Bespoke Wedding Stationery

If you follow me on Twitter and if you read this recent blog post, you'll know I'm getting married.

Although I'd already got an idea of what kind of theme, etc we were going for, I wasn't prepared for the thousands of suppliers and choices that were available! There is every imaginable style going. It's daunting to say the least.

We'd been hunting for some wedding stationary for a while and hadn't been able to find anything we like on the high street, when Paper Themes offered us a chance to review their bespoke Save The Date cards.  We actually weren't thinking of having Save The Date cards, as we're trying to keep costs down, but thought it would be a great way to trial their service. I have to say I'm really pleased with the quality and design and we'll most likely be ordering our wedding invitations from them! Winner!  The cards and envelopes are quite thick and a really good quality and, although we didn't have to pay for them, the price seems reasonable at £1 each.  I should also add the envelopes are self-adhesive, which is handy if you've got a lot of cards to send and our cards arrived really quickly!  I don't know about you but once I order something I'm pretty impatient and want it straight away!

The have lots of styles available but their website is really easy to navigate and you can soon narrow down your search.

One of the other things I love about this company is that their invitations and stationery are designed and manufactured in the UK (Shipley, West Yorkshire to be precise), so it's good to know you're helping to support British manufacturing when you're ordering from them.

Our vintage style cards

Bespoke Save The Date cards

 Bespoke Save The Date cards

Bespoke Save The Date cards

Although Paper Themes specialise in bespoke wedding stationery, they do so much more, including table decorations, wedding signs, balloons, cake accessories, DIY kits, personalised posters and wrapping paper as well as invites and cards for other special occasions such as baby showers, etc.  In fact the list seems endless so you should probably go check Paper Themes out for their full range.  They'll even send you some free samples!

Have you ever had any bespoke stationery printed?

The Orange Tree, Newcastle Under Lyme

After a hard days wedding dress shopping, it's an exhausting process honest, mum and I felt we deserved a some lunch at The Orange Tree in Newcastle under Lyme.

Now although I'm a real foodie, I've never felt compelled to write a restaurant review. Until now.  You see, I loved everything about this place. The food. The décor. The staff. Even the toilets! Yes I kid you not, even the toilets get a mention!  How many times have you visited a really nice bar or restaurant only to nip to the loo and discover they forgot to include the toilets in their extensive and rather expensive refurb? It always raises the question, if they can't be bothered about the toilet's what other corners have they cut? In my opinion, attention to detail is essential and this place has got it in the bag.

Light fittings made entirely of feathers (Image courtesy of The Orange Tree)

Not only was the food and presentation pretty spectacular, the staff were lovely.  They were chatty but not in your face, professional yet friendly and constantly working to ensure you received the best dining experience ever.   I chose the Monkfish & Marlin skewers with a honey, lime and coriander , neither of which I'd tried before. The waitress was really knowledgeable of the entire menu and recommended them and I'm so glad she did! The fish had so much flavour I would have sworn it had been freshly caught that day!

Monkfish & Marlin Skewers (Image courtesy The Orange Tree)

The Restaurant (Image courtesy The Orange Tree)

The menu is a little on the pricey side but you're not just paying for great food, you're also paying for the overall experience which in my opinion is worth every penny.  If you're looking for somewhere new to eat and don't mind paying a little extra, you should definitely pay a visit to The Orange Tree.

Have you been somewhere new to eat that you can recommend? Let me know so I can pay them a visit!

P.S. If you get a chance it would be lovely if you could vote for me over at  Ask Her Friends bloggers panel, you could win a prize worth £50!

Guest Post - MUA trio!

Hi there! I'm Jennifer from Glamour, Above all Things and tonight is my night to tell you all about my latest purchases from MUA :) It has taken me quite a few months to come around to the idea that good quality makeup , widely used by makeup addicts such as yourselves is available for £1 a pop - I know, right?!
I eventually caved in after reading nothing but good reviews and, well, here is my verdict!

I bought these products online from Superdrug.co.uk and had to restrain myself from buying absolutely everything available, but with some careful consideration I picked out three items.

• MUA blusher in shade 1 (a light, shimmery, almost pastel pink shade)
• MUA lipstick in shade 3 (glamourous pink shade with a creamy texture)
• MUA lipstick in shade 8 (deep, shimmery red)

At first I wasn't too impressed with the blusher because of the powdery mess it seems to create every time a brush touches it, but for £1 I don't think I'm in any position to complain about extra product ... This blusher is actually lovely! The colour payoff is summery, subtle and pretty but can be built upon, leaving room for a day time look as well as night time - it is incredibly blendable and leaves a flushed hue of pink on the cheeks without looking overdone.  As you can see on the photo, it's quite pale but still gives a girly flush to the skin. I've been using it with dark eyeshadows and bright red lips. 

I'm not that impressed with the packaging- I don't like the cheap plastic case the blush is placed in and it feels quite fragile. Then again, the price of this blush does make up for that! I am an avid Benefit user and to be honest, I do think this blush resembles the flushed tone of pink you get from their Thrrrrrrrrrob blusher (which is around £22 ...) I'd definitely recommend, and for £1 I think it's worth a go!

The next product I bought was shade 3 of their lipstick range! Now, as a Dita and Marilyn lover I am a huge fan of the red lip and I sometimes venture into darker pinks, so I thought this shade would be a lovely in-between to try, and I am not sorry! Again, this product is only £1 and I am absolutely loving it!
The tube casing doesn't follow suit at all, it doesn't feel cheap or plastic-y and looks quite posh with the silver on black design.
The colour payoff with this lipstick is beautiful. It's a gorgeous deep pink colour, but together with the lipstick's consistency it gives a really creamy-textured lip colour that lasts all day! Now, I'm not one to exaggerate when it comes to makeup - I applied this lipstick yesterday at 3pm. I was still wearing bright and bold it at 10pm after 2 glasses of wine, 2 margaritas and a calzone, PLUS kissing and talking with no touch-ups. Now, I don't know about you - but that has to be worth the £1 right? The dark pink and red lips are really 'in' this season with pin-up looks being the new black, so I would definitely recommend investing in one of these!

The next lipstick is shade 8 of their range :) This lipstick isn't as excitable as shade 3 (not as creamy, not as much colour payoff - you have to apply it around 3 times to get a deep enough colour) but I am putting that down to the slightly different consistency of this lipstick to shade 3. This shade is slightly glittery, a bit harder maybe - but that is actually something that also makes this lipstick completely food, drink, kiss and chat-proof! I have tested the longevity of this lipstick's wear and it was around 5 or so hours before I needed a definite touch-up, so this lipstick is a go-go for nights out, meals out or occasions you won't have a lot of time to check your lipstick hasn't slid down your chin or dried up your lips! Again, this lipstick is £1 so the fact that it needs a bit more application than the other one doesn't mean a thing, once it's on - it's on!

I absolutely love these products! I probably won't get another blush, purely because I like blushes with different consistencies - I am definitely glad I tried theirs though! These lipsticks are definitely in my top 10, along with Clinique, Benefit, ELF etc. The colours I have bought and the colours available are beautiful shades and are definitely worth a try. I have white hair and very very pale skin so dark lipsticks aren't always a good idea for me - but these lipsticks are really worth the hype :)

I hope you've enjoyed this post! If you like what you read, please head on over to my blog for more reviews, tutorials and style tips! :)
Thankyou to Maxine for letting me ramble on and giving me the chance to write for her blog, it's been an honour!

Has anyone tried these products or have any other MUA products they like/loath?
Jennifer xo