Many congratulations to the bride & groom

Last weekend the Monkey and I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of two lovely friends.

Betina and Duncan had been engaged for what seemed an eternity and finally tied the knot at Maunsel House on Saturday 4th June 2011.

 

 

It was a glorious day; not only did the sun shine, but it was a day filled with love and laughter. Betina turned wedding planner extraordinaire for the occasion and organised a day where every small detail had been considered and nothing left to chance. Needless to say, this wedding will be remembered for quite some time to come!

The bride looked incredible in her Ian Stuart gown; a dress that managed to combine volume yet still look light and fluffy. The groom had a naughty glint in his eye as he viewed his new wife with wonder and adoration.

The happy couple are now enjoying a wonderful honeymoon in the sun, and I hope they are taking the opportunity to truly relax and unwind. Life gets busy when they come back to London as they are looking for a new home in the country in which to start married life.

I am very much looking forward to seeing the official photos, but in the meantime here are a couple of my humble efforts... 

And then, when it all became too much, Betina was ready for bed...

Betina and Duncan; many congratulations on your union. We were so happy to share your day with you and look forward to seeing you grow together as a couple in the years to come.

With much love,

Jacquie and the Monkey xxx
(we had so much fun playing with the guns!)

My absence explained... the days of darkness

You may have noticed that I haven't posted for a while, or been particularly active on Twitter. Why, you may ask? In short, I have been a little down in the dumps.

Whether I have been experiencing a bout of depression or have just been feeling the need to cocoon and nurse my woes in privacy I cannot say. Either way, it has served me well to stay at home and take a step away from online life.

I feel particularly ridiculous as the truth is, I have little in my life to be depressed about. But the fact is, uncertainty about my career has been getting the better of me. As you may know, a couple of months ago I left my job in search of newer and brighter opportunities and although I knew finding a job would be tough, I underestimated just how hard it would be.

What brought on this funk? It was something an innocuous as being invited to a wedding. This October. In India. A rare and amazing opportunity to go to a real Indian wedding extravaganza and suddenly the realisation hit me that unless I get my career sorted I would not be able to afford to go.

All of a sudden I was in a state of panic, finding it hard to breathe and overcome with the feeling that my life was a failure. Usually these bouts of self-doubt would dissipate within hours but nay, it lasted two days, three days, then felt like it would never go away. When I wasn't at work (I am temping) I stayed at home, I cried and I slept. No matter how much I slept I was always tired.

I avoided friends who I knew were worried - I like to be alone when I'm low. I avoided the phone calls and the texts checking in to make sure that I was okay and gradually I've started to see the light. On Monday work started on our flat and this made me realise that yes, I may not have the dream job, but the rest of my life is pretty darn good. My Monkey is incredible, encouraging and a great shoulder to cry on and in approx 6 months time we will have a lovely home to live in. We are also planning a wedding, so life really could be a whole lot worse.

I have to trust that the right job will come along in time, and that I should stick to my guns and hold out for what I really want. In the meantime, let's hope I don't have to resort to eating beans on toast.

To my lovely girls, thank you so much for caring about me and checking in to make sure I was alive! I'm sorry that I'm so bad at responding when I need alone time. I really do love you guys.

DD. xx

Gifts for the girls - thanking the bridesmaids.

I've been thinking a little about gifts to give the bridesmaids at the wedding. I'm a big fan of Argent of London and really, who doesn't like to receive jewellery?

So with that in mind, these are a few of my current favourites on their site.

Blue & Gold Spinning Top Pendant - £70.00

Silver Friendship Heart Drop - £48

Spherical White Mother of Pearl & Gold Pendant - £48

Wave Design Enamel Egg Pendant - £148

Pearl Pendant with Gold and Gemstone Pendant - £120

I absolutely love these, they are so dainty and girlie. I definitely heart.


What are your thoughts on gifts for the bridesmaids? I'd love to hear if you decided to make your own and what you made - oh, how I wish I was a creative DIY type! 

DD. xx

Clerkenwell Design Week

Today sees the start of Clerkenwell Design Week, a three day festival taking place in various venues around Clerkenwell. As many of you Londoners will know, Clerkenwell has turned into quite a creative hub over the years. You cannot walk more that a couple of minutes without coming across another showroom, architectural practice or advertising company. As such, it is only fitting that the area should have its very own design festival.

The event will see big design names host a varied programme of workshops, presentations, exhibitions and debates; if design is your thing, Clerkenwell is the place to be until Thursday night.

In addition to all of the above, there are parties galore and bands performing throughout the three day event.

For more information about schedule events look here: http://www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com/whats-on/time-table/

For parties go here: http://www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com/whats-on/parties/

An for the music line-up, check this out: http://www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com/whats-on/music/

Clerkenwell design week runs from Tuesday 24th – Thursday 26th May
10am -9pm
Various venues around Clerkenwell

DD. xx

Come rain or shine, look amazing on your wedding day...

We all know how it goes... you book your wedding for June or July hoping for the best of the weather. Days before the big day it starts to rain and you start to fret. What about your hair? Your make-up? What about your dress?

We are planning to marry in Tuscany. In July. And I am still fretting about the weather - the reality is that these days, anything might happen.

Which is why it's important to be prepared. Brollies Galore sell the most beautiful umbrellas - if you're lucky and it doesn't rain you can always use them as a prop for your wedding photographs. Check these out:

Bridal Umbrella in Satin with Organza Frill - Ivory £49.99

Cancan Parasol by Guy de Jean - Cream £110

Giselle Pagoda Wedding Umbrella - Ivory £49.99

Old Rose Diamante Pagoda by Chantal Thomass £89.99

Which is your favourite? Were any of you caught short on your wedding day?

DD. xx

The Almeida Restaurant

Earlier this week the Monkey and I had dinner with our lovely bathroom designer and his girlfriend. The location was the Almeida Restaurant in Islington.

Having lived moments away from this restaurant for a couple of years now, I am amazed that we hadn't previously visited - in my defence, there are HUNDREDS of restaurants in Islington and it is quite a challenge to visit them all.

The Almeida Bar & Restaurant sits just opposite Islington's famous Almeida theatre and as such, is ideal for a pre or post theatre meal. This may be what has always put us off - it tends to look rammed. If you visit at 7.30pm, once whatever is showing at the theatre has started, the place is divine. 

We started with a drink in the Lounge. Red walls and red chairs make for either a very sexy or angry space depending on the mood. The drinks were lovely, but after a stressful day at work the decor rather set me on edge.

Once we moved into the main restaurant, however, I was set at ease. The space is large and most importantly they have maintained sensible distances between tables. It drives me crazy when you can hear your neighbours conversation.

The food was delicious. I opted for two courses (a main and desert) and went for the braised suckling pig and the ice cream and sorbet. The suckling pig was perfection, and undoubtedly the culinary highlight of the night. My companions were equally pleased with their choices (although three of the four of us were drawn in by the pig).

We took advantage of the Evening Standard offer, which was 2 courses for £20 or 3 for £25 with a peach or raspberry bellini upon arrival. Sounds great, but we ended up paying £40 each (for two courses). There was a surcharge for the sucking pig, £3 a pop for any sides and drinks were not at all cheap.

It did, however, make for a lovely night out and we will almost certainly go back. Possibly not for a while though, there are so many other places in the area still to try!

Do you have any recommendations for Islington? I am determined to make my way through the restaurants in the next couple f years but would like to start with the good'uns (in the hope that the crap ones will have shut down by the time I've made my way to them!)

DD. xx

Cocktail Length Wedding Dresses

As I've previously mentioned, The Monkey and I will be marrying in London and then having a symbolic ceremony in Italy. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what to wear for the London ceremony and have come to (what I think is) the definite conclusion that I would like to wear a cocktail length dress.

Two have caught my eye recently, I'd love to hear what you think.

The first is a dress by Charlotte Balbier, the style is called Carrie. There are certain similarities between this dress and the full length bridal gown by Christian Lacroix that I also have my eye on.

Carrie by Charlotte Balbier

The second dress is a new design of Cymbeline and is part of their 2012 collection. I love the drop waist flapper feel to this dress.

I expect I won't be able to try on the Cymbeline dress for months, a definite shame, but it does give me time to lose a bit of weight. Flapper style drop waist dresses only look fabulous on waif like creatures and my boobs really do need to lose a bit of oomph!

Would you wear a cocktail length to your wedding or is it full length all the way? Is it madness to buy my London dress from a bridal designer or should I be buying something nice and simple from a normal store?

DD. xx

We have moved... highs and lows.

Last weekend, the Monkey and I moved home (with our flatmate, Binary Man, following closely behind).

We are now settled into our new home, but certain things still irk. Mainly - there is no internet yet. I am impatient at the best of times so an entire week of not being able to tweet or blog has been driving me mad.

I am now sat in a pub around the corner from the new flat drinking orange juice after orange juice making use of their wifi connection.

In some respects it is a delight to have moved home. We now have a functioning washing machine, and a dishwasher. The electrics also work throughout the flat so we no longer have one floor powering the other. On the other hand, the oven doesn't work in the new flat, there is no shower curtain and our bedroom is a third of the size of our old one.

It is important to keep reminding ourselves that this is only temporary and we'll be back at home by the end of the year (hopefully). Until then it's business as usual...

DD. xx

Sweet Home, Goodbye for Now.

Yesterday, the monkey and I got the keys for our new home. This is nothing too dramatic - we are moving two minutes away from our current flat and will be living there only temporarily, whilst our home is refurbished.

I have mentioned in the past that we are about to refurb our flat. This is so long overdue that it's a relief to finally be moving. The flat has, for a while now, been telling us that it's time to go (a couple of weeks ago the washing machine flooded the kitchen, our shower broke and the boiler started leaking).

Work on the flat is due to start at the end of May and we are hoping to be back in time for Christmas. Our new home is half the size of our current home and our bedroom a third of the size. I have until Saturday to pack, as well as going to the cinema on tonight and the gym on Friday, so the nights will be long.

So here are a few photos of our flat fom when we moved in - I look forward to showing you the before and after images at the end of the year.

So for now, goodbye sweet home, I look forward to meeting the new you.

DD. xx

Look like a superstar on your Wedding Day

I have recently discovered the website of Warrior & Honoré and I must admit to being mightily impressed. They are bridal make-up artists and if they can make you look as sleek and chic as their website, you'll be on to a good thing (although I do truly believe they should get rid of the background music on the site - I couldn't find a way to mute it!)

Here are a few examples of their work:

Ruth Warrior & Chloë Honoré have been in the industry for fifteen years and have recently been unleashed into the world of brides. Not a moment too soon, I say.  

They offer several packages for the bride-to-be, ranging from make-up for the bride-to-be only, to a full package for the entire bridal party. They even do a rehearsal make-over, to make sure all has been decided on prior to the big day.

I would love to see them offer bridal make-up classes; as I will be getting married in Tuscany, I think I have decided against hiring someone to do my make-up (I am too worried about what the result may  look like). I would therefore like to take a few lessons beforehand. Maybe they could be persuaded?

If you're getting married in London (or elsewhere, they will travel) check out their website: www.warriorandhonore.com.

DD. xx