Hen Party Inspiration

Recently, myself and my gaggle of friends went to watch the highly hilarious film, Bridesmaids.  Obviously featured around a wedding but mainly the hen party lead up, the film gave me great inspiration.

The Parisian themed Bachelorette party was just exquisite (if not a little over the top!) and inspired the following moodboard.

Pictures with thanks to http://www.etsy.com/ and www.englishrosebakery.co.uk

Etsy has lots of different stockists and came up with so many ideas and a lot of them (like the Thank You cards on the favour boxes and the trims on the flower jar) can be added to anything so you can give any peice of decor that Parisian twist! 

How cute are the Ballerina gift bags, a perfect and fun alternative to hand out instead of favours.  We also came accross The English Rose Bakery, based right here in The North West.  Their macoroons are to die for and could even be given out in the favour boxes.

While were on the subject off favours, just try not to get carried away and give out puppies as favours (ala Bridesmaids The Movie).

Cassie Fairy

Tell us a bit about Cassie Fairy.  Where are you based?

Cassiefairy.co.uk is a designer/maker of fairy tutus for girls (and boys!) of all ages. I am based in two areas of the UK – the business started in Preston, Lancashire and I now work from my workshop Suffolk and Lancashire. But I send my tutus to any destination throughout the UK and since 2009 have been shipping worldwide – the furthest so far is probably Canada or Australia and the most exciting was sending a tutu to be worn as part of a Rio Mardi Gras costume!

 

 How did the business start?

I was studying on a masters degree in Fashion & Lifestyle Promotion in 2008 and as a “poor student” with very little money and a bunch of friends' birthdays approaching, I decided to use some tulle and fabric that I already had to make tutus as gifts for my fancy-dress-loving friends. I made customised tutus for 4 of my friends that was unique to each of their personalities, using their favourite colours and fabrics. Luckily this went down well and I wasn't considered a cheapskate for not buying 'proper' gifts! Other friends saw these tutus and requested their own custom-made tutu and I decided to try selling a few online.  Thankfully this went well too and as I needed to find work that would fit in with my long hours of studying it seemed that making tutus to sell was an ideal way of working from home and Cassiefairy.co.uk was launched. Here's the original Cassiefairy tutus I made:

 Are all tutus custom made?

Yes all tutus ordered through the website are custom-made. This allows my customers to tell me exactly what they want and aren't limited to a specific style or colour choice. Customers can browse the photos on the website and choose an existing design or can get in touch via cassie@cassiefairy.co.uk to discuss their colour and fabric combination requirements – this is very exciting for me, because I love creating something new specifically for a customer and it gives me another tutu style to add to my website too! Although things can get pretty busy at Cassiefairy HQ sometimes, I can usually process, make and send an order within 3 working days and challenge myself to beat this whenever possible!

 Can you offer hen parties anything else other than tutus?

Yes, I am currently launching a range of handmade fairy wings created by one of my fairy friends which can be added to any order. I sell a range of leg-warmers, tiaras and fairywands (nothing too tacky!) and I also find that hen parties enjoy choosing matching t-shirts to complement their tutus so I also provide a service to custom-design and supply vests or t-shirts for the whole hen party – a one-stop-shop for hen parties really!

 Can you give us an idea of prices? Have you got any special offers for our readers?

One single custom-made tutu is priced from £11.99 for children and £13.99 for adults – that's for any colour, any special fabric, any size! For hen parties of 6 or more hens I offer a group discount and free recorded delivery. If there are more than 12 hens in the party, I can offer wholesale rates, a free bridal tutu for the bride and free priority delivery. And I'm just SO happy when I get an enquiry from an excited group of hens who have gathered their order together for their big night out! We also run a monthly photo competition – customers can send in images of their night out for the chance to win a Cassiefairy gift voucher and I love seeing all the fun party photos!

Where can our readers meet you? Do you have a website?

I will be taking Cassiefairy.co.uk on the road this summer to a number of festivals, so keep an eye on the Cassiefairy blog cassiefairy.wordpress.com for details of events where I will be stallholding – I have just returned from the Fairyland Trust's 10^th anniversary Fairy Fair where I had wonderful time meeting all the lovely fairies!  The website address is www.cassiefairy.co.uk and you can also keep up with all my goings-on at http://cassiefairy.wordpress.com. Hens can chat to me via Facebook at www.facebook.com/cassiefairy or on Twitter @CassiefairyTutus and I would absolutely love to hear from
you!  

I'd like to wish you all good luck your weddings, and best of luck to Lancashire Bride blog too – its a great regional resource for brides in the North West so keep up the good work!

Love from

Cassie x

 

(Thanks Cassie!)

Isis Dance

So here is the start of our Hen Party special.  Every day for the next week Lancashire Bride will present you with the latest and unique ideas when it comes to organising your Hen Party, along with a few tips along the way.  And what a lovely way to start the week by introducing this lovely lady.

  

Carol Menzies is the owner of Isis Dance based in Preston, where she offers weekly belly dancing classes and taster sessions suitable for birthday parties and hen partys. 

Far away from the stereotypical sleazy dance that we have all seen in movies, Isis Dance is able to offer an elegant dance that can empower women and offer them the freedom to express themselves. Making it the perfect way to entertain your hens!  Your party will start with a demonstration from Carol and then you and your hens get to give it a whirl.  You'll also get to dress up in the gorgeous hip scarves to make your experience that little bit more authentic!  You could even combine it with an Arabic fancy dress theme.

Isis Dance is also able to offer Belly Dancing entertainment on your wedding day.  And believe me when i say that it is one of the most fun I have ever had at a wedding!.  Its something that even gets your great Aunt and Father-in-Law up on the dancefloor!  "Normally the bride and groom do a first dance and then a few people join in... but then everyone disappears.  My latest venture is to offer taster sessions at wedding receptions because belly dance can be done by anyone from the age of 3 and upwards.  And men can belly dance too- its good fun to see men discover they have hips and they can move them!"

Belly Dancing is also a really good way to get fit for your wedding day. "Brides to be can come to my weekly classes and have a great workout to fantastic music.  It is a low impact excercise but it really does work wonders for the figure.  Despite its name, belly dancing tones up ALL the muscles, it will also help you with poise and posture.  As a teacher it is such a pleasure for me to see students become more confident each week and become proud of their bodies. Not only will you tone-up but through my teaching style you will also gain improvement in your personal and body confidence." 

Prices depend on numbers of participants and travel costs (if outside Preston). I will travel to the venue of your choice.

Hen Parties start from £60 for up to 25 ladies - so that is only £2.40 a head

Wedding parties start from £150

Little Girls Parties from £25

Teenagers and Ladies parties from £50

Carol is offering Lancashire Brides 5% discount for parties if you quote Lancashire Bride when booking.

"If you would like to come and chat about your Hen Party or Wedding Party you can always pop in to St Marys before my lesson anytime from 6.30 to 7.15 before my lesson starts at 7.30 pm on Wednesdays. Or we can meet for a coffee in Preston and have a chat about your special event."

http://isisdance.webs.com

A Taste Of Lancashire: MDL Fireworks

Elaine Robb is a director at MDL Fireworks Ltd. MDl Fireworks specialise in supplying stunning firework displays for weddings. "Our displays are bespoke to each client & venue.  We work all over the North West of England but have travelled as far afield as Stornoway, Newcastle, Birmingham, Wales.  We have worked at some of the most prestigious venues in the area.  We have been trading now for six years although both myself and my partner have been in the firework industry for many years we have over 45 years combined experience."

Here at Lancashire Bride we know that a lot of venues are very particular about having fireworks due to the noise and strict safety procedures that have to be adhered to.  MDL fireworks are able to combat this by offering a very low noise range of products that still give visual impact to the display but has minimum noise disruption. 

 

"Safety is paramount at every display we do, before agreeing to do a display we will visit the venue to do a full risk assessment on the site to ensure that it is safe to use fireworks on, if we do not think it’s safe ie has enough safety distances we will say so and will not do the display. I have had brides change their venue because they really wanted fireworks but the venue was not suitable. We are also fully insured for our displays." As Elaine pointed out to us it is very important that you make sure your supplier has full insurance cover and a lot of venues will ask for a copy of their insurance certificate.

"We are fully insured and our professionally trained pyrotechnician’s will make sure that your special day ends in a spectacular blaze of colour. We can provide a host of effects that can be designed especially for you both, including your initials in fireworks, waterfall effects (site permitting) aerial shells that burst in the shape of love hearts in the sky and Champagne bottles with a froth of silver. Just tell us what you would like and we can design it."

One of their busiest times of year, is of course, Bonfire Night, which always books up quickly, but the rest of 2011 is looking equally as busy for MDL Fireworks. 

You can see their website at http://www.mdlfireworks.co.uk/ or view our wedding DVD on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tjss6l2XmE or email Elaine at  info@mdlfireworks.com.

A Taste Of Lancashire: My Fair Vintage



My Fair Vintage offers an extensive range of beautiful handpicked vintage crockery and accessories that are available to hire for any event, covering Lancashire and Yorkshire. They also offer a bespoke venue styling service for weddings and country events. This can cover styling the whole venue or purely assisting with the table settings.

Lancashire Bride spoke to Sally from My Fair Vintage to discover why the business was set up. "I started the business through a love of styling and vintage china. Whenever we entertain at home I thoroughly enjoy styling the table, choosing the flowers, picking out the linens and china. I have always had a keen interest in interiors as my family are interior designers and I have been a fashion stylist plus wedding photographer’s assistant in the past. Weddings are always such a happy event and it is so lovely to be able to work within this industry."

  

"After doing some research I decided to get out there and start adding to my vintage china collection which has now grown considerably. The reason why I think vintage china is so popular now is that not only does it look so fabulous but it is also a way for the host to show their appreciation to their guests for sharing their special day with them.  It’s the detail that makes the day truly memorable."

As a regular blog reader Sally says she gets her inspiration from all over the workd.  "There are so many ways to work the vintage look. A traditional English country garden party theme can be achieved by using vintage table linen, bunting, vintage tea cups and cake stands full of beautiful cup cakes, tea pots filled with country flowers, bon bon dishes full to the brim with sweets. Or elegant, Hollywood vintage can be achieved using glass candlesticks, etched champagne glasses, silver cutlery, monochrome floral displays.  Additionally the vintage look can be perfectly mixed with a more modern look by simply using a few key pieces."

With Sally carefully handpicking each piece herself and with her knowledge and enthusiasm for decor, we are sure that My Fair Vintage are going to be a huge hit!  

A full price list is available at www.myfairvintage.co.uk and Sally will be 

exhibiting at Samlesbury Hall Wedding Fair Sunday 4^th September and at the Spread Eagle at Sawley Wedding Fair October 2^nd.

A Taste Of Lancashire: Kerry Blu

I have a very special supplier on the blog today, an award winner nonetheless!

Based in Blackpool, Kerry Blu  is one of UK’s leading costume jewellery online retailers. Specialising in bridal jewellery and tiaras, they have handpicked a stunning mix of designs featuring beautiful handcrafted and ready-to-wear jewellery and tiaras ranging from vintage inspired statement pieces to more delicate designs. They also have a range of lovely finishing touches to make your wedding that extra bit special.

 

"What our customers love about our jewellery and accessories is that there is something for everyone. From our elite range to our budget range you will find your perfect piece of gorgeousness amongst our boutique! We also offer a semi-bespoke service, so even if you don’t see exactly what you want amongst our collection we can tailor our handcrafted items to suit your colour scheme or preferred finish."

Their boutique collection of headpieces and jewellery can be found at Blush Bridal Boutique in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire and they are currently looking for more Lancashire stockists.

 These gorgeous peices also secured Kerry Blu the County Brides Award for Best Accessories.

"In 2011 we were thrilled to be nominated for an award by County Brides Magazine for best bridal accessories in the North West. Our customers and brides-to-be had been voting for us online in the weeks leading up to the awards. The lavish black tie charity awards ceremony took place on 24^th June where we were one of four finalists in our category for best accessories. We were absolutely delighted to win the award. All proceeds from the event were donated to Breast Cancer Care and Christies Hospital."

For more information on Kerry Blue please see http://www.kerryblu.co.uk/

A Taste Of Lancashire: Love Bouquets

I am very excited to feature this little Lancashire beauty today.  And I think the reason why speaks for itself...

I love these beautiful, sparkly and unique alternatives to the traditional flower bouquets, and can see why Natalie from Love Bouquet is kept very busy!

Love Bouquets provide vintage and modern crystal and brooch bouquets.  The company began when Natalie began making her own bouquet for her wedding, she then posted pics on a forum only to receive a huge response. And a business was born!

Natalies very own bouquet

Since starting the business Natalie has become super busy. ' We believe its because we offer the highest quality but at an affordable price, we also offer great customer service and most of our brides turn into friends after the wedding as we work so closely with them to create there dream bouquet.  Inspiration comes from antique jewellery. I find that if I have alot of art deco brooches it encourages me to design a bouquet based on the era. We also try to design things to fit in with current trends so if blue is next years colour we will create a bouquet to fit, when it was the royal wedding we created a bouquet themed around the union jack.' 

Love Bouquets most popular bouquet is a 10x10" round crystal posy.  It is very large for a crystal bouquet but also very pretty and can be tweaked to suit themes, colours and we usually add pictures of loved ones.  And its also very good value for money.   'Sarah’s Teardrop is my favourite design, we created it for a dear friend of mine who has cancer and we are currently raffling it off to raise money for Macmillan nurses(its currently raised over £1000.) its an elegant design and is very wow.'

 

Sarah's bouquet

Its not just bridal bouquets that Natalie offers.  Other products include bridesmaid and flower girl posys and buttonholes.  The posies make a brilliant gift and keepsakes for your bridesmaids too.

Love Bouquet are based in Bury, Lancashire but will ship their bouquets all over the world.   "They travel really well, all our bouquets are sent special delivery insured."  Make sure you check out their website http://www.lovebouquets.co.uk/ for more gorgeous pics.  And if you want to contact Natalie to discuss your bouquet please email lovebouquets@gmail.com.