talking tables Archives

saharasplash2 December, 2018

A Truly Alice in Wonderland Tea Party

It’s no secret that I have been slightly obsessing over everything Alice in Wonderland since having my own little Alice. I think this birthday party had been an idea in my head during pregnancy as soon as I found out I was having a girl and that we would name her Alice. So, a Truly Alice in Wonderland Tea Party was set in motion and I’m here to share a few moments from Alice’s first birthday party…

Sign by The Paper Butterfly

As usual, my head was filled with specific details and I couldn’t wait to get started with the preparations to see it all come to life. We had hired a village hall for around 40-50 guests so we had enough space for us all to have one giant tea party! I used artificial grass which we had kept from our wedding day, and this grass has come in so handy for other uses too! The decorations, plates and food looked amazing when everything was laid out.

Decorations by Talking Tables (the Truly Alice collection)

I had some beautiful Alice-themed biscuits made just for the occasion too, and I think we had about two left when the party was over!

Biscuits by Sisters that Bake

The hall came equipped with a kitchen so we were able to make guests any tea they desired, including this fabulous blend by Adagio Teas.

Some of my favourite flavours were in this special blend, and I can’t wait to explore more of the range this winter.

Tea by Adagio Teas

Party bags were waiting next to the most whimsical cake made by one of our local favourites.

Cake by The Cupcake Kitchen (Ipswich)

Now for some costume reveals. Of course Paul came dressed as the Mad Hatter. Alice’s grandad had an inspired waistcoat that fit so well with the theme.

I came dressed as a big Alice- clearly I couldn’t avoid the sign that said ‘Eat Me’!

Alice’s dress was a limited edition piece from Cath Kidston with quotes and delicate designs.

The Queen of Hearts was inevitably Alice’s nana, her auntie came as a very dapper White Rabbit.

It was such a special moment to see Alice blow out her first birthday candle, an incredible milestone for an incredible little Alice.

Thank you so much to everyone involved and all our friends and family for a Truly Alice in Wonderland tea party.

Saharasplash x

PR samples included, all thoughts and views my own

saharasplash3 September, 2018

Alice’s Naming Ceremony

Alice’s Naming Ceremony was a day that I shall never forget. Mostly because the planning nearly finished me off, and there were so many obstacles to overcome before the day arrived. I’m an early planner, and this ceremony had been planned down to the final detail months beforehand, and yet with just days to go, a poorly Alice in my arms and I couldn’t get things done quickly enough. Here is an insight into Alice’s special day, which by the end of it I wanted a nice cup of tea and a very long nap!

The invites were beautifully designed and sent out all in good time, but other particulars such as live music we not ironed out until the week of. We had a three piece steel band on Alice’s gorgeous, sunny day which created the most uplifting atmosphere.

The theme was very colourful, pastel purples and pinks ran through from the balloons to our outfits. The decorations were supplied by Talking Tables, the best events company in the business who I just love working with. I wore River Island and I decided on changing my hair up with some help from Secret Extensions- just look at my luscious locks!

As guests arrived, they all greeted the star herself in her rainbow dress. I found this dress in T K Maxx and so the brand isn’t well known. It fit her perfectly, and I chose a rainbow because of her middle name- Iris, which means rainbow in Greek and many other languages too.

As soon as the whole gathering had arrived, we started the ceremony, conducted by a local humanist. It was so personal and lovely, just like our wedding day.

Alice’s mentor Evie read out her wishes for Alice, and Harry stood in for our second mentor Hans who sadly couldn’t be there on the day, again like our wedding! He read a Dr Seuss poem which was just fab.

Here are a few of my favourite snaps from Alice’s Naming Ceremony, captured by my favourite photographer and friend Emma Shaw. She has a true gift for making magic happen through her lens and we were so grateful she could join us on the day.

Our guests were kept cool with Virtue Drinks, super tasty energy water which is sugar-free and went with the theme so well.

Beautiful cupcakes were made by Cupcake Kitchen, don’t these look too good to eat?!

Tea was served thanks to Ahmad tea, a wonderful addition to Alice’s special day bringing flavours such as Double Mint & Liquorice and Pear & Cinnamon to the table.

Photo: Lauren Schaefer

Guests could also satisfy their sweet tooth with amazing pink unicorn lollipops from Sparko Sweets.

Photo: Lauren Schaefer

Alice truly loved having a lick of these vanilla delights and being the centre of attention for the day.

Photo: Lauren Schaefer

I want to thank everyone involved, all our guests, family, friends and sponsors for the event for making Alice’s Naming Ceremony all that it could be- a magical day that I am so glad to have shared with you all. Also I have to give a massive thank you to my mum and Alice’s nana for hosting this event in her garden on the day which saw the end to our very long UK heatwave. It poured down just hours before things were due to start but the skies cleared and we had non stop sunshine for the ceremony, a true blessing!

Saharasplash and Alice x

Invitations designed by The Paper & Print Co.

Humanist Ceremony performed by Karen Turnbull

Cakes made by Cupcake Kitchen

Decorations by Talking Tables

Photography by Emma Shaw (unless otherwise stated)

Drinks by Virtue Drinks

Tea by Ahmad Tea

Lollipops by Sparko Sweets

saharasplash25 May, 2017

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!

saharasplash16 May, 2017

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!

saharasplash7 January, 2017

A Cadvent Kind of Christmas

I hope that 2017 has been treating you right so far. I am just settling into married life, though I don’t see much of Paul with his crazy busy work life, and into our new home. For those of you who don’t know, Paul and I moved out of London over the Christmas period and into an annex attached to his parent’s house. We were always planning on doing this after getting hitched so it’s not something we jumped into. I have some wonderful memories and photos I’d like to share with you all from the past few weeks and it involves lots of chocolate! This Christmas has been a Cadvent Kind of Christmas indeed!

Cadbury’s and I have worked together before if you remember back to last summer’s Obey Your Mouth campaign. So it was lovely to hear all about the launch of their first ever Cadvent knitwear collection last month. I think that this is a wonderful step in an ever expanding direction for Cadbury’s, so of course I had to get involved!

The products come with hidden compartments including a scarf with deep 18cm pockets that can conceal even the most generous of gorgeous goodies – such as a box of Cadbury Roses or Cadbury Heroes?!

A great idea to keep the cold and the cravings at bay!

My friend Tash helped me take some shots in Saffron Walden, I adore this snowflake-bedecked hat. I felt bad making her take shots while it was sub-zero in the centre of the town but it was too lovely a winter’s morning not to!

I also had to get my Great Dane to strike a pose with the scarf, isn’t purple just his colour?!

The collection is now launched on Cadvent.co.uk so why not take a look and see for yourself?

Now onto a few memories from Christmas 2016.

Paul and I had my friend Natasha over for a few days. We had a day trip out to Shoreditch’s underground mini golf course The Junkyard and I took Tash to see Ipswich as well.

We met these cretins (otherwise known as Evie and Ruby) and my oldest friend Cleo for a few rounds of a pub quiz (Talking Tables).

We munched on these Cadbury snacks and the snow bites went down a treat!

Let’s hope next year is a Cadvent kind of Christmas too, you can never say that too much chocolate is a bad thing around Christmas time to see you into the New Year!

Saharasplash x

Up for more winter fun? I teamed up with Simply Be and one other sassy blogger for this post- size doesn’t matter, but style does

saharasplash24 November, 2016

LAHENDO2016 PART TWO

So now part one is done, it’s time for part two! Apologies if this is slightly lengthy, but we actually did a hell of a lot of stuff on the Saturday which ended up going on till about four in the morning- I blame the strippers!

So I came downstairs to find that most of the girls were already up and making themselves breakfast. Sharon was making herself a lovely meal and I had my breakfast made by three or four hens which was lovely!

Soon after this we had the spa team arrive! We could choose a massage, nails or a facial- I had a special hot stone massage using lava shells which was just fabulous.

After this, it was time to get crafty! For my wedding I decided to have handmade flowers on the tables and so enlisted the help of my hen party to finish the job! We made red and white flowers to go with the theme using tissue paper. I think I’ll be doing a mini snippet of how you make these in my hen do vlog if any of you would like to know how to make them!

After a solid craft session, it was time to relax those muscles with a trip to the jacuzzi outside on our decking. I was so excited to whip this out of my suitcase…

I’m wearing a one piece swimming costume from To Dive For, a brand who you might remember hearing about on my recent trip to Dubai this summer. I love the bright colours of the design and I will be showing you more (including the back detail) on my hen do vlog on YouTube!

As the afternoon slowly crept into early evening, we all gathered in the living room to play a few games and quizzes. Each hen had their Sass and Belle notebook handy but they couldn’t do anything about beating me in the quiz muhahaha.

Some of the prizes given out were a mixture of underwear which somehow ended up on our heads, so photo time!

I was so excited to introduce the bridesmaids to their dresses for the wedding on the hendo- these stunning dresses are from In One Clothing, and they loved them! The versatility means that each bridesmaid could wear the dress exactly how they wanted- don’t they look gorgeous?

So after playing dress up, it was time to get ready for our evening dinner cooked by a team of chefs who came to the hen house. I laid the table with some very fitting Halloween decorations from Talking Tables– we had a bunch of masks and accessories which were just the trick!

We had a plentiful supply of wine from Premier Estates wine as well as some scrumptious non alcoholic drinks from Luscombe Drinks– the raspberry crush was definitely the favourite of the night.

We took a stunning group shot on the balcony upstairs, I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of friends.

After dinner, we made our way outside for a quick five minutes to let off our sparklers- you’ll all have to stay patient to see what happened in the vlog!

One thing I wanted to share with you all was a very special present from one of my oldest friends who gave me this..

I couldn’t believe it when I pulled it out of the box, it was an apple made from the book pages of Twilight:Eclipse and it is honestly one of those gifts that I will remember forever.

So the evening ended with a fabulous screening of Magic Mike XXL in the cinema room, the best strippers and we all enjoyed it very much!

Saharasplash x

Missed out on lahendo2016 part one? Read it right here!

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The Marquee

The Aisle

The Cake

My Hair and Makeup Team

The Ceremony and Dress

The Bridal Party

The Speeches

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The ring- Hannah Rose Jewellery

The nails- Nail Harmony

The morning

The afternoon

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