Blogger’s Office First Look!

Since moving out of London and to the Essex countryside, Paul and I have been working on renovating our annex into something really special. We will be living here for a while and so it is only fitting for us to have a lovely space, including a blogger’s office! We are very lucky to have such a wonderful space to work with and I am happy to say that the office corner is now complete! So here is our joint effort blogger’s office first look!

We both really liked the idea of having a clean, white desk to work from- bonus points for a blogger! This structure is actually a two-parter from different places believe it or not. The left hand square box shelves and the part that the PC screen sits on is from Argos, and the drawers to the right are from Ikea. This cost a total of £115 (£59.99+£55).

The desk space is colourfully decorated with a few pieces from Fabriano Boutique*. The cactus pen holder and watermelon sticky notes bring summer vibes to our blogger’s office.

Little touches like our wedding photo plus hanging flowers we used in our ceremony makes it feel really personal and a space for the two of us to use.

In the corner we have a Brackenheath iSpot Blade* desk lamp from Ormrod.com. Ormrod are a premier lighting wholesaler of lighting, both residential and commercial, in the West London area.

The lamp light is fully adjustable in brightness and the head fixture is flexible too. It’s neat, slimline and works so well in our blogger’s office.

Stylish affordability at under £40!

Here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside the drawers…

Blogger mail stationery and press material for days!

Across the room, just behind the desk is my own personal blogger area. I have two units (again from Ikea) to keep my blogger life organised and out of the way.

I’ve decorated the units with minimal but colourful flair. Of course my Kylie lipkits couldn’t go in the drawers, nor my nail polish collection!

The tallest unit on the right has a lift up top with a cute hidden mirror!

I’ve organised the drawers according to hair, body, fragrance, makeup etc.

I hope you like what we’ve done with the space- thanks so much for reading Blogger’s Office First Look!

Saharasplash x

If you haven’t caught up with my wedding posts, there are two parts to check out! Head to the home page to find them under May 2017.

*PR sample

Wedding Part Two #OurForever2016

Ok so now you’ve read my wedding part one post, it’s onto part two! We all went to bed feeling pretty proud of the marquee setup, it was a vision in white and red. A huge thank you has to go out to Talking Tables for their stunning lanterns which gave the final touch. All photography in this post (unless stated otherwise) is courtesy of my fabulous wedding photographer Camera Hannah. Hannah we couldn’t have done the day without you! It was captured with the theme and vision in mind so I will love you forever for all your fantastic snaps.

The Marquee

My sister and maid of honour Evie designed the table plan for the guests, if you have an occasion and need a designer then let me know!

The Aisle

This wedding vision took a very long time to pull together. Weeks of making flowers and designing the garden arch, plus I had to walk down a grass aisle too. We transformed Paul’s parent’s living room into the rustic backdrop you see here for the big day.

The Cake

Again this was something quite specific and I had just the man in mind for the job- Mr Cake! After reading all about Chris in the paper about how he quit his job and turned his written resignation into a cake I knew he was the guy we needed! I had my very talented step dad (Bulldog Vintage) create the wooden structure out of real wood and let Mr Cake design the rest.

Apples scattered at the base as a signature Twilight symbol.

My Hair and Makeup Team

Again I knew exactly where to go! I had worked with both makeup artist Hana and hair stylist Georgia before on other projects and so these ladies were my first and only choice for the big day.

I chose a dark lip with silver eyes, quite a bit heavier for a bridal look but I think I pulled it off!

Photo by Saharasplash

My hair was dyed grey five days before by the talented Limoz Logli in Chelsea, and Georgia braided it into a crown with berries on the day. My earrings were crystal apples from Corbico Jewellery– I wore these on the Saturday too and have them safely kept as a momento of the wedding weekend.

The Ceremony and Dress

Violinists saw us in as they played a thousand years by Christina Perri.

This is the first time my guests saw the finished wedding dress after seeing my first episode of Say Yes to the Dress UK. I had the Christine Dando dress modified with custom made sleeves and neck detail, so it’s very different to the dress you see in my first episode! My next episode of the actual wedding is coming out tomorrow on TLC- the 26th May at 9pm so please tweet me if you’re watching!

The Bridal Party

My six bridesmaids did me so proud on the day. They wore fabulous multiway dresses from In One Clothing and the colour matched so well with the surrounding theme and decor. The girls wore their dresses to their own unique style and it worked a treat!

My bridal bouquets were made from paper by the talented Beauty is Eloquent. They each contained red and white roses along with book pages from Twilight too! I get to keep it forever, just like the beautiful memories from the day.

We were lucky to have a very mild November day and managed to take some lovely shots just outside the farm house too.

The Speeches

Our best man’s son Harry stepped in to fill the shoes of the best man speech for our wedding day. Sadly he couldn’t be there, but luckily the speech was a great success and Harry did a fantastic job as best man!

By the time the DJ started, I whisked myself away to get changed back into my jumpsuit which was a very good decision. I could dance freely without worrying about ruining my fabulous dress. I let my hair down metaphorically, but I didn’t want my hair touched until the night was over!

We would like to thank each and every person involved in the wedding part two #ourforever2016 and we couldn’t be happier with how the weekend went. Everyone we loved helped make it a perfect and special celebration, and of course none of it would have happened without the Twilight author herself Stephenie Meyer- thank you for bringing us together!

Saharasplash x

If you missed part one of the story, read it here!

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Wedding Part One #OurForever2016

This post has been in the pipeline ever since my wedding which happened last November. I have been waiting for the right time to post this as a lot has happened over these first months of 2017. I’ve decided to split the wedding post into two parts- mainly because the wedding occurred over two days so it makes sense. The other reason is I didn’t want a super duper excessive mammoth post by combining the whole weekend into one! So thank you so much for the wait, and we are starting our journey off with a trip to Hatton Garden…

The ring- Hannah Rose Jewellery

I met the team from Hannah Rose at a bridal show earlier on in 2016 and I knew straight away that these were the ones who were going to design my wedding band. My engagement ring is my mother’s ring, and due to its rather odd shape, a wedding band was going to be custom made. We met them on a bright and sunny day in London to discuss colour, shape and all the incredible choices.

A few weeks later, my ring was ready! Engagement on the left, my brand new wedding band on the right. They fit together in perfect harmony, Hannah Rose outdid themselves!!

The nails- Nail Harmony

I felt incredibly lucky when I was invited to the headquarters of Nail Harmony for a day’s masterclass in how to use Gelish polish. We met the company’s fantastic family team behind the business- Jason, Georgie and their daughter Jazmine.

Georgie lead the class and taught us four keen bloggers all about the nail, how to safely use tools and products and applying/removing the gel.

If the day wasn’t amazing enough, it was about to get better- I stayed behind after class and then had my nails done ready for the big days (as there were two). I decided to go for an almond shape nail with a dark red polish and silver detail to match the wedding theme.

Look how amazing these nails are! Pure perfection, I cannot thank the team at Nail Harmony and the ladies at Cat Pr for making this all possible.

The morning

The morning of went by so fast, I was up, showered and by the time I had done my makeup and hair we were rushing out the door. But not before I got a picture with my best man-dog!

So the journey was a little rushed, it involved us having to travel about 70 miles in under an hour to get to the venue on time! Plus this involved a 3 minute pit stop to a service station for a wee and petrol. The CCTV must have picked up a very strange sight of me in my outfit as well as my mother running across the station to pay without any shoes on as she couldn’t run in heels!

But… we made it just in time! My jumpsuit was bought from Nasty Gal online and needed some minor adjustments to the waist area. I had a lovely local seamstress take this in for me and add a silver rope belt too.

The beautiful flowers were made by a family friend for us on the day.

We were married by one o clock on the 19th November at the Uttlesford District Council.

No sooner had we said our vows, I was off to Tesco (yes in this getup) to get the evening food for the bridal party which is something I won’t forget.

The afternoon

My wedding afternoon was spent with the lovely bridal team prepping the marquee for the second day (part two). We lined the ceiling with gorgeous paper lanterns from Talking Tables in red, white and silver.

The fridges were stocked with the welcoming drinks from Fine Cocktails. These were so well received on the day and a fabulous start to what was going to be quite a long wait for me!

The table decorations were made using real wood (thanks to Wayne!) and artificial ivy woven with string lights down the middle. My sister Evie designed the table plan, menus and the photo booth which you’ll see in part two. The theme was based loosely around Twilight hence the forest feel and red/white theme.

I cannot wait to show you part two! Thanks so much for being so patient for this post.

Want to see what’s coming up in part two? It’s going to involve Say Yes to the Dress for my customised wedding dress and a lot of dancing!

What a tang-tastic time

This week we celebrate Coeliac Awareness Week! So obviously as a coeliac lifestyle blogger, I wanted to bring you something that ties in with the theme. If you are local to London or just passing through I implore you to go visit Tang London. Tang is a fab little noodle bar with a great atmosphere and menu created around gluten and dairy free recipes. What a tang-tastic time I had there!

You can find Tang near Tottenham Court Road and is open Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner. The first thing I tried out was the tofu starter.

It was traditional in its presentation yet modern in its uniqueness. Carefully fried and super yummy! The next thing on the menu (and my favourite thing ever) was the bao bun. The chefs worked so hard on creating the perfect gluten free bao bun with fried chicken and a spicy sauce. The bun is so warm and bouncy, I forgot that I was eating something that’s gluten free!

Next up I had a taste of the glass noodles with a tangy salad and egg- this one is for fans of a less spicy dish but still wanting an Asian style experience.

For mains I chose the chicken tang with rice noodles which was amazing. Again not too spicy but just enough of a kick from the ginger infused broth. The veggies were the perfect amount and I loved the authentic wooden soup spoon for extra slurping!

Finally, a palette-cleansing mini dessert called shiso sorbet made from sugarcane.

You don’t need much of this unusual dessert, it is definitely an acquired taste but well worth trying out!

Outtake of Evie drinking Karma Kola, we both had a tang-tastic time!

Saharasplash x

Thanks for reading what a tang-tastic time, I hope that you have an evening free to go and visit soon- those bao buns are the one!!!

For something a little different, go check out my post on a great jewellery brand here

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