As you may have guessed from most of my posts, our social lives are mainly geared around the children. Whether it be swimming/dance/kick boxing lessons or driving about to friends parties and after school activities, it doesn't leave a great deal of time (or money) for adult enjoyment!
I decided to put that right recently and set about organising an afternoon tea for my family and friends. I like to do something a little different and I had spotted a girl singing group on Facebook that I LOVED the look of. I am absolutely positive I was born to be in a different era, I love anything vintage and adore all the era's of the past. History has always been my passion and I saw a perfect opportunity here.
The Doo Wop Dollies are a vintage female singing group based here in the north east, I knew there and then that I needed them at my event.
The venue I found was just perfect. I wanted somewhere intimate and also somewhere we could have a delicious tea in a lovely surrounding. I found The Parlour at Blagdon online and after a bit of research I decided that was the place for me.
The Parlour is just outside Cramlington near Northumberlandia and is just quite simply beautiful. From the moment I made my initial enquiry I knew we were in safe hands as the customer service I received from Martin was wonderful and nothing was too much hassle.
I gathered a group of lovely ladies (and 1 man) together and set a date. That was that. Everything was taken care of by The Doo Wop Dollies and The Parlour and I was both extremely grateful and impressed.
Upon arrival I was blown away by the place. I had never been before and it was just so lovely, Tucked away not too far from the Holiday Inn at Seaton Burn this truly is a hidden gem. The tearoom was bustling with people and it had a lovely quaint feel to it.
We had been allocated the Willow Room for our function and it was delightful. Light, airy and with that serene vintage theme, I loved it.
A glass of chilled prosecco was waiting for us upon arrival and immediately all was right with the world!
The lovely ladies from The Doo Wop Dollies were already there and starting to unpack for their set. They were fabulous and extremely flexible, just happy to work around us and our cake!
Once everyone had arrived, our fantastic waitress started to bring in our food. I have to admit at this point we were a bit of a pain moving tables and chairs about but nothing fazed her and she just worked around us.
My goodness, the afternoon tea was superb. There were tons of dainty sandwiches, freshly baked scones with jam and cream and gorgeous desserts, including panna cotta which is my ultimate favourite dessert.
The the girls began to sing. I had chosen the Land Girls package which was perfect. It was a 45 minute set featuring songs from the 1920's, 30's and 40's. They were fabulous and it was a perfect setting. The songs were all well known songs so we were able to have a good old sing a long, I particularly like The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, brilliant!
All too soon the performance ended but not before they had brought a lot of us to tears with their gorgeous rendition of White Cliffs of Dover. The girls were happy to spend some time getting many, many photographs with us before departing and leaving us to finish up our afternoon with a few more (bottles of) prosecco.
I had an absolute ball at our Vintage Afternoon Tea. I was so pleased with the setting, the food was amazing and the Doo Wop Dollies were perfect. It was just a wonderful afternoon and I am looking forward to putting the event together again next year. This time I think I am going for their 'Through the Decades' set list which even includes the Spice Girls! What more could a girl want?
Thank you again to all at the Parlour and the Dollies, as well as my wonderful friends and family for making it an afternoon to truly never forget.
