Style Your Wedding

Over the past 16 months I have had the pleasure of realising one of my ambitions of becoming an Event Manager for a well known Wedding venue 'South Farm' in Cambridge. I have learnt some invaluable skills and also seen some amazing Wedding ideas. Although I had to give up running Weddings when I took on a full time role last October I did however continue to work at 'South Farm' showing further Bride & Grooms around the venue. This was only ever a couple of shifts a months and was always great fun it never felt like work as everyone I met was so excited to be visiting the venue. I have decided to give up this casual work though and so I wanted to say thank you to South Farm for giving me the chance to realise an ambition of mine and it was a huge pleasure to learn these skills at such a well respected and relaxed venue.

South Farm have been running Weddings for a number of years now and have perfected the planning and running of every Wedding. When I was the Event Manager for Weddings last year many people would comment that they would hate to do such a job and say it must be such a stressful role. Yes it was stressful to ensure that the day runs perfect for the Bride & Groom, anyone who says it isn't would be lying however South Farm is such a relaxed venue and the staff who support you during the running of the Wedding made this job an absolute pleasure to have experienced. The organisation behind ensuring each Wedding goes perfectly can not be faulted, the use of the Wedding planner which I referred to as the 'Bible' for the day is created to ensure there is no room for errors on the Bride & Grooms special day.

As a creative individual I loved to see what themes and ideas each bride would use for on their special day and I have to say I have seen some amazing ideas over the past nine months, with the most popular theme being 'Vintage'. A lot of bunting has been put up and taken down, with one Bride using fabrics from her life as the flags these were taken from old bedding, clothing and other personal items (what a lovely personal touch) The most popular flowers I have seen are wild looking flowers in jam jars some Brides adding candles to the tables whilst some painted jam jars and others wrapping them in tea stained paper. Even though this has been a constant theme I have seen through-out the last sixteen months everyone puts their own individual twist on the idea, which is lovely to see.

One Wedding which sticks in my mind and one idea which I use when I am talking the potential Bride and Grooms around the venue is an actual 'Fete' which guests could use after the Wedding Breakfast and before the evening party. So much effort was put into this idea the games included hook a duck, Coconut shy and Splat a rat. I wish I had photos to show you but I have found some great ideas on the internet below.

Although I will be sad not to be able to visit this venue every month I am pleased to be getting my weekend back to myself, hopefully it will mean I can spend more time on my blog which is being rather neglected at the moment. I will ensure I stay in touch with how the venue is developing by reading their blog and following them on Facebook as is it great way to see how one venue can be tailored to suit each Brides and Grooms personal style.

http://www.south-farm.co.uk/weddings/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Farm
http://www.southfarming.co.uk

Style Your Crafting Event 

Late last year I was introduced to the amazing ladies 'Material Girls'. They are two ladies Mel & Donna who love crafting so much that they decided to set up an evening for local ladies who love to craft. Mel is a teacher and Donna is a home maker and they used to meet up on a Thursday or Friday to craft together and decided because they loved it so much they were certain they would be able to run an evening once every few months for fellow crafters who liked to be inspired to make new and exciting crafts and also eat the amazing cakes they made! 

My introduction to them was last November when I attended their Christmas themed evening. I made an robin tree decoration and a christmas tree decoration which was made by using old maps of the Lake District. I loved the evening so much, I was certainly in my element as a keen crafter. 

When I heard about the next catch up and realised I wasn't working I was straight in there to put my name down with my friend Marie. This time the evening was in Comberton, Cambridge. 

Material Girls always set the room out perfectly with areas of fabric, buttons, beads and any other crafting materials you may need. Each time they supply the crafters with a selection of around 10 or more items which they can produce, they provide laminated instructions along with all the items which are needed to produce each of the ideas. You can pick from bunting to a candle holder, decorating a notebook to making a corsage. It is entirely up to you how many different craft items you make in the evening and also how you decorate them, you pick the colour theme and can put your own stamp on the item. 

This time I choose to make a candle holder by using buttons and wire. The colour theme works perfectly in my lounge, you can find an image of my creation at the end of this post. 

As well as their amazing selection of crafting items they treat us all to an array of amazing cakes, all freshly baked especially for us. This selection of cakes is served with tea, coffee and hot chocolate. 

We are all well and truly spoilt by these lovely two ladies 

'Mel & Donna' and I would recommend anyone who loves crafting from the local area to like their facebook page. 

https://www.facebook.com/MaterialGirlsCrafts 

I always look forward to hearing when their next crafting evening is going to be and am sure I will post about what goodies I make next time.