I bought these glasses a while ago and just couldn’t resist the bright, fun colours and pretty patterns. They’re usually reserved for special occasions but I think they’ll go down well at the next barbeque or dinner we have.
Tag Archives: red
Garden strawberries
I recently posted about the flowering strawberry plants that I have in my garden this year, and with the warmer weather they’ve now begun bearing fruit. There’s only a few ripe ones at a time but it’s satisfying to check them regularly and see if there’s any that can be picked.
Hot look
A light in the dark

We’re in the first week of the New Year and there’s already been some excitement in my house, well kind of; we had a blackout. The downside was there wasn’t a lot to do while we waited for the power to come back on, but the upside was being able to make the most of the situation and taking some photos of the pretty candles that we lit. Good thing my camera was charged.
My sister’s wedding
So, I’ve guided you through all the preperations and pre-wedding parties and events that have been leading up to the ‘Big day’, and I can now finally share some of the pictures. The weather was nice and bright and although the wedding was indoors it really helped put everyone in a good mood. The room we hired was set up by the venue and it looked really good. The stage was ready for the bride and groom, tables set for the guests and what I especially loved were large rose balls of vibrant red on the head table
There were other nice touches that we added too (aside from the fruit and sweet tables). My sister picked out her favour boxes which whilst took us ages to put together and then fill with tasty treats, I thought looked elegant and really pretty. There were also welcome drinks for our guests to help themselves to while they socialised
But the thing that really stole the show (apart from the bride of course) was the beatiful wedding cake made my talented sister. She made the cake and the edible lace to go onto it and also made some matching cupcakes to help set the cake off. My sister’s friend made the swirly cupcakes to add to the cake table to help fill it out
My nieces and nephews looked really cute; tuxes for the boys and white flouncy bridesmaids dresses for the girls. (I don’t have great pictures of the girls as they didn’t stand still long enough). The rest of us were smartly dressed too; suits for the men and pastel coloured outfits for the ladies
In South Asian culture the bride traditionally wears red on her wedding day and in keeping with this tradition my sister spent weeks designing her outfit. She decided to make her oufit in a deeper shade of red but to make it look more modern and show some of her personality she added stripes of bright colours at the hem of her skirt and around the edges of her scarf.
On the day, dressed up in her beautiful outfit and made up by the professional makeup artist and hair stylist, my sister looked stunning. I can’t show you pictures of my sister’s face but here’s how her outfit looked with gorgeous accessories
And with her groom, they made for a handsome couple
All the preperations leading up to the wedding were really stressful, but it was worth it, as on the day everything went well and the bride and groom looked happy and seemed to enjoy the day, with everyone else looking like they were having fun too.
I wish them both well amd may they be really happy together and enjoy the adventure that lies ahead of them.
If you’d like to see the really good, professional photographes of the wedding then you can see them on my sister’s blog
For my other posts on my sister’s wedding see the links below:
Bridal shower – Vintage
Bridal shower – 1920s
Henna party
Fruit tables
Peaceful view
Colourful fruits of labour
For my younger sister’s wedding day we thought it would be a nice touch to have a fruit table for the guests. We asked the catering company if they would be able to provide one for us but at a price of £400 (for fruit!) we said thanks, but no thanks! So, me and my older sister decided to have a go ourselves and as me and my sisters are quite a creative anyway
The day before the wedding day, my sister and I went to the local grocers and fruit stalls in our area and brought a whole range of fruits to give us different shapes, colours and sizes for our table.
As my sister’s wedding was an evening affair, my older sister and I got together in the morning of the wedding day and started prepping the fruit. We washed and cut up the fruit to make it easy and ready to eat
We then started placing the prepared fruit neatly in flat plastic trays that would help make the fruit not only look good but also make it easy to transport to the wedding venue.
We added small bunches of grapes and slices of oranges to the cut pieces of watermelon and melon, to add colour and also help fill the gaps.
My sister also had a good idea to make small cups of fuit that people can just take away. We used the leftover bits of watermelon, melons and grapes and added strawberries on top. She did this in a rainbow colour order which I thought looked great.
We had asked the venue to provide us with a couple of extra tables with tablecloths for us to use for our fruit. I got to the venue early and set this up before the guests arrived.
At previous parties and events my sisters have always set up a pretty sweet table for guests to enjoy. They decided they would like to do one for the wedding too to sit alongside the fruit table. In the weeks running up to the wedding we all kept an eye out for any sweets that fit our colour theme; red, gold and white (to match the bride). We then put them in colour blocks in various clear pots we had to make it all look neat when put together. I think the birdcages with the roses threaded through them are an especially nice touch and help bring the whole table together.
I think we did a good job (even if I do say so myself) and I think the bride was happy and the guests enjoyed it too, as most of it was eaten. We learnt that we can use our creative ideas to put together something that is well presented and enjoyed by all, at the fraction of the cost. I’d love to hear what you think of our efforts and if you have any other good ideas.
Poppy Day
Poppy day or Remembrance Day as it is officially known, is marked in the UK to remember the armed forces that died in the line of duty. To mark one hundred years since the first full day of Britain’s involvement in the First World War the Tower of London has installed an art installation called Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, which is made up of 888,246 ceramic poppies encircling the Tower, each poppy representing a British military fatality during the war. The poppes have been added to the moat of the castle from August with more being added everyday.
As Remembrance Day was drawing near (11th Novemeber, after which the poppies would be removed and sold) I decided to go take a look. I got to the Tower early in the morning and it was already really busy with lots of people. Luckily I was able to get a view from the angles I wanted and I got some pretty good pictures, I would have loved to be able to go down to ground level and see them but that was out of bounds to the public.
The poppies together really do look like a sea of red, even more so by the poppies being placed at different heights to create waves and the idea of movement
The poppies filling the moat, surrounded the entire Tower. I found that around the back of the Tower it wasn’t as busy and also the walkways were closer to the ground and allowed to people to get a closer look
Later volunteers and members of the navy arrived to help to install some more poppies. From 12th November more volunteers will come along to help take out and clean the poppies so they can be sent to members of the public that have bought them
I think the simple idea of using poppies was very striking when all put together, it really brought home just how so many British people had died in the war. It also made me think about all those that had died around the world in the past due to wars and are still continuing to do so.
There were also other installations around London to mark remembrance day, some traditional and long lasting and others temporary and modern. The poppy wreaths are usually found around November, the engraved words I found really sad, which can be seen all year round and speaks about all those that were lost at sea. The most modern installation I came across was in Trafalger Square called ‘Every Man Remembered’, which is based on the Unknown Soldier and has poppies that blow around inside the glass
All of these are really interesting and make you think about how many lives were lost in the wars, what I think is really sad though is how little we seem to learn from history








