Presents for him

Wednesday, 16 May 2012 00:00

Now we all know its traditional for the groom to give the a gift bride on the wedding day, and me being the lucky girl that I am, got this beautiful bracelet from my wonderful husband. But I didn't forget him and as we got married the week before Christmas I bought him a bottle of manfume that I popped into a Christmas stocking and got his brother to put on his bed for when he woke up. But if you want to give your husband to be a treat why not swop the Christmas stocking for a pair of silk ones and have a bridal boudoir shoot? Now before you redcoil in horror at the thought being photographed in your unmentionables, this is not porn, it's about empowering yourself and feeling confident about your body. Don't forget your fiance loves you just the way you are and that means you should love your body too. I have to admit to being a little bit scared of boudoir photography but one photographer has made me determined to do a shoot with her one day (apparently dressed as a burlesque chicken) and that very talented lady is Tigz Rice. If you follow my boards on Pinterest you will have already seen some of this lady's amazing work. She has a very distinctive style and her photographs are very powerful as well as being beautiful. Bridal boudoir not only gives you a great present to give to your husband to be but it will help you so much when it comes to being confident in front of the camera on the big day. I got so much more out of my on the day photography because of the engagement and hen party shoots I did before the wedding, the more you get to see that little black box as your friend the better.  

 Image copyright: Tigz Rice Studios

Her best friends hen party

Sunday, 29 April 2012 14:10

When you're best friend is an amazing wedding photographer and they are also in charge of your hen party you can pretty much guarantee it's going to be something beautiful to behold. So when one of my favourite photographers Laura Babb asked if I might be interested in featuring a hen party she was shooting for her best friend I practically bit her hand off. The hen party was in two parts the first being the actual hen party and the second being a bridal shower, this meant that bride-to-be Kelly could have a fun night out in central London with the girls and then still have time with her Nan and other family members at the shower. I really like this way of planning a hen party as no-one feels excluded and as you can aften host showers at family homes the cost isn't that much greater.  When I asked Laura who picked the theme for the party she said 'Kelly, the bride to be, decided the theme and I then instructed the hens.  Our main aim was to have a classy affair with not a willy straw or L plate in sight'. Sounds pretty perfect to me.

Image credit: Laura Babb Photography 

A cake 'n roll hen party

Tuesday, 03 April 2012 14:41

I've been waiting to publish this hen party for a couple of weeks now and I've been very excited about it. Today's bride-to-be is Bekki and she's currently extremely busy getting ready for her wedding in May but I hope Bekki and you will be able to take a few minutes out to have a look at her gorgeous cake and fifties inspired hen party. I've been following Becki for a while on Twitter (@Rockabillybride) and we've had quite a few chats about her hen party and I just knew it was going to be fabulous. I mean cakes, polka dot dress and petticoats what's not to like?

Photography credit: Morgan Wiltshire

The Collections: A Collective

Thursday, 29 March 2012 16:54

I don't really like to write posts directed at other industry professionals as I really like to keep the blog for Brides, Bridesmaids and anyone else involved in planning hen parties. But I have been having a few questions about The Collections since I wrote earlier on in the week about the upcoming lauch of the first Collection: Mad WoMen. The idea for The Collections came about when I found out I was pregant and I soon realised I was going to have to change the business model of the site to fit in with a baby. I can't really be spending hours trawling the internet and writing party plans with a little one demanding most of my time (and my husband probably demanding the remainder). So I had a think about how I could continue on the path I had set upon but basically 'baby proof' the Hen House and the idea for the The Collections was born. 

There are lots of collaborations that go on within the wedding industry but most only extend to the occasional photo shoot but as I have sworn off photo shoots I wanted to think of a way that I could bring together some talented people, with amazing skills, facilties and products and work out how we could make the collaborations idea work long term. 

Now packages are not a new thing in the world of hen parties at all and most major players do them, but they can be very generic and use large national companies for ease of contracting and availability. Which if I was running a huge a big generic company would be totally valid, but I'm not. My aim is to celebrate small, local, independent companies and help them to reach new markets. I'm a big believer that, even though hen parties are probably the most unfashionable part of the wedding industry, they are the biggest area for expansion. The sector has been able to rest on its laurels for a long time churning out the same old thing (bright pink plastic, cheap hotels, lots of booze etc). I think it's ready for a make-over and I'm happy to be one of those leading the charge for change and I have no intention of stepping aside, baby or not. 

The Collection: The Mad (Wo) Men Hen Party

Tuesday, 27 March 2012 00:00

Today I'm very excited to annouce what will hopefully the first of my vintage hen party collections. I have been working closely with some of the West Midlands best to bring you the Mad Women hen party, an experience that will have you looking, styled and even drinking like the glamourous ladies from the hit TV show Mad Men. I love Mad Men and when I started thinking about what I could base my first vintage hen party collection on Mad Men was the obvious choice. It's embodies the kind of style, sophistication and fun that I wanted the Vintage Hen House to be about when I started. So on the day that season 5 hits our screens, I can let you know that the Mad Women hen party will be launching from April 2012.

Beautiful bridesmaids

Thursday, 01 March 2012 00:00

I know that as well as brides I get a lot of bridesmaids visiting this site and this post is all about you lovely ladies. Now, I consider myself a bit of an expert on being a bridesmaids as I have had the honour of performing this duty seven times, so I know my stuff. You must be awesome bridesmaids if you are planning your hen party using ideas from this site so today I'm doing a post all about making sure you fab on your friends big day (but not out shining the bride obviously).

Morgan Photography / Leafy Couture