The trip of a lifetime.. 1st stop Hawaii

I admit I have been neglecting all my readers over the last couple of months so much so one of my loyal readers began asking if there was going to be another blog entry. Well never one to disappoint we are back.

I have been neglecting you for a good reason though. Mr S and I embarked on the trip of a lifetime in September which required some planning. Off we jetted to the 1st stop on our honeymoon to the beautiful island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands.

I am going to lay this down straight to you all, Oahu is an 18 hour flight if you count the 3 hour stopover in LA and by the end of this, I am not going to lie I was a little grumpy and had come to the conclusion that LAX is one of the most confusing and poorly organised airports I have ever been too! ( LAX and United airways had a huge amount of rage from me, which reminds me I still need to write that complaint letter!)

Oahu is an amazing island and the 30 degree heat was a god send given the summer the British weather had provided for us this year! And we quickly booked ourselves on trips to see the island.

You may of guessed by now, I am a sucker of all things vintage and a trip to Oahu would not be complete without a trip to Pearl Harbour  This site reminds us of the horrors of war and taking a trip over the USS Arizona which still remains sunk in the Harbour is a poignant reminder that two generations ago people were fighting for their freedom and beliefs. Well worth a visit.

Mr S and I have always been the adventurous type and we decided to brave the public transport of Hawaii which provides a great low cost option of exploring the island at $2.50, which left me more cents to spend at the Premium Outlet Mall!

What Mr S and I failed to anticipate the Hawaiian rain shower. I admit my need for shopping took over my normal reasoning and I made my husband walk from the bus stop in the rain, anything for shoes.

Hawaii was series of 1st for me. We attempted surfing which by the end even I was standing and riding the waves,  though it wasn't an attractive sight.A further 1st connected to this adventure was swallowing half the Pacific ocean in an hour.

I also got myself my 1st tattoo to follow in Mr S footsteps, he is a man of many tats!

Of course a trip to Hawaii would not be complete with out a visit to Luau and we got to experience the amazing Hawaiian sunset...


Next stop LA 

Ruby

www.rubysvintageteaparty.co.uk 

A day at the races and some crazy dancing

Firstly I would like to apologise for quietness over the last few weeks. Ruby's has been busy doing beautiful tea parties and fairs which hasn't left much time for writing.

This week I went off to Newmarket for the Newmarket nights. For those of you who are not familiar this combines a day at the races with a pop concert. Boy I was excited about this one as I was reliving my teenage years and bopping around to Steps!

The races were awash with well dressed ladies and would make a fab hen do as it was a relatively cheap day out at £21 for the races and concert.

The only damper on the day was the weather ( excuse the pun) but I togged myself up in Mr Tom's poncho and danced away!

So here is the day in pictures

A sunny afternoon in Islington

Mr S and I decided to brave the Olympic crowds (well I had been doing it all week anyway) and head in to London to celebrate my birthday with some close friends.

We headed to the beautiful area of Islington and started off with some delightful Turkish food, Aubergine stuffed with chick peas, peppers and tomatoes big yum!

Having left the menfolk in a pub to watch the start of the Murray game, we went off to explore the lanes of Islington. Unfortunately it being a Sunday meant that some of the antique shops where closed and I have put myself on a self imposed teacup buying ban as my space for storage is becoming extremely restricted ( I can't turn round without the risk of knocking a teacup or teapot).

Trust us to run across a shop full of teacup but fortunately it was closed so I was not forced to test self restraint.

We arrived back at the pub in time just to see Murray win his gold in the men's single so with that we thought it would only be fitting to toast Murray's success with a frozen yoghurt from Samba Swirl.

A perfect Sunday afternoon- food and teacups

Ruby

www.rubysvintageteaparty.co.uk

Cherishing my moments- Gary Wilson Photographic

Our hunt for a photographer was quite short to be honest. We met Gary just after we had booked our venue so we had quite a long time to plan the shots we wanted really wanted and having seen the photos, I am elated with them and we do have some amzing memories to cherish

I have been to weddings where the photographer had the potential to ruin the flow of the day by making people wait for hours when all the bride and groom want to do is spend time with their guests. This was my biggest worry about the day!

But I had not worried as Gary and Sarah were amazing at getting everyone in order and keeping everyone entertained in the process of getting the photos done ( with help from our team of Ushers) and we have got loads of amazing shots of the people we love having a great time.

The images from our day can be viewed via the link below 

http://garywilsonphotographic.co.uk/kayleigh-bens-wedding-7th-july-2012-essex-wedding-photographer

Gary and Sarah can also be contacted via

www.garywilsonphotographic.co.uk

Thanks for your amazing help on the day and now Me and Mr S have a tough job deciding which photos to put in to our album

Ruby x

www.rubysvintageteaparty.co.uk

The suppliers who made the day

As many of you know I got married to Mr S recently and became Mrs RS. You are also wondering why, as I am so keen on writing about real life weddings I haven't written about my own!

Well I have decided that I am going to thank the suppliers who really made the day truly special for Mr S and I, in my own special way by write a blog for each of them over the coming weeks.

So first up is Mr Adam Parry of Parry's Ice Cream Bikes. Their packages start from £300 for up to 100 guests and the ice cream is yummy. Adam can be contacted via his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/parrysicecreambike. Go along and give him a big like.

For a long while I had been umming about hiring an ice cream bike with all the debating about the great British weather but two weeks before the wedding I took to the great sphere that is Facebook, asking on the off chance if anyone was available to do my wedding.

As chance would have it, I was meant to have a ice cream bike at my wedding as Adam answered the call!

The ice cream bike made a stunning addition to the day and certainly attract the crowds outside in to the stunning grounds of the venue. By the time I had reached him, all the mint choc chip was gone but I blame Mr S for that as it is his favourite.

We also had fun trying to get me up on to the bike with my layers and layers of gown, which took 3 people to get me up. I personally wanted to take the hat home.

My favourite quote of the day,"I have never served ice cream that quickly" and the most interesting memory I have of my day is doing our 1st dance with 50 people swaying along with ice creams.

Over all a worthy investment for that memory 

Ruby x

www.rubysvintageteaparty.co.uk 

a beginning to the married life and a musicial interlude

So finally Ruby's friends it looked like summer had decided to grace us with it's presence so Mr S and I decided to do what all good married couples do and off we went to B&Q to buy some plants for our garden. I know what you are all thinking, this blog is really going downhill if I am going to talk about plants but I wanted to share my photos on my new living things!

As I was having major post wedding blues, I have been trying to keep myself busy so one Saturday evening, I went off to a local music festival in Eight Ash Green with two of my best buddies Em and Chrissie.

A move on from the traditional village fete, it combined the two perfectly and the sunshine decided to make an appearance even if we did have wet bottoms by the end of it.

Here are a couple of shots from the evening

Right I am off to collect some more china now so signing off until next time

Ruby x

In A Garden One Day Ruby's China Comes Out To Play

We were lucky enough to get the chance to work with the brilliant Chanon De Valois, on updating our photography for our website.

On a very windy day we set up in Chanon's garden to shot some of the pieces that have yet to be featured in our official photography. We had a great team of me, Chanon, Jenni and Q the dog. Q thought it important to inspect all the teacups and cake stands in case of any sign of food, unfortuntately there was nothing to be found.

Of course we found ourselves getting windswept and moved our efforts indoors, setting up our table shots which were equally as stunning.

We featured some of Chanon's wedding photography in an earlier blog and can highly recommend her work. Chanon can be contacted via the below details

Chanon deValois Photography 

07768 078 088

chanon@chanondevaloisphotography.com 

www.chanondevaloisphotography.com

Here is a small selection from our day but keeping some of those under wraps for now......