I apologise in advance for any swearing but oh dear Lord! In February I helped with setting up a new young/fresh W.I - Herts Belles St Albans W.I- we take our Women's Institute to a whole new level. Now...anyone who knows a little about the W.I will think jams and Jerusalem or a bunch of OAP's meeting for tea, not us!!! We make nipple tassels.
The W.I is in fact so much more, however I will not bore you with those details...in this post, I will however tell you that they are a charity and community based fund raisers.
With this in mind I decided why not host a fund raiser for a local charity, of course this meant organising it, 5 months later we have been, seen and conquered! And golly gosh!!!It was incredible.
I started around April time looking for talented ladies and gents who would be willing to help us out -some things to bear in mind it was our first ever event and no budget. After posting on a Facebook wall for performers I had over 80 replies. This meant sitting on Sunday afternoon and watching all the videos I was sent. Great fun!!! And also an interesting experience, I can now say I have seen just about everything that can go right, and wrong. I laughed hysterically at some on the home made movies where some of the girls had tripped over their props, I say props I mean knickers...knickers that had just be removed in the least sexy manner known to mankind. I do admire their bravery regardless of talent, and hey! you have to start somewhere!
So finally we agreed on 4 acts, gosh that was the hardest part....so I thought. I did however get 4 of my favourites, of which 1 performer I've had the privileged of seeing twice before and three that I couldn't wait to encounter.
Our line-up: October Rush, Tigerlily Wolf, Lady May Den-Voyage and Scarlet Cuffs.
We chose our theme, which meant I got to have a magician - Dee Riley and now music!
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| Photos taken by Dawn Elliot Photography |
So our final bit of entertainment was The Inmates.
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| The Inmates Photo: by Dawn Elliott Photography |
All of that plus our Pop up parlour - Bombshell Boutique Makeovers, a jewellery stall - Trouble Cat Jewellery and Vintage styled Photo Booth - Dawn Elliott Photography and of course chosen charity - St Albans and Hertsmere Women's Refuge.
We found a venue which was perfect, right in the centre of St Albans and a local business, we wanted to continue our bid to help local business by going to all the shops in St Albans asking if they would be generous enough to donate raffle prizes. We successfully gained over £600 worth of prizes and made over £200 on them.
So with that long list I had to get planning. I need decorations, schedules, sound, food, a dress! The list grew then shrunk, then grew, then shrunk, then grew, then...well you get it! Aside from the 3am wake ups,and there were 5 months' worth of those, thinking of random things like bamboo skewers and bedside lamps! I realised, as the hostess, it's only polite to say "Hi, Thank you and give us your money!" .... PANIC!!! A SPEECH?!??! Crap! B*****KS!! *grabs paper bag* I have to give a speech? Me???? I panicked, I planned, I prepared and I was still petrified! There's was even a point where I told everyone I was picturing them naked...I wasn't as that would have really thrown me and it really wasn't dark enough for that.
I managed to do it though, after meeting the Mayor of St Albans (who might I add is a bit of hot stuff, or a MILF as most of guys refereed to her) and being gifted flowers. I got up there and made them chuckle and clap - can't be all bad, eh! Right, OK, maybe I lied. She handed me flowers, I ran 'backstage' and fell apart. Someone had to come and find me to tell me I was keeping the Mayor waiting. I had to apologise to over a 100 people for running off like a big girls blouse! Glamorous? Suave? I think not!
Eventually it all came to a close and I still don't remember much of the actual night(not so much alcohol induced) as it went so quickly. But I have gained two unforgettable traits:- one I think I may have gained a little confidence, as someone who suffers from Body Dysmorphic Disorder and severe lack of self-esteem this is a bonus! The other thing is that I am now hooked on event organising and am planning the next one. I say organising my friends would say I am looking for any excuse to get away with being a bossy, know it all Gestapo!
I must say a HUGE thanks to my partner in crime and dress maker Emma for helping me organise, and everyone from our W.I - you gals rock! Also to Dawn, of Dawn Elliott Photography. What a brave gal taking on the photo booth and taking photo's of those delinquents - The Inmates before their gig.
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| From Left to Right: Tigerlily Wolf, Vintage Vi, Scarlet Cuffs, St Albans Mayor, October Rush, Dee Riley and Lady May Den-Voyage. |
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| Left: Me and some of the gang Right: Me in my Oh Sew Vintage dress - photo by Pyramid Clicks |
