Saturday 30 March 2013

Style Your Home Event!

If you have been keeping up with my blog you will know that next weekend is my 'Downton Abbey Afternoon Tea' weekend. We have decided to make it a girls weekend not to forget with shopping on the Saturday, Thai at a local restaurant followed by cocktails and dancing in town. Then Sunday will be dedicated to 'Downton Abbey' eating afternoon tea whilst watching our favourite episodes. I can not wait.

One of my closest friends @mclaurs has created this amazing invite below; I will be sending this out to the girl today.


Friday 29 March 2013

Style Your Ruby Wedding Anniversary!

With huge pride I have the pleasure of arranging an Event for my parents RUBY Wedding Anniversary! It is not until the end of April but I have started to look into ideas of what to do. I am thinking a lovely meal with family and close friends. So the search is on for a lovely restaurant in Cambridgeshire which will fit this special occasion.

There are so many amazing decorations and colour themes that I can pick from for this special occasion that I decided to create a few mood boards. I felt this would be a great way to look into a few options then I can present these ideas to my brothers who I would like to add will no doubt leave everything to me; however I do believe it is important for them to pick the theme and colour along with me. Then they can leave all the hard work to me...! 



My first colour option would be the classic rich, sumptuous feel that a 'Ruby' theme would give to this special day. 


My second colour theme is a pretty colourful vintage look. This is certainly an on trend theme and one which I know my Mum would love. 

The preparations will begin in the next week or so, so I will be updating the blog with what theme we go with. It will be interesting to see what the brothers response is...

Which one would you pick for a Ruby wedding anniversary a traditional theme or an on trend theme? Be great to hear your thoughts. x

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Lifestyle Post 

This wouldn't be a blog about myself and my love of Events without including a few posts about 'Harley' my Hound! I was never a dog lover but Harley has completely changed my opinion on dogs. My partner Spencer befriended her under the garden fence as she used to belong to our neighbour. The next I know of it he is walking her to see if she would make a good gun dog. So one Friday afternoon he brings her to the front door to see what I think as the neighbour is moving to a flat and needs someone to take Harley for her. Well I must admit it was love at first sight! 

She never fails to make you smile, is always excited when you come home from work and has such a loving & fun personality. If your feeling low she will come and give you a hug, if your up for playing she will never say no and walks well I have never seen a dog get so excited about the word WALK, she try's to get her lead on herself just to get out of the door quicker. Considering I was bought up with cats, I would never have thought I would end up having a dog. I am so glad we gave her a home, she has made our family. 

Here are a few pictures for you all to understand why I just couldn't say no! 







Monday 25 March 2013

Style Your Afternoon Tea

You can not beat Afternoon tea with your partner, friends or family. There is nothing quite like sitting down with your loved ones and enjoying an afternoon of eating a selection of delicious sandwiches, cakes and scones, whilst sipping on your favourite tea and bubbles if you fancy. This is most definitely a favourite way to spend an afternoon, unfortunately it is not one I do often enough but one I thoroughly enjoy when the opportunity arrises.

In January this year I had the pleasure of visiting a fantastic friend Steph in Perth Oz. She recently moved there  to follow the man she loves and I can understand why Perth has captured her heart, it is a City full of soul and one which I will most definitely visit again. I had the pleasure of being shown Perth from a local point of view checking out all the vintage shops, the best restaurants and the most amazing beaches.

As a belated birthday gift Steph treated me to the most amazing 'High Tea' that I have had to date. The venue was the amazing 'C Restaurant' http://www.crestaurant.com.au 
It was situated on the top floor of the highest building in Perth and revolved so you had the best view over Perth for the entire dining experience.



We started our 'High Tea' with a selection of three layered sandwiches, this included smoked salmon, egg and ham. Each sandwich had two fillings which were encased in amazingly tasting bread. To follow we had a selection of desserts including a lemon cheesecake and a chocolate tart sprinkled with gold leaf. Last of all was the scones which like any afternoon tea were absolutely delicious. 

For my drink choice I had peppermint tea which I love followed by bubbles. I just don't think you can beat a glass of bubbles, this would always be my chosen drink. Especially after spending 2 weeks with Steph who loves them more than me I would say, my taste of bubbles has grown even more especially after tasting the local bubbles. 

I am certainly inspired for my 'Afternoon Tea for my Downton weekend'. I will be using the sandwiches for inspiration for my own three layered sandwiches and will be baking my own cakes. 

I look forward to sharing how my homemade 'Afternoon tea' goes. 

Monday 18 March 2013

Style Your Home Event

As an avid fan of 'Downton Abbey', my best friend @mclaurs and I thought it would be a fantastic idea to have a 'Downton' weekend! For those of you who have never watched the series I suggest you look it up & put a few hours by to catch up on this fantastic series, as I am sure you will love it as much as I do. I am gripped by every episode and it's one of those programmes which I look forward to seeing. There are not many TV series which have me as hooked. 

So to celebrate our love of 'Downton Abbey' we have decided to dedicate a girly afternoon to everything Downton. We are thinking a few hours of watching our favourite episodes whilst treating ourselves to afternoon tea, including my old time favourite cheese straws & cucumber sandwiches followed by an array of homemade cakes. A friend has just said she will bake a 'Coffee & walnut' Cake, yum yum! And obviously a girly afternoon wouldn't be a true girls event without some Procecco! 



I plan on decking out my lounge in some Downton themed decorations so I have the fun of researching and making some ideas. 

A post documenting my 'Downton Day' with the girls will be up and ready to read in the week after the 6th April. 

Love Downton, Love a girls weekend! 





Saturday 16 March 2013

Style Your Wedding

I never thought I would be able to say this, but I have finally realised one of my dreams of becoming an Event Manager for the most amazing Wedding venue in Cambridgeshire called South-Farm. You must check out there website I am sure you will be just as amazed by what they offer as I was. http://www.south-farm.co.uk

They pride themselves on being a distinctively different venue, they grow & farm their own food so they are extremely self sufficient which means they provide the most amazing menu of food for the Wedding Breakfasts and Evening buffets.

As a new member of the team I had the privilege of tasting a selection of their menu options. I can not explain just how amazing everything tasted. I could not fault anything.

The range of food on offer is exceptional giving the Bride & Grooms a varied selection of choice for their wedding day food.

The first course I tasted was the selection of Canapes, this included 'Orange & Chilli Chicken Liver Pate on Olive Oil Crouton' which was such a stunning taste & definitely my favourite. However saying this I enjoyed the taste of each of the other Canapés which included 'Tomato Bonbon' (Risotto ball with Goats Cheese), 'Broad Bean & Mint Mash Crostini', 'Goats Cheese & Red Onion Marmalade on a grilled crostini' & 'Crispy Duck croustades with Hoi Sin Sauce'. I am a huge lover of Goats Cheese so loved this option also but the Pate just topped the marks as I had never tasted this combination of flavours before.

Next was the starters, I had the pleasure of tasting a selection of eight starters. My favourite being the 'Smoked Salmon Bomb' which was prawns wrapped in smoked salmon and as someone who is not a massive fan of smoked salmon I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this option. The two plates of lushness also included a 'Roquefort Torte & Roasted Baby Plum Tomatoes', the unique filling was encased in perfectly light pastry.

The rest of the starters were just as delicious and included a variety of dishes including 'Strasbourg Pate, Cornichons, Vine Capers, Red Onion Marmalade & Melba Toast' which was the perfect mix of flavours with a wonderfully soft texture.


Next I had the pleasure of tasting a selection of main courses. As you can see from the pictures below this included a wide variety of plates. I struggled to pick my favourite from these amazing dishes so ended up with five favourites! The 'Chard & Gruyere Tart' was my first favourite with an incredible taste encased in light amazing pastry. Secondly we have the 'Filo Parcel with chard, mascarpone, wild mushroom and pine nuts' I do love a good vegetarian option and absolutely loved this Filo parcel. Next we have 'Pan Fried Cod, Wild Mushroom & Mixed Root Puree' again an incredible flavour with perfectly cooked cod. My two meat favourites were 'Roast Leg of Lamb with Garlic & Rosemary, South Farm Redcurrant Jelly' & 'Roast Haunch of Venison with Gin & Juniper Jus', this was so tender and the jus was lovely.


The last course and the one which I was the most excited about trying was the 'Desserts'. I tried a selection of 8 desserts, each one being sensational. I have to admit I couldn't pick a favourite as I was blown away by a most of them, however I absolutely loved the 'Lemon Posset served with a Fruit Compote & Lemon Shortbread Biscuit',  'White chocolate bread & butter pudding' and lastly the 'Cheesecake with home grown rhubarb confit'. 


I loved every minute of this evening, it was fantastic to be part of such an exciting evening one which will stay with the 'Bride & Grooms' forever. As well as receiving this immense selection of food they also received wine to taste with the food. The evening was finished off with Tea & Coffee and homemade truffles; which again were incredible. 

I look forward to learning many news skills from South-Farm, learning how to ensure I make every Wedding I manage perfect for the 'Bride & Groom'.