There’s something so wonderful about exploring the local land. Whilst most of us dream of jetting across the waters to distant destinations, sometimes it’s quite nice to explore our own territory. Plus, where else can you get a good cup of tea other than in the UK? I was so lucky as a child to travel up and down the country with my Grandparents on holiday, my fondest memories were those spent in our static caravan in Sewerby near Bridlington though. We’d pack up the car on a Friday night after school and head up the A64 to the fresh sea air. We’d have late night fish & chips for our first supper on the promenade, with a quick walk round the amusements, pop in to the little book shop so I could pick an Enid Blyton short story book & then finish off with my favourite; a mint choc chip ice cream. It was so easy.
For those who don’t know I am the monthly chat host of #HappySelves on Twitter. This is a once-monthly takeover of the wonderful #HealthySelves chat. I pick a topic that is light-hearted and upbeat and we all just chat away like we would with friends over coffee. It’s so lovely to have a chat on Twitter where there’s never an argument, everyone plays nice and we are also a support network for those who aren’t necessarily feeling 100% with themselves.
I love animals, I love my dog to the ends of the earth and pretty much any other animal I come in to contact with. I’m one of those saps that watches Paul O’Grady For the Love of Dogs with tears in my eyes, proclaiming ”I just want to bring them all home and love them and care for them.” You know this, because you’ve probably been there too. That’s why you are reading this post about the RSPCA Cake Off Challenge. Great, I’m glad we have some common ground. I was asked to bake a cake. As wife to a Farmers Son you probably have the image that for most of the day I’m holed up in the kitchen baking cookies and creating mammoth cakes every day, well quite the contraire. By day I work in digital experiences for Events so you could not be further from the truth. So when I was asked to do it I was like ”Yeah sure, I’ll do my best.” Secretly I thought ”Oh Crap!” but ever one to turn down a challenge I was ready to go full steam ahead!
You know when I had a ‘’quarter life crisis’’ last year, well, I think I have had as secondary follow up to that crisis recently. I decided that if I couldn’t look good at 25, when will I? This then prompted me to download the #30dayabchallenge & #30daysquatchallenge and get eating my vegetables. My moods are so up & down, to the point where I genuinely think I have something wrong with me. Yes, a little overboard I know. I never really thought about the lack of activity or lack of healthy food I was eating. I sit on my bottom all day, 5 days a week. It’s not exactly a quick passage to losing weight. So that was that, rather than munch on a rather large tuna and cheese panini every day (followed by crisps and chocolate..) I started bringing home made salads to work. Not only was I eating healthily, I was actually saving a shit-tonne of money too.
It’s the little details that mean a lot to me at weddings. I want to feel like I am taking a glimpse in to the Bride & Grooms life. Our special day was no exception.
James family are die hard farmers, we rear chickens and love the outdoors. So what was more fitting than a ‘’Countryfied’’ Wedding. My family are very crafty and creative so it was even better that there was so many home spun features on our big day.
The old potato chitting trays welcomed our guests on arrival. Despite the rain we managed to get the ‘’Mr & Mrs Clayton’s Wedding This Way’’ Sign out so everyone knew where they were going.
I think everyone was shocked when they walked in to the hall and saw just how amazing it was and how much love had gone in to decking it out. I have always imagined what peoples faces would be like when they opened their invites & saw that we were having our wedding reception in a village hall.
We managed to get a lovely shot the day before of the venue before chaos ensued. I’m sure you will agree it look PRETTY amazing, if I don’t mind saying so myself.
My mum sewed plenty of bunting to wrap around a few of the tables, like the top table and the Cake/Photo/Post Box table. It gave it just that extra pizzazz (is that even a word, it hasn’t got a squiggly red line under it?!) of colour to compliment the ivory marquee lining.
The ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ on the top table was a Hobby Craft special & so was the red post box that Mr C and I painted at his work. My mum paper mache’d the ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ too, she is so super clever!
The napkins are from the Cath Kidston sale that I picked up right when we got engaged so we have always known that this was the type of wedding we were going for
The centre pieces & flowers were very natural and country garden style. We didn’t want a huge centrepiece on the tables that people could not see one another! The ceramic jugs were an ebay find, we had lovely duck egg blue, blush pink and cream jugs. Each Table was different. We were a little boring with the table numbers and stuck to ‘’1, 2, 3’’ (you get the picture!) but we bought so cute chalk board table number stands which looked great!
I loved our little place settings, simple brown luggage labels that my mum decorated with doilies and the ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ ribbon. It was so simple but so effective. And I love how ours said Mr & Mrs Clayton on them!
Because we didn’t have ‘’favours’’ as such we created buckets for the children at the wedding that had sweets, magazines, colouring pen and pencils. One even had a set of fake moustaches which went down a treat! It kept the children happy during the speeches and throughout the meal and it was something we were so happy that we did. Thanks to my super Aunty Kate!
Like I said, we didn’t have favours so instead we opted for a cute Kandy Kart that kept guests entertained all day/night, rather than taking something home that they were going to stuff in a cupboard to never see again or, throw in the bin and never see again. Plus, it was a nice talking point for people to have a laugh & a joke about how many sweets they were getting.
Donna was fabulous & even sourced some material that matched the bridesmaid dresses. How’s that for service?
We got to choose 10 different types of sweets and we also got to keep what was left. So, we are currently wading our way through LOTS of sweets!
Our beloved ‘’R & J’’. I had seen these all over pinterest and thought, ‘’I HAVE TO HAVE THEM’’ and so I did. My uncle is super talented as he is a joiner by trade. I asked him nicely if he would mind doing them for us and he made sure they were perfect! They looked amazing when the lights were turned off. Again, it just added that extra little sparkle to our wedding!
Now, let me bring you on to the food. It was to die for! When we decided on a DIY wedding the first people we thought of were our local pub, The Fox & Hounds. Their food is amazing, delicious and locally sourced. They did not disappoint with their fairings.
The Chicken Liver Parfait is my particular favourite starter, add that to the succulently warm olive bread you have a winning combination.
Now, with James’ family mainly all farmers, meat is something of a task to them when they aren’t eating their own field fodder. So it was a welcome surprise that they were all saying it was some of the best beef they have EVER tasted.
Food was so important to us, because most weddings you go to, the food is just ‘’okay’’ and you want to feel full. I hate to blow our own trumpet but I think we got it spot on, 100% with the caterers, so a MASSIVE thank you to Alan and his team.
What made your day feel special and set you apart from other weddings you’ve been to? I can’t wait to bring you our other instalments of the big day, it is keeping the memory alive for me.
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