Making an entrance

This was the first thing I saw when I walked into my fabulously-stylish friend Jade's wedding. And it took my breath away.

She had spent a huge amount of time and effort making her marquee look this perfect. All of the guests had the same reaction and it got me thinking; how many people really think about that moment when your guests walk in?

It all depends on your venue, whether it's for a wedding or a party. At my wedding, for example, it wasn't as possible, as the hotel we held it in had a short walk through a corridor and up some stairs into the bar area. Then you entered the main room - and that's where I focused on my 'moment'.

If I was looking at venues again, I might consider it a little more. But wherever your venue and whatever the event, that first impression stays with your guests.

So bunting, flowers, paper poms, lighting...this is where the larger-scale (and maybe less glamorous - after all, who likes being stuck up a ladder trying to hang paper poms for 2 hours?) features come into their own.

Insta-gratification

I flipping well love Instagram.

I've always loved photography - I am by no means an expert; I just see something I like and take a few photos of it, hoping that one will look as good as the original object did to me in reality.

The humble camera-phone isn't really so humble any more and it turns out I'm a little obsessive about taking photos of everyday things, as well as major things, like weddings and holidays.

For me (as with most things in life!), it's all about the details, rather than scenery or people. And Instagram somehow makes it all the more exciting.

I love choosing my filter, posting it and waiting to see if anyone else likes it either! And the filters make photographs taken by me while I was wearing my pyjamas, or whilst at my desk or when I was watching TV, look somehow....fabulous!

Thought I'd post a few, all taken by me; might also be a little inspiration for someone!

The pleasure and disappointment of my wedding cake

If you look somewhere below, you'll see a post on how I was planning to make my own wedding cake. And the result is shown in the photos.

OK, so completely unimpressive (despite the fact that my cake is smiling at you!). Part one of the pleasure - we hadn't burned it! Part one of the disappointment - looked cracked and neither my mum, my brother or myself (the master bakers) had the skills or know-how to ice the three tiers we made.

We ended up getting my friend's mum to ice the tiers, which she did beautifully - part two of the pleasure!

Fast forward to the wedding day.

Having been married all but an hour and a half, I was desperate to get to the reception venue, just to look at the room. I had no control over the decoration of this room on the day; if you knew me at all, you'd understand the distress this caused me!

Ignoring the Pimms on offer, I headed straight for the tables, had a quick look (thinking all the while, 'I would have done this better'!) only to discover that my cake was a real disappointment.

The plan had been for the hotel to assemble the tiers, stacking and pinning ribbon around each tier, finishing off with a specific vintage cup and saucer, complete with fabric flower.

The kitchen staff had stacked it well but stuck the ribbon down in any old fashion, meaning that you could see the joins whatever angle you looked at it from. There was no cake topper and it just looked very sorry for itself.

Cue me abandoning the photographer (and my groom) to find the specific cup and saucer I'd selected!

At the end of the day, the cake tasted amazing (courtesy of a BBC Good Food recipe - see below for link) and the guests loved it. We didn't spend that much doing it and it was relatively stress-free. But I'd be lying if I said that the photograph of the wonky joins didn't bother me. It really does!

So much so that I am enrolling on a basic course to learn to ice a cake properly! Right after the wedding, this got added on to the '40 Before I'm 40' List (a post for another day!). I want to be able to do it myself, not have to rely on anyone else and line up the ribbon right, every time.

Vintage wedding inspiration...keys

To start off with, here's an image from my wedding. I wanted to use old keys after reading an idea in a magazine about a bride who had a birdcage that held a prize. Every guest had a key and only one opened the cage. I absolutely loved this idea, as the keys could also work as favours, as well as adding a vintage feel to my tables. Cue one birdcage from ebay, a gorgeous old padlock and key, a lot of other old keys from ebay (and I mean a lot - quite a few were too 'ugly' for my exacting standards! Trust me, keys can be ugly), a lot of ribbon, 'wish' tickets and a box of Hotel Chocolat chocolates as the prize. I can't tell you how well this went down on the day! Everyone saw the birdcage as they came in to the reception and it was an immediate talking point. Everyone was seated and the waiters were ready to come around with drinks when the ushers went around, explaining the birdcage. Result - deserted reception room! Anyone would have thought there was a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's factory in there! The excitement and laughter it created was amazing...and virtually everyone took their keys home. You could try this with any vintage suitcase, storage box or tin box - just remember to keep the one key that opens the padlock separate!

'Once more....with feeling'

Hmm, this is familiar territory. Deciding to give my blog another go after ages of not doing it (see posts below!). But...since I last wrote, I have got married, started to look outside of my day job, had another two birthdays, become proficient at Twitter & Instagram, been inspired a lot and so....here I am! I was at an amazing wedding on Saturday and one of the guests I was sat with (after a few beers) started talking to me about dreams and how most people will never fulfil them. At first, I found this a little depressing but then I just felt like I had to give mine another go! This may come across as completely egotistical but I feel like I'm meant for more; more than my current job gives me. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone but I have a huge amount of creative energy that until a couple of years ago, I didn't know I possessed. Until I release it, I feel like it will drive me crazy! So, I've changed the name from Adorn to Lovelier than Before and will change my Twitter name from The Housewarming to yes, you guessed it, Lovelier than Before! My heart lies with both events and interiors, so I wanted a name that encompasses both interests. It doesn't seem to be the 'done thing' to have a blog that features both but who made the rules?! So, time to take a deep breath, stoke up the creative fires and get going!