Friday 1 November 2013

Pretty Nostalgic Vintage Gathering

A few weeks ago the lovely Angela from Little Apple Tree tweeted to ask me if I was going to the Pretty Nostalgic Vintage Gathering at Kings Weston House. I tweeted back asking to say I was and wondered if someone should organise a bloggers meet up. Lo and behold, before I knew it the wonderful team at Pretty Nostalgic had arranged free entry, a press pack and a bloggers networking hour!

Kings Weston House
 

 
I was really looking forward to the day; there was a few other bloggers I knew of going and I'd finally be able to put a face to a name, plus meet some new people as well.

Kings Weston House
 
 
The day started at 10am at the gorgeous Kings Weston House in Bristol; I arrived about 10.15am and the first person I spotted was Lily from Lily Doughball - it's very surreal spotting people you recognise from their blogs, you feel you kind of know them but have never actually met them in person!

We checked ourselves in and were given a quick tour of the event by Rachel, the Head of Creative Marketing. I'd never even heard of King Weston House before but it's filled with beautiful and quirky architecture and design. The house itself is only open to the public occassionally but the grounds are owned by Bristol City Council and are open all year round. I definitely want to take Andrew there for a walk sometime.

King Weston House Interior

Kings Weston House Interior

Kings Weston House Band


 
There was a whole series of events and talks going on throughout the day and the first one we attended was by Pretty Nostalgic founder, Nicole Burnett who explained all about the ethos of the magazine, what they are trying to do with it and the charity scheme they're starting from next month.

Pretty Nostalgic Magazine
Source: Pretty Nostalgic 

 
Next up was the turn of Annabel Beeforth, who runs the incredibly successful Love My Dress blog. I have to confess although I'd heard of Annabel's blog, I'd never actually looked at it, mainly because it's primarily a wedding blog and that special day was long long ago for me. Annabel was really interesting though, her passion for weddings and dresses certainly shone through; even though I'm not planning on getting married again, her blog is still beautiful to look at.

Pretty Nostalgic Annabel Beeforth Love My Dress
 
 
I then spotted Angela from Little Apple Tree (who had actually spotted me first!) and popped over to quickly say hello before the next talk which I wanted to see - Susie Parr talking about the history of swimming.

Pretty Nostalgic Susie Parr History of Swimming


 
After that it was time to head into the yurt for the bloggers networking hour.
I wasn't sure at first how we were all going to fit in, but the cosiness soon broke the ice and then business cards were being flung all over the place. I apologise now, I was rather cheeky and handed out my business cards for my Carnival photography website as well as my blog but thankfully (or hopefully) no-one seemed to mind.
It was really great to meet everyone, some of whom I hadn't met and some of whom I'd talked to before on Twitter or commented on their blogs.
In total there was 10 of us - myself, Catherine (from Vintage Frills), Emily (from Fishee Designs), Angela (from Little Apple Tree), Lily (from Lily Doughball), Eli (from Eli Trier), Helen (from Gwen's Bridal Bazaar), SJ (from Ship Shape and Bristol Fashion), Lucy (from Capture by Lucy) and Jo (from Slummy Single Mummy).

Pretty Nostalgic Bloggers Networking Hour

After a slightly awkward round-the-table introduction from us all, we quickly got into swapping blogging tips and ideas. I picked up quite a few hints and my question about advertising on other people's blogs was quickly answered with some great confidence-building inspiration from everyone.
All I need to do now is manage to design a blog button!

 
After the networking hour, me and Angela had a good chinwag about blogging, Carnivals, Scotland and all sorts of other things whilst perusing the stalls and exhibitors. One stall was advertising the Dig For Victory Show next July at the North Somerset Showground which looks really interesting and we'll definitely be investigating the possibility of attending with Andrew's lorry.

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering


 
I also fell in love with these seaside postcard bags and purses by Sarah Culleton - one to put on my Christmas list methinks...

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering
 
Pretty Nostalgic Gathering

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering


 
All day long people had been wandering round eating delicious-looking wood-fired pizza from PizzaMonkey so as well as taking home some ration chocolate and chocolate moustaches from Revolution Chocolates, some chocolate cake pops from Chocolate Delores Cakes, and some Halloween biscuits from Mullion Cove, I also bought a Classic cheese and tomato pizza to take home and share with Andrew. Although it did make the hour-long journey home in one piece, it didn't last very long once it got through our front door and I completely forgot to take any pictures. It was very very tasty though :-)

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering Pizza Monkey
 
Pretty Nostalgic Gathering Cakes
 
Pretty Nostalgic Gathering Chocolate

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering Chocolate

 
 
All in all, a fabulous day.
Thanks Pretty Nostalgic for organising it and inviting all us bloggers!

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering 1940's Re-enactors

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering 1940's Re-enactors

Pretty Nostalgic Gathering, Kings Weston House
 
  


The lovely team at Pretty Nostalgic did invite me to the event and kindly let me have a free ticket, however all words, opinions and photos are my own. I did have a wonderful time!
PR/Disclosure Policy

20 comments:

  1. Great write-up, Louisa! 'twas lovely to meet you, and we'll have to do it again!

    It's really interesting to look at your photos and compare them to mine, now that I know you've got the Lumix of my dreams. I'm even more excited about saving up for one of my own! And it's only now, after seeing your pictures, that I've realised I completely missed the chilli stall! Damn. I could have bought some chipotle chillis of my very own.

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    1. It was tucked away behind the stairs; I only discovered it by accident!
      We will definitely have to do it again, I'm going to keep my eyes and ears open for any other local blogging events. If I hear of any, I'll let you know! :-) xx

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  2. I'm so so gutted I missed this but your photos are beautiful and I've loved attending vicariously through you! What was the bestw blogging tip you picked up?! Bet that was fab!
    Mx

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    1. Thanks Michelle! We talked about lots of things - how to get PR requests, taking part in Twitter chats, how to make your posts unique and probably several other things I've forgotted. I wanted to know about sponsoring other blogs as a way of advertising yourself; I've always felt a bit like "why would then want to advertise me?". Everyone there reminded me that I'd be the one paying though so just go for it and see what happens. So I did, I've got a month long advert on one of my favourite blogs, Becky Bedbug! :-) x

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    2. I did the same thing--I just got an advert on Sunny Sweet Pea. I thought it was a really helpful hours...it went by too fast though! I still haven't felt brave enough to apply to join one of those blogger PR networks though.

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    3. I know, I would've definitely liked longer than just an hour - it was just great to talk about
      blogging with lots of other people who understand exactly what you're going on about.

      Yay for advertising on Sunny Sweet Pea as well! That's another one of my faves. :-)

      You should give it a go with the PR companies; I signed up with Best British Bloggers (as recommended at Blognix) and Etail PR. Best British Bloggers haven't been very responsive though but Etail PR said yes straightaway. I have a feeling they might say yes to pretty much anyone but even so, I thought having the badge on my blog might make it look a bit more professional! :-) xx

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  3. Thank you so much for the shout! I absolutely loved exhibiting and just being at this event, so many creatively talented and truly fascinating people. I'm so pleased you loved it :)
    Much love,
    Annabel xXx

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    Replies
    1. That's okay! Thanks for coming and giving us a fab talk! :-) x

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  4. Lovely write up Louisa and great photos of our Wedding Yurt. I am just about to buy a Lumix and wondering which one you have? Many thanks

    Lizzie X

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Lizzie! I have a Panasonic Lumix GF5; I only bought it in May but I love it and all it's functions. It's really easy to use as well (although I'm pretty sure I still haven't fully used all it's settings!) :-) x

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  5. Really beautiful pics and
    great capture of the event :-) x

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  6. Lovely piece - your photos really capture the event! Thanks for some lovely pics of my table & bikes! xxx

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    1. Thanks! It seemed quite easy to get good pictures; everything was so beautifully styled! :-) x

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  7. WOW!!! What an amazing week!!! The event sounds amazing!!! How nice to meet other bloggers there too.
    That cake looks super, I bet it was tasty!
    I started to leave a comment on your carnival posts but my computer went funny and sent me back here so I doubt it saved! Anyway, I was going to say, what an incredible festival to be part of and the things you made were absolutely super!!!
    Tis lovely to meet you! I popped over via the BEDN linkie! x

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    1. Aww thanks Kezzie! It was a fab event - I'm definitely going again if they have another one next year :-)
      And Carnival is a great thing to be involved with, sometimes mad and crazy but always lots of fun! :-) x

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  8. It was such a great day - if I got married all over again I would have spent so much money there!

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    1. Haha, I know! There was so many lovely things there for a wedding, it's almost a shame I can't get married again! :-) x

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  9. It was lovely to meet you! xx

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