Blood & Glitter, Gothic Bellydance Show!

Everyone knows I've been rehearsing like a nutter for my first solo bellydance performance. The show was on Friday night. I am just soooo glad it's finally all over. All that practice, costume hunting and makin, for 3 1/2 minutes of performance. It seems like a total waste of time when I think about it!

The evening went really well. The Attic Bar in Laverys was packed with a great crowd of alternative looking people. I was 4th to perform and then I was able to sit back and relax. Actually, I didn't get at all nervous. I felt fine about the whole thing even though I was still improvising parts of the dance. There are lots of photos of the whole event, and even a bad quality phone video of my dance, on my facebook page.

My dance went really well. I think it was the best I have performed it so far. The girls who saw me in rehearsals told me I had really improved on it, so that was a releif. One man (who I later found out is a famous singer from the old punk band The Outcasts) told me I danced 'like a gazelle' (LMAO!) Dan said it went really well too and everyone seemed suitably impressed, so I was very happy indeed. I was the first out of my group of first time soloists to dance, so I was able to sit back and watch the rest of them, and enjoy the night. There were also professional dancers and group dances too.

The wedding of Hannah and David, 28/11/2007

It's Sunday morning and I'm finally getting a moment to write about Wednesdays wedding. The biggest event of the year for our families. And what an amazing day it was! I think it was the loveliest wedding I've ever been to. Hannah put so much work into organising it, along with the help of various other people, especially Mum.

Barney and I spent Tuesday helping to decorate the reception hall, which was held in Castlewellan Castle. I thought Barney would be a nuisance for that day but he was absolutely great. He made friends with the chair delivery man, and the Castles caretaker. He put the rings on the napkins and helped scatter love heart shaped sequins over the tables.

Wednesday morning started early in our house. Everyone had to shower, including my sister Maddi and her partner Tom. Then Maddi, myself and Annabelle headed to the hairdressers. From there Maddi and I went to Mums house to help the bride get ready. The morning went relatively stress free, although Mum nearly had an anuerism at one point when she couldn't find the bridesmaids necklaces. At one horrifying moment, I got red lipstick on Hannah's wedding dress, and nearly died there and then, but we managed to get it off with babywipes.

Photos of us getting ready at Mums house.

We drove like royalty in two wedding cars to the church in Killinchy. Hannah and Mum in one car, followed by the three bridesmaids. At the church we were met by Dad, the flower girls (Annabelle & Jenny's three girls) and the Page Boys (Jimmy and Barney). They all looked adorable, the boys in their suits, and the girls in their tiaras. Dan looked amazing too in his suit which matched the grooms, as he was groomsman. I don't think our family has ever looked quite so smart before!

The flower girls started the procession, two by two, down the ilse, scattering rose petals, to the tune of Song Bird played on a harp and flute. They were followed by the two page boys. Then Hannah and Dad made their entrance, followed by Maddi and I, and last but not least Jenny.

The service in the church was held by David's Father who is a minister there. Dan also did a short talk in the church, and us bridesmaids & Mum sang a song - Come What May from Moulin Rouge.

The service was lovely, and we all had a tear in our eyes as we watched the happy couple make thier vows and share their rings. They looked so adorably happy together.

After the wedding there was a mini reception held in the church hall, before heading to Castlewellan Castle for photos and the reception.

Hannah & David leave the church as husband and wife, Cutting the cake at the mini reception, and Barney & I looking smart at the mini reception.

We stopped at the Lake in Castlwellan forest park for photos with the wedding photographer. None of us had ever been so cold before and we all got completely windswept. But the photos will be amazing.

Inside the castle we had a mammoth photo session, and I'm pretty sure the photos look like something from an OK magazine shoot.

Then finally, after all the photos were taken it was time for the reception. The hall looked gorgeous, and the food provided by the Castle was absolutely divine! I was only sorry I couldn't eat very much, squashed into that dress. We had the usual speeches, including a very funny slideshow of Davids life, by the best man (his brother). And then a bit of a disco session.

The day ended with the bride and groom leaving the Castle through an archway of sparklers, which looked very pretty indeed.

First pic from the wedding

We left our camera at the wedding so I only have one photo until this afternoon. But here it is, my sisters and I in the wedding car, Hannah's bridesmaids. What a beautiful day it was. I will write more when I get the photos.

(edit - you can now view all the photos on my facebook by clicking here)

Lots of exciting things....

I think I am currently going through the busiest 6 weeks of my life ever, at the moment! I can't complain as it's all good stuff, but I could sure do with some chill out time.

It's my littlest sister Hannah's wedding on Wednesday and needless to say everyone is running around like headless chickens trying to get it all sorted. Last Saturday was Hannah's hen party, and today is David's stag day (Dan is off at that al day today). Tonight I have my Mum and sisters coming round for a rehearsal of the song we are singing at the wedding, and I suppose to sort out any last little things. My sisters and I are bridesmaids, and our daughters are flower girls. On Monday we are getting ourselves tanned so that we dont look quite so washed out in the wedding photos, then Monday evening is the wedding rehearsal and decorating of hall. Then all day Tuesday is for decorating the church and reception area. And finally Wednesday is the wedding day which will start at the crack of dawn with hair appointments etc.

Once all that is over there is no rest as my solo dance performance is on Friday (Laverys Attic in Belfast - Blood & Glitter - £5 for a ticket or pay at the door!) and I'm rehearsing like a wild thing. Last night was the first time that I felt the dance looked anywhere near ready to be seen by anyone other than Dan! Dear lord, I hope I'm not going to totally humiliate myself. We have a rehearsal on Sunday, and I have to perform it in front of my class on Thursday night (yes the day after the wedding). So you can see how crazy everything is. I've been dancing for about 3 hours a day, on and off, and every muscle in my body is aching.

After all that is done, I'm off to England to see H.I.M in concert with my friend Caroline. I can't wait for that. And the weekend after that my Mum is having the kids for two nights whilst Dan and I go to Dublin to see Apocalptica. Then I guess it will be time for Christmas shopping and the start of a new year!

Here are a few photos of wee Barney helping me to rehearse my dance. (I'm dancing to HIM - Join Me in Death)

Blood and Glitter Rehearsal

Well most of you know that I'm dancing my first solo belly dance at Laverys nightclub, Belfast, on 30th November. Thats in less than two weeks time, so dress rehearsals have begun (despite my dance being far from ready yet!) Yesterday our teacher, Karen, held a rehearsal in her house and we all got dressed up. It was blooming nerve wracking performing in front of the other dancers, especially as they all went before me, and they were all excellent! I really felt as if I was letting the team down and I think I need to really work on mine over the next few days. Anyway, here are some pics from our rehearsal. (Mine are from before the rehearsal as I couldnt take pics of myself dancing at Karens!)

Hannah's Hen Party

Its only a week and a half until the big day for my littlest sister Hannah and her fiance David. David's stag do will be held on Saturday, but this Saturday we celebrated Hannahs Hen Party, and what a day it was. It started with a day spa session at a Turkish Bath. This was awesome. There were 9 of us girls and we spent the day relaxing, nibbling, chatting, whilst also getting the Turkish bath and massage sessions.

After the spa session we drove to the Odyssey in Belfast where we dressed Hannah up in hen gear and tied 10 helium balloons to her. We then gave her 20 forfeits to chose from and every time she completed a forfeit we removed a balloon from her. The poor girl had to go bowling in this getup, and then on to a Spanish restaurant! But I think we made it memorable for her at least. You can see all of the photos by clicking here.

After the meal we all went back to Mums house for a slumber party and facial session. But not before driving Hannah round Belfast and Downpatrick, with balloons out the car windows, in convoy, beeping, hooting and shouting the whole way round. We got lots of cheers and commiseration's along the way!

Annabelles 11th Birthday

Poor Annabelle has had two bouts of sickness lately, but at least she had a happy birthday in between. She got a temperature and is being sick rather a lot. This happened two weeks ago, and now its back again, although no one else caught it.

Anyway, last week she celebrated her 11th birthday and had a lovely time. Daddy took her out for pizza and cinema. She had lots of presents which she had to open in Victorian costume as she was going on a school trip to The Argory that day. I think all in all she had a lovely day. Here are a few pics....