonable - for London prices- being about £6 for a Gin and Tonic and £7 for a glass of sparkles (Prosecco). Book now!

Emi x

Beautiful Beach Bridesmaids!

I am so lucky to have four blonde, drop dead gorgeous bridesmaids who are all such supportive and wonderful friends. From the moment Ports proposed to me last April and we decided that we were going to get married abroad I had the perfect image of dresses for them. 

Luckily for me they all 100% agreed and after a hell of a lot of internet trawling and shop searching I found the perfect dress which suits them all so beautifully and fits exactly with the beach scene. 

Back in December was probably the wrong time to be looking for a pastel coloured maxi dress as the shops and websites were swamped with dark berries and navy's and I was starting to feel a little worried. However, luckily for me the dress I'd seen frequently on Pinterest and other websites came back online suddenly one evening - whilst refreshing the page (and in a summer sale) so I managed to pick up four dresses for a very sweet deal, the same material and style as some dresses 4 times their price! 

Now we're in the New Year it seems the web's full of so many other "perfect" dresses, so I thought I would share what I have found with you all. . . just in case there are any other beach brides out there desperately searching for "the dress". 

Jarlo 

Jarlo

Misguided 

BHS

BHS 

BHS

Coast

Coast

Forever Unique

Virgos Lounge

Coast

Matthew Williamson

One of the dresses above is "the one" but I'll leave it to you all to guess which one!  

Emi x 

To make or not to make!

With less than 3 months now until we get married (OH.MY.GOD) I have been trying to tie up lots of loose ends! Since I chose my dress back in September - after a good 4 months of constant trial and a lot of error - I made the decision that I was going to MAKE my veil. Having just completed all my handmade invitations I was caught up in the creative bug and thought this sounded like such a good idea by creating something organic and beautiful without the 'wedding' price tag. However, having tried my dress on at the time with a Claire Pettibone veil I had a lot to live up to.

I spent a lot of time researching the best materials for my veil, bearing in mind I wanted something that would fall naturally and not scratch me or cause me to overheat (ode to a beach wedding). I then spent some time calling around asking for quotes on materials etc. The material alone- (for silk tulle) was near on £250, regardless of the fact I'd wanted to hand stitched most of it with fresh water pearls, silk flowers and crystal tear drops. I worried that I wouldn't be able to create exactly what I wanted and if I didn't I would have to forfeit the price tag and buy something.
So, I started researching bespoke handmade veils, by mostly British designers. They are few and far between, but I was really impressed with what I found.

Claire Pettibone inspiration veil

Don O'Neill created the Fall 2014 Theia collection



Photograph courtesy of Sarah Gawler from Ann Guise website

Oscar de la Renta floral embroidered veil - inspiration




Faulkner and Carter lace applique veil

Ann Guise silk veil

Ann Guise silk veil



Faulkner and Carter silk tulle veil with chantilly lace

Faulkner and Carter silk tulle veil with French lace trim

Courtesy of Julia Boggio from Ann Guise website

Grace Loves Lace Jasmine veil

I adore Faulkner and Carter's effortless soft stlye, each veil has something so organically ethereal about it and oozes femininity. You can buy them straight from the website - and they currently have a lot in a very reasonably priced sale! They also can create a bespoke veil especially for the brides requirements, the cost being £400, which I think is very reasonable for a bespoke hand worked veil with a professional finish.

The Ann Guise veils are also absolutely gorgeous, everything she makes is 100% bespoke so you can talk through every fine detail from start to finish. Her gallery of pictures feel a little more grown up, each one so unique to the next - portraying each brides individuality and her testimonials really do speak for themselves by showing how accomplished and talented she is. Each veil is of course individual and prices vary, however the quote I got for what I was after was £495.



Grace Loves Lace is another one of my all time favourite designers for wedding dresses and accessories. They epitomise everything I aspire to be as a beach bride and I only WISH they were based in the UK and not Australia! They do have International delivery, but for me this was too much of a gamble as to whether it would arrive on time and whether or not it would suit my dress etc... 

So, with all that in mind I decided that the most sensible- although the most expensive- option would be to raid Mr Piggy Bank and go for my original Claire Pettibone choice. The comfort of this being that -not only is it the most stunning, unique and timeless veil, it also goes perfectly with my dress.

So with one more thing off my list now I am just down to shoes and how I am going to do my make up and hair! It's my first fitting - with my actual dress- next month and I'm just SO excited! I can't wait to share my dress experience with you and tell you all about the incredible Blackburn Bridal Couture.

Healthy one pot stew and not a carb in sight!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can't believe we are already on day 2 of 2014..... 3.5 months now until we get married and time's going so quickly! We are both ridiculously excited, but as you can imagine the diet.is.ON. 

With that in mind I decided to make a hearty but healthy stew with what I had in the fridge and cupboards, with not a carb in sight (not a complex one anyway)! 

What you need: (enough for three hungry bears, with enough for seconds!)

5 medium/ large carrots

1 medium onion

1 large leek

1 large handful of fresh cranberries (please note, these are sour and not sweet!)

2 tsps paprika

1 tsp salt

2 tsps mixed herbs

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp dried sage 

5 chicken thighs

2 chicken stock cubes (in 800ml boiling water)

2 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

• Set oven to 180 degrees (fan assisted) 
• Chop up all veg and set aside  Keep cranberries separate to main veg

• Place a pan on high heat with coconut oil. Brown off your chicken thighs on each side (5-6 minutes)
• Take the chicken out and put on a plate to rest

• In the same pan, sweat off the vegetables until they begin to soften
• Add in your salt, pepper, paprika, mixed herbs and sage
• Add back in the chicken thighs and cranberries and mix together

• Sweat off for a little longer (1-2 minutes) 
• Add chicken stock in 800ml of boiling water and mix 

• Pour all pan ingredients into large casserole dish 
• Put in to oven and leave to simmer for 35-45 minutes

• Take out of the oven and add 2 inch cube of butter (allow to melt, stir in) and serve straight away

We had ours with some stir fried cabbage and peas but you could have it with anything, sweet potato, butternut squash, mashed potato, parsnips and other roasted veg or even just bread and butter- for those not needed to diet! 

 If you find that your sauce's still quite watery at about 20 minutes in to cooking then I recommend adding 1 TSP corn flour added in with some warm water. 

 Enjoy!