The Dress

After seeing a framed wedding dress on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills a number of years ago, I knew I wanted something similar to display my gown. The idea of selling it or putting it in a box and into the loft was defiantly not for me, I wanted to be able to admire my dress every day.

I went to a local framing shop, my family have used for years, and shared my ideas. Luckily for me, they had framed wedding dresses before! I knew I didn't want a full length frame for a number of reasons; 1 - the dress is pretty big with numerous layers so the frame would need to be exceptionally long and deep! 2 - I plan to hang the frame in my wardrobe and full length would take up masses of storage space! With this in mind, I decided to go for a half frame, where the dress would be folded half way down the skirt so the main part of the dress would be on display but the bottom wouldn't. 

I had an unlimited number of frames to chose from to surround my dress but I decided to go with a sleek metallic silver. I felt the silver drew out the embellishments and sparkle from the beading around the waist and then chose an ivory mount to back the frame, keeping in-line with the simple, chic look I was hoping for. 

These are the four options I had for positioning of the dress inside the frame. I opted for the simplest option with the dress hung straight. 

The finished product...

Thank you 'Jo's photos' for pictures of the frame & thank you to Alison from the 'Picture Framing Centre' for creating the perfect frame. 

Jo's Photos

This afternoon, the little one was asked to do some modelling for a local photographer, Jo. Jo was looking to capture some 'fine art' shots displaying her new deep colour backdrops.

I have been sent a sneak peek of the shots and there just beautiful. I can't wait to see them all once they've been edited. 

Jo's Photos - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jos-Photos/408007972601547?fref=ts

Inspired by Ralph

Today is my lovely husbands birthday. We are celebrating with a meal at my husbands choice of restaurant (a local Cantonese) along with our with family.

I had to write up a quick post to share another unbelievable creation from the very talented Lisa at Ava Rose cakes! I asked Lisa to make a t-shirt style cake for his birthday this year, which she did to perfection!

Happy Tuesday!

P.s Happy 89th Birthday Queen Elizabeth! 

    

In the city

This weekend, I took my husband away for a birthday weekend to our favorite local city, Manchester where we stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton. We have stayed at DoubleTree hotels before and we have always had a fabulous stay. At the DoubleTree hotels we have stayed at, there has always been a rooftop bar which is always one of the highlights of our trip, overlooking the city drinking cocktails! 

We spent the daytime walking around the city with some shopping thrown in here and there stopping off at a couple of bars (Manchester has some of the most amazing quirky bars, you just have to know where to look!).

In the evening, following recommendations from friends, we ate at Gaucho, an Argentinian steak restaurant that was unbelievable - we will definitely be back! 

P.S. a quick tip I recently learnt from a friend of mine, for anyone heading to a city wanting to plan the perfect night out is to go onto the website www.designmynight.com. The website covers pretty much every city in the UK giving the option to personalise the night to suit you. It works by selecting the city, you then select your 'type of night' (after work drinks, clubbing or date night for example), then choose the area, budget and type of venue and numerous bars, clubs etc will appear according to your search options! You can then view the venue's, cocktail list, food etc to see if they are what you had in mind! Genius or what!

High waisted trousers - https://www.prettylittlething.com/

Nude body - http://www.missguided.co.uk/

Necklace - Next

  

Orange springs

Spring has most definatly set in!

Today my husband and I have been house hunting! We spent hours viewing numerous houses and are very excited with what we saw. 

As the sun is out but it's still a little chilly, I opted for a bright orange collared knit, ripped jeans (which I customised myself) and a pair of navy sandals. 

Orange knit: Primark @ Selfridges

Jeans: River Island

Sandals: Next

Pool Party

So yesterday, I spent the afternoon at a mini hen do pool party!

A lovely friend of mine organised a mini hen do at her father-in-law to be's house in the indoor pool. All the girls got together and had a fab afternoon celebrating the up and coming wedding! 

After pulling out 20+ of my bikinis (my middle name should most definitely be indecisive!) I decided to mix & match from two different bikinis I have, both from Next. I went with a plain black bottom & a white and red rose top. 

For day wear, as it's such a glorious day I decided to pull out a SS14 dress from hibernation! I love this dress because khaki is everywhere at the moment and it's so easy to wear. The dress is just the right length with the added lace trim and can be dressed up or down. I teamed the dress with a grey boyfriend cardigan to dress it down slightly and a pair of black suede lace cross pumps I got for my birthday. 

Bikini - Next

Dress - H&M

Cardigan - Marks and Spencer

Shoes - Office

Bag - Mulberry 
Sunglasses - Dolce & Gabbana