How to throw a hen do in Barcelona

WOW the blog is in full travel mode but this one is slightly moving over to my new blog section launching soon about WEDDINGS – if you don’t follow me on social media the first question is why not?! And please follow me on Instagram and twitter but secondly is you might know that I am engaged and am in up to my eyeballs in ‘WEDMIN’ as all the cool kids say. 

I have already had a tiny melt down but this hen do to Barcelona came at the perfect time and as it was planned down to a T – not by me! I thought I would share how to throw a hen do in Barcelona which would hopefully share some good tips on how to throw a fabulous hen do. 

1.     Book your flight early: I flew with Norwegian which is always a fave as a budget airliner as they have so many added extras, this time I had the extra leg room…yes please! They fly from London Gatwick to Barcelona all year round for as little as £34.90 one way and usually you get free WI-FI as if I didn’t google the words ‘Any new Love Island news’ or 'Teen Mom' enough. Why not BOOK NOW.

2.     Download all songs with the word Barcelona in them: You have Ed Sheeran, “Barcelona” and  "Barcelona" by D.Kay & Epsilon “Sometimes I feel Like I am in Barcelona...”  these tunes were on repeat for the entire weekend.

3.     Hop over to Airbnb: and snap up a roof top beauty with a pool and a Jacuzzi, because why not?  You can host all your besties with views to die for.

4.     Pack light but well: when all you really want to drag around a city is a small and light travel bag the new Kipling Super Hybrid 1 being on 4 wheels its easy to take anywhere and looks super chic with grey soft fabric. The key items I packed was:

-       Rose Gold Ray Ban’s from Duty Free

-       Gucci Sunglasses

-       2 x Zara dresses

-       Primark heels
-       New Look, Bae swimsuit
-       Havaianas Flip Flops

-       Wedding magazines (although I didn’t get a chance to read them!)

-       Boohoo denim shorts

5.     Invite the Mummies: Hen do’s are not just for your gal pals, Mums are great to have at your side at a hen do apart from being pretty crazy themselves they get stuck in with the cleaning at 8am while you are in still in bed and sort out the BBQ on the first day!

6.     Sports day: Utilise the beach it is only a stop or two on the metro (taxis are a nightmare FYI) so take your besties armed with a number of blow up items such as Limbo stick, footballs, sacks for sack racing of course. Be prepared to have most people on the beach try to get involved and film you from every angle - felt like a super star! A must is to get everyone in your party singing Spanish songs I think that is what drew the majority of attention. 

7.     Wine tasting: At the apartment we had a local wine taster come and tell us all about local wines and drank a fair bit comparing two whites, two reds and two fizz using all five senses. 

8.     Tapas street: Head to Blai, an amazing street lined with tapas bars you can nip in and out of them. You literally take the food from the bar - you just pay for your sticks at the end. They also do some snazzy cocktails too.

9.     Eyescream: Eyescream & Friends this was a recommendation I had before I left. As soon as someone mentioned ice cream with eyes I had to go and check out this instagramable location. This is shaved ice cream and you get to pick two toppings, white chocolate and jelly bears of course! 

10.  The W Barcelona: this hotel looks a dream with an infinity pool. Now I wasn't staying here but they did have a pretty snazzy bar on the beach called Salt Beach Club which you could either stare up at the residents at the W or at the beach while sipping a fancy cocktail or a bottle of Cava. It had a very Marbella / Ibiza feel.

11.  Sausage and Cava Bar: Can Paixano (La Xampanyeria) is the perfect pit stop before you head home. I am going to warn you it is small and popular so you have to squeeze through but with affordable fizz in an authentic location, who could say no?

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Gifts for your Bridesmaids

Hello Lovelies,

So I thought I would actually start talking about my wedding, the blog has been a bit neglected as I am finding everything a tad stressful yet I have basically got NO WHERE and I am actually drowning in WEDMIN or however you like to call it I like to call it 123821389 different companies trying to sell products for a ridiculously high price and there is FAR too much choice…and BREATHE.

Anyway let me talk about something I have actually ticked off my to-do list: picking my Bride Tribe or Bridesmaids.

Tip: Pick your bridesmaids early as you need help lots and lots of help. I have had friends who even added to their bridesmaids later down the line as there was so much to do.

So at the moment I have four bridesmaids, my Sister, Cousin and two best friends. I wanted to do something instead of just asking them all via text. I got these adorable ‘scratch’ cards from Not On The High Street so you could hide a secret message within the gold foil balloon and of course mine was ‘Will you be my bridesmaid?’ the inside is blank so you could use this card for anything and it is only £3.90 which is the price of a normal card nowadays.

Alongside this I also gave each bridesmaid a personalised fragrance that reminded me of them in some way or another Victor& Rolf, Flowerbomb, Dior,Miss Dior, Elie Saab, Le Parfum and Gucci Bamboo you can get these personalised with a name or a message (up to 66 characters) via The Perfume Shop engraving service which I just fell in love with the idea for it to be a personal gift.

I have also compiled some other fabulous gifts to give your bridesmaids below:

1. Bridesmaid Makeup Bag, Etsy

2. Personalised Water Bottle, Etsy

3. Personalised Bracelets, Etsy

4. Gucci Bamboo, The Fragrance Shop

5. Bright Ideas Studs, Kate Spade 

6. White Havaianas, Havaianas

7. Secret Message Scratch Card, NOTHS

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11 Wedding Guest Dresses

 

Last week I headed to Surrey for my first wedding of the year, three more to go... I had planned my outfit a long time ago, I felt it fitted in well for an Indian/English wedding with navy and gold being great colours. From the engagement party I knew the outfits would be incredible and I wanted to make sure my outfit did not fade into the background. This babe is from Chi Chi London with a petticoat underneath, which really fills the dress out and adds a bit of OOMPF to the outfit. I have linked a similar one below which has shorter sleeves.

Getting ready for a wedding is a laborious task I was panicking about my hair and nails I even started getting ready about 48hrs before the blooming wedding but it is oh so fun, a day that you can properly dress up without people looking at you asking where are your jeans? and I think the only day I really plan my outfit in full. It takes ages to find the perfect outfit and you can't wear the same thing more than once as there are professional photographers guys you gotta keep your dresses different just in case there is a fab picture. Anyway I have three more weddings to go so after doing lots of research I thought I would share 11 wedding guest dresses which I just love with a big heart emojis.

I always dress up a bit too much and kinda end up looking like a bridesmaid OH WELL its better that then not being fancy at all. Like I said its one of the only days you can dress up like a pretty princess.

Remember ladies eat lots and do not drink too much...I cant really remember the wedding from last weekend....

Anyhoo check out my picks, there are some to fit every style and price point, you cant really get a wedding guest dress dead cheap but there is one of the list for £24.99, BARGAIN.

1. Chi Chi London Yazzy Dress, £66.99
2. Topshop, Green Slip Dress, £34
3. Whistles, Lace Dress £220
4. Whistles, Wild Floral Jumpsuit, £230
5. New Look, Floral Bodycon Midi Dress £24.99
6. ASOS, Kimono dress with splits £32.00
7. ASOS Belted Midi Dress with Split Cap Sleeve in Occasion Floral £48
8. Little Mistress Chiffon Maxi Dress With Cut Outs £50
9. ASOS Asymmetric One Shoulder Wrap Front Pencil Dress, £55
10. ASOS Dungaree Maxi Dress £60
11. Forever 21, Floral Maxi Dress £24

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COMPETITION: Win Tickets to the Wedding Show of the Season

With friends getting engaged left, right and centre especially after Christmas it feels like everybody except for me (been in a relationship for about 10 years, ovi not marriage material!) anyway... I decided that I can at least get in the spirit of things and head down to London Olympia for the largest wedding show in the UK, I can pretend I am getting married and go with a friend that is planning on having a winter wedding this year.

So why don't you join me ? I have THREE pairs of tickets to give away, at either:

20 - 21 February 2016 Manchester Central 

26 - 28 February 2016 London Olympia

4 - 6 March 2016 Birmingham NEC

If your not sure what to expect from The National Wedding Show but here are some little teasers:

• Find the perfect venue
• Try on a fairy tale dress 
• Check out what could be on your wedding menu 
• Watch incredible floral creations 
• Moving away from the wedding there will be honeymoon destinations
• Wedding experts is every field and hundreds of inspiration for your Pinterest board
• Champagne bar to raise a toast to the big day 

Head over to my Twitter account here and all you need to do is follow me and RT my pinned tweet. SIMPLES

I will be there on the Saturday so watch my Instagram feed for inspo if you don't manage to get tickets. 

Terms & Conditions

• Only available on standard advance adult tickets

• Offer valid on any one day

• Offer valid on tickets purchased via telephone or internet

• Offer subject to availability

• Offer only valid on spring 2016 National Wedding Shows at Olympia, the NEC and Manchester Central

• Ocean Media reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time.

• Transaction fees apply

• Ticket price includes a free show guide

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Planning a hen do

So I have become a bridesmaid for the first time for my beautiful cousin and have the pleasure of sharing with you what the four bridesmaids planned for the Hen Party.

PREP IS KEY

Preparation is key for any hen party so make sure you scrub up on your excel knowledge as lists are key. On the day, you need to be prepared so you are ready to help out and deal with any drama, that's why I got my nails and hair done in advance, I figured if I got a blow dry it should mean my hair will look immaculate on the Friday and for the Saturday I should have a slightly disheveled yet 'on trend' style. Thanks to the newly launched Rush in Twickenham I did, I went for loose curls with some scrumptious smelling products. A simple blow dry costs around £30 which I personally feel is a bargain as I didn't need to spend hours struggling with my mane.

After that I was ready to hop in an UBER and head to South Kensington to get decorating...

DECORATIONS & GIFT BAGS
All decorations were either brought from a Party Store or hand made like the bunting and Instagram frame. I also created gift bags for each Bridesmaid which included:

• Bright pink willy straw
• A mini bottle of wine (either white, rose or red) from Tesco
• Willy whistle
• Handmade dare card using Canva 
• Lab2 blusher brush
• Hologram glasses from Education Harbour
• Press-on nails Fing'rs Prints in Girlie Glam
• Party Popper

After getting all glam we headed out all dressed in black, except the bride who wore white of course, to Quaglino's which was an apt place with live music to set the right atmosphere and three courses and a cocktail all for £30 and with dishes like braised pork cheek, crispy ears, truffle mash and cider jus its too good too miss.

 
Outfit details: Dress: Topshop | Shoes: Primark | Bag: Jimmy Choo

SATURDAY
After getting dressed up for the day and night (as we were not going to be heading back home) we cracked open the champers and headed to the first venue of the day Chestertons Polo in the Park to watch some polo and sip cocktails out of coconuts and pineapples from the tropical Mahiki bar.

Outfit details: Top: Topshop | Skirt: Topshop (last season) | Shoes: Primark | Sunglasses: Gucci 

After polo we headed down to Jak's King's Road for some wine and pizza's to share to get us fueled for a night on the town at Embargo's which is conveniently just above Jak's.

Now onto the wedding...

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