Pretty Nostalgic Vintage Gathering

© The Pokerbird on flickr

On Saturday I travelled back in time.  Well...almost.  I attended the Pretty Nostalgic Gathering at Kings Weston House near Bristol and luxuriated in vintage splendour for the day.

I was introduced to Pretty Nostalgic Magazine by Louisa from Duck in a Dress a few months ago after she posted a review of an issue.  I then spent a month searching for a copy in various branches of WHSmith until coming up trumps with a copy.  I've been eagerly anticipating the next issue ever since--they come out every two months--and was thrilled when I heard about the Gathering event.

The first event of the day--once I'd slogged through the Saturday morning Bristol traffic--was the Blogger Q&A with Annabel Beeforth, owner of the stunningly successful wedding blog Love My Dress.  It's been a long time since I got married, so I wasn't quite the target audience, but I found the whole talk fascinating and I'm thinking more about organising and scheduling my blog posts as well as how to build a community.

Annabel Beeforth from Love my Dress

After the talk was over I went for a wander around the house.  The gorgeous scent of chocolate drew me into the Wedding Room where I was delighted to be reacquainted with Lizzie, the owner of Chocolate Delores.  A long time ago (but not in a galaxy far, far away) Lizzie made my wedding cake, and just one bite of her beautifully moist and rich chocolate cake was enough to send me on a happy trip down memory lane.  I would highly recommend her cakes--you don't need to be getting married, either.  She can make cakes for any occasion, or just simply because you need cake.  We all have days like that, yes?

All the exhibitors in the Wedding Room had beautifully styled, enticing displays, which drew me in.  I'm thoroughly married, but it's never too early to think about a silver anniversary party... Perhaps my dress will be considered vintage by then?

At noon the bloggers gathered in the lovely little yurt--check out Wedding Yurts if you've got your heart set on a yurt for your special day--which was set up in the garden outside.  It was so nice to meet some West Country and Welsh bloggers, and everyone was lovely!  I came away with a lot of ideas and plenty of new blogs to read.

Later on I tried my hand at spinning with Jane Bissett from Kennixton Sheep.  In the past I've done a little bit of weaving on a table-top loom, dyed wool, carded wool, knitted, crocheted...everything to do with wool except spinning it into yarn.  I couldn't wait to give it a go!  I should have known that it wouldn't be as easy as it looked...

Beautiful wool and spinning wheel

Jane was endlessly patient with me as I bumbled my way through spinning a short piece of gorgeously soft carded wool from Annabel the sheep.  Spinning is not one of those skills that you pick up in an instant!  Still, I'm proud of the small length of yarn I produced, despite its slubs.

Louisa and I spent a while wandering around the British Makers Room.  I could easily have bankrupted myself here!  I fell in love with the gorgeous mixed media pictures created by Julia Jowett which melded wire embroidery, the tiniest needle embroidery I've ever seen and tapestry stitches to make incredible pictures.  We also stopped by Revolution Chocolates to pick up a chocolate ration bar, or two.  I bought a "Home Front" for Dave, which was a dark milk chocolate.  I wish I'd picked up a "Spitfire" for myself, with cinnamon and ginger, but I didn't want to look greedy!

As we were leaving I spotted some dapper dressers gathering on the staircase and dashed around to take a picture...

WWII re-enactors on the gorgeous staircase at Kings Weston House

I had a marvellous time and everyone I spoke to agreed that the Gathering had been a roaring success in a beautiful venue.  Thanks so much for inviting me, Pretty Nostalgic, and I hope that you'll arrange another gathering soon!

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