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......

New Lovelies Join Ruby's Collection

Here at Ruby's we always get really excited when we find beautiful pieces of china and these pieces were no exception.

We brought these stunning pieces from the lovely Liz Rheeder who was having to sell her collection due to a house move and we were happy to offer them a great home. These pieces are all availble to hire for your vintage tea party so start planning away with these pictures below.

Ruby x

www.rubysvintageteaparty.co.uk

Wanted a Husband who will come home to Borvil- Vintage treats in Brighton

Well what a week! We went off on our travels to the sunny (we were hoping!) Brighton and knowing me I used this as the perfect opportunity to hunt myself down some stunning new china pieces to add to my growing collection but more about this later!

We had already been treated to the beautiful sweeties from Mrs Nicola Savill of Loveland's Sweet Celebration who had created sweetie bags with stunning little hen party labels. She is able to create these for all sorts of events so check her out on facebook http://www.facebook.com/Lovelands.Sweet.Celebrations

Doing what all good vintage lovelies do, we took ourselves off to have a spot of afternoon tea and found this stunning little tea shop tucked away down Brighton's North Laines.

The Tea Cosy at first glance looks like a antiques shop which is right up my street but as you move inside you realise it is a vintage tea room with enough royal merchandise to stock the gift shop at Buckingham Palace! Playing Glenn Miller (which I promptly brought the CD to play during my afternoon tea at the big day), we settled down to a treat of sandwiches and scones. Of course this prompted the discussion about which goes first, cream or jam!

I couldn't leave without taking some pictures of the stunning pieces to share with you all...

And to end with a sentiment for all new weds from the 1940s

 Having stuffed myself with scones, we decided it would be for the best if we tried to walk off some of our afternoon tea and went a wandering down the laines, where we came across this amazing flea Market on Upper Gardener Street.

I was like a child in a candy store with my poor friend looking on in bemusement as I selected six gorgeous trios to add to my collection with a very blue theme running through my selections. These will all be available to hire as I managed to get these safely across London with the help of my fellow travellers. 

 No trip to Brighton would be complete without a wander to the famous pier with it's stunning vintage features, though we did take this opportunity to play on the 2p slot machines! We also won a Hello Kitty mug which is not on par with my vintage lovelies but we had fun trying to win it none the less. Unfortunately the wind was not in our favour and I left the pier looking rather windswept but this gave us the opportunity to explore the beautiful seafront with it's vintage features.

We are already planning our return trip and this time we will be taking the car so we can pick up even more vintage loveliness

Ruby x

www.rubysvintageteaparty.co.uk

Weekend of weddings- Nic and Aaron 9th June 2012

We were very excited to feature this wedding on Ruby's as it was of our dear friends Aaron and Nic. Mr S was also getting to practice his speaking for our big day as featuring as best man at this fabulous wedding.

Having heard so much about the wedding planning, we were excited to see how it all pulled together at the stunning Granary in Sudbury. Knowing Nic had loads of shabby chic touches at her wedding, the Granary provided a fabulous backdrop for their big day. And our lovely cake stands were one of her main features so we were very excites to see it all pieced together.

So here is their day in pictures....

Ruby

www.rubysvintageteaparty.co.uk

A weekend of Weddings- Alyson and Dan De Souza 8th June 2012

Firstly I would like to apology for the lack of blogging over the last few weeks, I have been busy planning the finishing touches to mine and Mr S wedding. Also I have been struggling with terrible writers block! But I am back and we have a lovely real life wedding for this blog entry.

This weekend became the weekend of weddings as I was attending two of my dearest friends weddings in two days. Think of the outfit nightmares as the weather was not playing ball with the day remaining wet and windy but this didn't stop us enjoying the beautiful wedding of Alyson and Dan at the Barn Brasserie in Great Tey Colchester http://www.thebarnbrasserie.co.uk/.


This wedding also gave me the opportunity to try out my new camera which I was uber excited about!

The barn provided a beautiful setting for Alyson and Dan civil ceremony with an international twist with the groom's family watching the ceremony on skype all the way from Brazil and their stunning cake played on this international connection, shaped as the landscape of Rio! I was feeling a little bad that this stunning creation was going to be cut up.

 The table settings had a distinctive rustic charm featuring bright sunflowers in wooden boxes. There was also beautiful wooden boxes with candles to create a stunning glow in the dark and damp weather. 

Each guest had a picture of themselves as their table setting which created a great talking point as everyone was trying to guess where Aly and Dan had got these pictures from. Mine was from my work's Christmas party fortunately still in a sober state!

The bride had chosen gorgeous sunflowers to accompany her stunning ivory dress and she had created a beautiful contrast with the bridesmaids having ivory flowers

Determined to keep the international element of the day going and with the groom being a keen drummer, we heard the rumblings of a samba band which appeared from the courtyard to entertain all the guests, even had me dancing around so apologies for the lack of good pcitures of this as dancing leads to camera shake! I just could stop dancing to the latin beat :)

Fortuntely the weather improved for us to get this lovely shot of the bride and groom outside on their wedding day. Like they say you can never rely on the British weather!

Ruby x

Find the dress of your dreams- Nell Amore

This weekend Ruby's went off on our travels and ended up in the historic Halstead Essex where our friend Lauren Jeffs has just opened a new stunning bridal boutique Nell Amore.

We had dual purpose for this visit as the lovely Lauren had been arranging my custom made veil and I was so excited to see her vintage inspired store which she has recently opened.

Lauren has managed to create a luxury but relaxed shopping environment with dresses to suit all price ranges with the below dress retailing around the £400 mark, attempting to satify brides with a variety of budgets.

Nell Amore has found the time to also stock her own range named after the shop with the most popular piece being a beautiful lace number which retails around the £1100 price point.

Nell Amore prides themselves on creating a luxury environment without other the off-putting prices that luxury can bring, with the highest price being around £1800 which is very reasonable in the world of bridal.

I personally loved all the quirky features that they have managed to find for the shop such as the vintage typewriter and original wooden cabinets and counters. It is lovely that Lauren has been able to retain so many original features.

 

 

Bridesmaid are also catered for and judging by this beautiful frock I spied, lucky bridesmaids

And if you saw my beautiful veil you would all be rushing to Nell Amore for bridalwear but of course this will be kept hidden until the big day

Lauren can be contacted via

www.nellamore-bridalwear.co.uk

Ruby x