Tag Archives: catherine middleton

Wartski – The First 150 Years by Geoffrey Munn Review by Tracy Baines

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The book is available by ACC, but also at the V&A, where Wartski are sponsoring the jewellery exhibition opening at the end of November.

Whether you have a passion for jewellery or not this book is a fascinating insight into one of the most famous jewellers in the world today. It was the Wartski goldsmith’s who made Catherine Middleton’s wedding ring for her marriage to the Duke of Cambridge.

Finely researched and containing immense detail this book is written by Wartski Managing Director and Antiques Roadshow expert Geoffrey Munn, who started at the firm in 1972 after answering an advert for an assistant in The Daily Telegraph.

 

This unique family business, centring on a small shop in the West End of London, is famous for its association with masterpieces of goldsmith’s work, antique jewellery and most especially those of Carl Fabergé.

 

The book is full of beautiful photographs and illustrations not just of jewellery and objets d’art but of the great and the good who visited the store over the years. Every page has something to delight the eye whether that be necklaces, Fabergé eggs or movie stars from a bygone age.

Morris Wartski, a Polish émigré  and multilingual extrovert, came to North Wales and due to a chance meeting with the Marquess of Anglesey was able to open his first retail shop in Bangnor in 1895

 

What follows is a testament to hard work, ingenuity and salesmanship. It’s a story of chance meetings, philanthropy and business acumen that has set firmly in place the foundations for Wartski’s longevity. The book is worth reading for this chapter alone – I found it absolutely riveting. A true tale of rags to riches.

What follows is not just about the jewels but the people who bought and collected them. There is everything a good blockbuster needs  – tenacity, intrigue, the fabulously rich and the weirdly eccentric. I found it hugely enjoyable and interesting but winced a bit at the hefty price tag. However, a fabulous book for the coffee table and a delight for those interested in the finer things in life.
“Wartski – The First 150 years” is not only the history of a firm but also the biography of a
scintillating society. It gives the reader new insight into the jewellery trade, the fascination of
collecting and the lives of the rich and famous. The lavishly illustrated text opens a window on to
an otherwise private world.

 

 

Affordable And Amazing Wedding Cakes | The Wedding Diary

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The craziness of the wedding industry really shows up in the price of wedding cakes. When my fiancé and I first started looking, we couldn’t find one for less than £350, and most of them weren’t even nice. If you take away the fact they have the word ‘wedding’ in front of them, would anyone actually pay thousands of pounds for a cake? I think not.

In saying that, there are a lot out there with the craftsmanship and design that makes the price worthwhile. If you want great design at a good price then I recommend going the supermarket route. My fiancé and I got our wedding cake from Waitrose.com. Marks And Spencers also do great, affordable wedding cakes.

Here are some beautiful wedding cakes from Waitrose.com

Fiona Cairns Ivory Rose Petal 3-tier Wedding Cake (mixed filling)

fionacairnweddingcakeFiona Cairn is the Royal wedding cake maker. So if she is good enough for Kate and William….

Fiona Cairns Vintage Fairytale 3-tier Wedding Cake (Sponge)

waitroseweddingcakeChocolate Wedding Cake – Gold – 3 Tier

chocolateweddingcakeIf chocolate is your thing and you don’t want a traditional cake.

And (drum roll) here is our wedding cake. It matches our wedding colours of pale pink, pale green and white. We love it and got it in a mixed filling of vanilla sponge and fruit cake.

wedding cakeWhen buying a wedding cake make sure you check how many people it serves. The website should tell you or ask your baker. Another thing to check is if decoration is included. Some cakes look amazing but the small print says that the decoration is not included. This is also an easier way to get a cheaper cake, if you decorate it yourself, it costs less. Although there is the added stress.

While researching wedding cakes I saw a lot of gorgeous wedding cake toppers on ebay and ribbon is very cheap to buy from a haberdashery. You could also make your own or get a relative to make one. Although I would not do this if you weren’t brilliant at baking. Waitrose.com also have some guides on decorating your wedding cake and the BBC also have a great blog on making your own wedding cake.

Good luck and let us know about your wedding cake choices.

Where will you get your wedding cake?

If you are planning your wedding then get your hands on The Wedding Survival Guide: How To Plan Your Big Day Without Losing Your Sanity. It has great advice on every aspect of wedding planning and lots of great advice on choosing the perfect wedding cake. 

 

 

The Duchess of Cambridge Causes Sales Of Yellow Dresses To Soar

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duchessofcambridgeeBay, one of the world’s largest marketplaces, has seen a 95%* rise in sales of yellow dresses. This has been triggered by consistent trendsetter HRH The Duchess of Cambridge when spotted wearing citrus tones during The Royal Couple’s 19-day Australian and New Zealand tour.

Arriving in sunny Sydney, Australia wearing a striking, canary yellow pencil dress, Kate looked every inch the immaculate fashionista (despite being cheekily labelled a ‘banana’ by The Duke of Cambridge.) Four days later, Kate was pictured in a pastel number for Easter Sunday at Taronga Zoo with William and George, causing the total sales of yellow dresses on the UK site to almost double during this period.

Kate is not alone in her fondness for the summery hue. The yellow trend is on the up in the UK, with the likes of Susanna Reid pictured in a lemon yellow frock for Good Morning Britain as well as Hollywood sweetheart Emma Stone, who wore a fiery full-length yellow gown to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 premiere in London, last week.

In addition, sales of both floral (+94%)** and green dresses (+88%)*** spiked hugely overnight from the moment Kate was pictured wearing these styles during the tour.

eBay spokesperson, Laura Wilkinson-Rea comments, “The Duchess of Cambridge’s wardrobe undeniably affects what’s in when it comes to style-hunting on eBay, with sales consistently skyrocketing after she is photographed in the latest trend.

2013 In Brief

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January

Rail fares rise by 4.3 per cent in the UK, It is revealed that Jimmy Savile is the UK’s most prolific sex offender, making a scandal that rumbles on for the rest of the year. Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland are forced to remove ‘beef’ products that are contaminated by horse meat. Barack Obama is inaugurated for his second term as US president.

February

The skeleton of King Richard III is discovered under a Leicester car park. He promptly wins hide and seek winner of 1485, Pope Benedict XVI resigns, the first ever pontiff to do so, The House of Commons votes in favour of legislation to introduce same-sex marriage by 400 votes to 175, Oscar Pistorius is charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria. He says he shot her because he thought she was a burglar. Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence win Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the Oscars. Argo wins best film.

March

After having cancer for over a year, Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, dies at the age of 58, After a nuclear test, UN Security Council passes strict new sanctions against North Korea, 76-year-old Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio becomes the 266th pontiff, Amanda Knox is acquitted of the murder of Meridith Kercher on appeal by Italy’s supreme court.

April

Margaret Thatcher dies aged 87 after a stroke. She was prime minister from 1979 to 1990 and is still the UK’s only female prime minister, Nicolas Maduro becomes Venezuelan president. He is a former bus driver and remains down-to-earth, the 117 Boston marathon is bombed, killing five people and injuring a further 264. An eight-storey building collapses in Bangladesh. It kills 1,129 people and injures another 2,515. Primark and Walmart, are just two of the big brands it produced clothes for.

Angelina Jolie has breasts removed.

May

James McCormick is sent to prison for selling fake bomb detectors. The UN and Iraqi security forces were just two of his buyers, Amanda Berry escapes the clutches of Ariel Castro who had held her captive in his home in Cleveland, Ohio, since 2003 along with two other women and a child, Sir Alex Ferguson retires, Angelina Jolie reveals that she had a double mastectomy, A 295mph tornado strikes Moore, Oklahoma, killing 23 people, Lee Rigby, who was a Drummer of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, is murdered near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, Southeast London, creating shockwaves around the world at the brutality of his murder. His killers are later shot by the police but survive to be charged.

June

Details of the NSA surveillance programme are leaked and published. They show that Apple, Google, and Microsoft all allow the NSA direct access to their servers. The papers are published by The Guardian and The Washington Post. Edward Snowden later reveals himself as the source and takes refuge in Hong Kong, Charles Saatchi is photographed with his hands around wife Nigella Lawson’s throat, they separate and their divorce turns ugly, Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, is forced to step down, Protests across Egypt call for the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi.

July

Mark Carney becomes the new Governor of the Bank of England, President Mohamed Morsi is deposed in a military coup, Andy Murray becomes the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936, George Zimmerman is acquitted over the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, Same-sex marriage becomes legal in England and Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge welcome their first child, Prince George of Cambridge.

August

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos buys The Washington Post for $250m, Edward Snowden is temporarily granted asylum in Russia, Physiologist Mark Post creates the first bovine stem cells lab-grown burger, Supporters of disposed President Morsi are massacred by the security services In what the Human Rights Watch describe as “the most serious incident of mass unlawful killings in modern Egyptian history”, Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning is sentenced for giving confidential government information to WikiLeaks, he gets 35 years imprisonment, The badger cull begins in Somerset and Gloucestershire, Over 1,429 people are killed in chemical attacks in Damascus. Secretary of State John Kerry calls it a “moral obscenity”

September

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee backs military action against Syria, Greenpeace activists are arrested by Russian authorities in the Barents Sea. They become known as The Arctic 30 and a campaign for their release begins, Sixty-two people are killed and another 170 are wounded when Al-Shabaab militants attack the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, Ed Miliband goes to war against the Daily Mail after it describes his late father as “the man who hated Britain”.

October

A boat carrying migrants from Libya sinks off the Italian island of Lampedusa killing 359 people, The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons win the The Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded to Peter Higgs and Francois Englert for their discovery of the Higgs boson, otherwise known as the God Particle, There is a breakthrough in the cure for Alzheimer’s disease after the discovery of a drug-like compound which halts brain cell death in mice, The Royal Mail floats and shares are oversubscribed.

November

Storms cause damage all over the UK, Typhoon Haiyan hits the Philippines, killing over 6000 people, Former chairman of the Co-operative Bank, Paul Flowers, is caught in a sting buying crystal meth and crack cocaine by a newspaper, First members of the Arctic 30 are released, Lostprophets lead singer Ian Watkins pleads guilty to child sex charges. Ten people are killed after a helicopter crashes into the Clutha bar in Glasgow.

Nadezhda_Tolokonnikova_(Pussy_Riot)_at_the_Moscow_Tagansky_District_Court_-_Denis_Bochkarev

December

Nelson Mandela dies aged 95, Jang Song-Thaek, uncle of Kim Jong-un is executed, The UN makes a £4bn aid appeal for Syria its biggest ever appeal, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs dies aged 84, The ceiling of the London’s Apollo Theatre collapses, injuring 92 people. The acting world mourns as Peter O’Toole and Joan Fontaine die. The Pussy Riots are released.

Duke and Duchess Attend Sky 3D Premiere

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TRHs The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined selected guests tonight at the Natural History Museum for a gala preview screening of David Attenborough’s Natural History Museum Alive 3D.

The Duchess wore an Alice Temperley dress for the evening, which was her first in her role as Patron of the Museum.

katemiddlton

The Duke and Duchess met Sir David Attenborough and Dr Michael Dixon, Director of the Museum, before enjoying the 3D film, which airs at 6.30pm on New Year’s Day on Sky 3D and in 2D on Sky 1 HD.

Among the audience for the screening were Stephen Dillane, Natasha Kaplinksy, Annabel Croft and Bruce Parry. They were joined by other supporters of the Museum and Sky staff and investors.

After the premiere screening, Sky News anchor Dermot Murnaghan hosted a Q&A with Sir David Attenborough, Dr Paul Barrett, Natural History Museum dinosaur researcher, Anthony Geffen, CEO of Atlantic Productions, and Celia Taylor, Head of Factual Programmes at Sky.

Kate Middleton & David Attenborough

Dr Michael Dixon, Director of the Natural History Museum said;

‘It was a real pleasure to welcome The Duchess of Cambridge as our Patron, and The Duke of Cambridge as an old friend of the Museum to this event. Tonight’s premiere was our first chance to share this innovative Sky 3D film, which builds on our long friendship with David Attenborough and explores our collections as never before.’

In this ground-breaking film, Attenborough takes us on a journey through the Natural History Museum in a compelling tale of discovery, adventure and magic. State-of-the-art CGI, 3D technology, science and research combine in the film to bring the museum’s now long-extinct inhabitants to life.

As the doors are locked and night falls, Attenborough stays behind and meets some of the most fascinating extinct creatures which come alive in front of his eyes; dinosaurs, ice age beasts and giant reptiles.

Some of the resurrected beasts include Diplodocus, the famous dinosaur that welcomes visitors to the Museum’s Central Hall; the Moa, a long-extinct giant flightless bird; Gigantophis, a snake that grew up to 36 metres around 40 million years ago and the Archaeopteryx, one of the earliest known birds that had features of a dinosaur.

The 3D film was produced by Colossus Productions, a joint venture between Atlantic Productions and Sky 3D, in collaboration with the Natural History Museum.

The film is a collaboration between Natural History Museum scientists, Sky 3D and Colossus Productions. Produced by a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning team, the film was shot by the same 3D team behind recent cinema release Gravity with visual effects produced by a team whose combined credits include the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises.

This film builds on the Museum’s long relationship with Sir David, and presents the Museum a unique opportunity to bring to life some of the extinct inhabitants of its world-class collection. Partnering with Sky 3D and Colossus in this way enables the Museum to reach an even larger audience with the wonders of the natural world.

David Attenborough commented: ‘I have been coming to the Natural History Museum since I was a boy. It’s one of the great places to come to learn about natural history. In this film we have the technology to bring back to life some of the most romantic and extraordinary extinct creatures that can be conceived; some are relatively recent animals like the dodo, others older like the dinosaurs, and some we only know through fossil evidence. Using our current scientific knowledge, this film brings these creatures alive allowing me to look at some of the biggest questions surrounding them. I hope that it will make people think about these extinct creatures differently and bring the Museum to life in a new and exciting way.

Carole Middleton wears Catherine Walker & Co at Royal Christening

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Carole Middleton continues to make the right fashion steps. The British Couture House Catherine Walker & Co was chosen by Carole Middleton for her outfit worn at the christening of her grandson HRH Prince George of Cambridge today.

The tailored piece by Catherine Walker & Co, the Iris coatdress, is made in navy, superfine merino wool. Its elegant lines are enhanced by insets panels of chalk grey silk at the sides mounted with a delicate navy floral Calais lace.Carole Middleton, Catherine Walker, Prince George, Christening

Is Getting Married An Achievement? | Weddings

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wedding diary, engagement, engagement ring, getting married, planning a wedding, marriage, engagement,I feel I am about to kick up a feminist hornet’s nest. Or maybe just a hornet’s nest generally. As marriage is now far from being the done thing it has become something else: controversial. Marriage used to be common, most people did it and to not be married was frowned upon. The face of marriage has changed and it may have taken until 2013 for same-sex marriage to be legal in Britain, but finally it is. (For same-sex couples marriage really is an achievement)

But let’s get back to the case in point. Is getting married an achievement? It is certainly one of life’s milestones. A marker for growing up and going into the next stage of your life.  In the current issue of Red Magazine (November 2013) writer Emma Barnett wrote in an article titled, ‘Who’s Afraid Of The F-Word’, that at a mentoring morning at The London Eye she was asked to say something cool about herself. She spotted her soon-to-be wedding venue and said,”I’m getting married in that building next month.” Glowering from a fellow mentor ensued and she reprimanded Barnett for using ‘getting married’ as an inspirational thing for young women. “How was that a good example?” the woman hissed. I am with Emma Barnett on this. Some lightheartedness is needed. It is completely okay, and completely feminist to personally think that getting married is inspirational.

At an event recently I was in a circle with lots of other women. We all had to list our achievements and say what we wanted in the future. Most of the women wanted to be married with kids and have their own business. So maybe this is a gender thing. Women still want to have it all.

Let’s use work as a metaphor: you go on dates (job interviews) and meet people. After the preliminary stage you start to date (the trial basis) then you become girlfriend and boyfriend. If both are compatible and work well together they become a partnership (marriage). If marriage isn’t an achievement, then finding someone to marry certainly is. After all; the dating industry is worth over £2 billion.

During the hype of The Royal Wedding it is fair to say that I, along with my female friends, were looking at how happy Kate Middleton looked and wondering when our boyfriends would propose. After all Kate had waited years for William to propose, gaining the nickname ‘Waity Katy’ by the press during that time. Everyone felt sorry for this long-suffering royal girlfriend. But didn’t she have the last laugh? Beaming in the engagement photo, you can’t say she did not have a look of achievement on her face, and a wedding watched by billions of people which cost millions. (Taxpayers millions but that’s another matter) It is fair to say that 2011 was the year that women stated to rethink marriage. Almost as a lifestyle aspiration. Or at least their feet dragging boyfriends. Who wants to be someone’s girlfriend when you can be their wife? Quite a few people I am sure, but no female I actually know. To be fair to my now fiancee, in 2011 we had only been dating for a year.

For the cynical and anti-marriage of you I will make it easier to not to get annoyed. After all of the bad dates, dodging of wandering hands, tears over inappropriate men (or women. Whichever is your ticket) what I will say is that finding someone to love and who loves you back is an achievement, and finding the love of your life even more so. Which brings me on to my main point: When I asked my friends whether marriage was an achievement this is what they had to say:

Paul Harrison Dakers; Staying married is an achievement – getting married is easy . . . . .

John Nelson; Depends on how smooth, fun and enjoyable the experience of the wedding vs. going through the ritual and the costs creating stress. Also, I would argue that the getting married part is much easier than keeping the marriage healthy and happy ’till death do you part. Now THAT is the challenge

Shimelle Laine ‏@glittershim: @Balavage my biggest wonder about it all has been that I spent 28 years of my life thinking I would never want to marry. Never say never! I love being married but can’t think that *getting* married is the achievement. Staying happy forever, perhaps that.

‏@threestain @Balavage: it is an achievement to get through the planning. And a blessed relief to be married. And fun :)

So it would seem that finding The One is an achievement and staying married is an achievement and so is planning and getting through the actual wedding. But just getting married is just getting married.

Personally, to me getting married is an achievement. I never thought I would find The One. I never used to even want to get married, too much of a career girl. But I am now older and wiser. I know that you can have a career and a personal life, and more importantly, I know that the latter is much more important than the former; while women thought for years to have our place in the workforce, this doesn’t mean we have to forsake everything else and see marriage and babies as old fashioned things our mothers did. A career will never keep you warm at night. But this is just my opinion. Everyone is different. For me marriage is like sex: you don’t want to do it just for the sake of it, only with the right person at the right time.

What do you think?

If you are getting married then check out my wedding planning book. It tells you all you need to know about planning weddings.

 

Bonkers for Babies: ShopStyle Expert Picks the Best of the Net for Baby Showers

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royalbabyshower, duchess of cambridge, kate middleton, baby shower, alison jackson, picture, Everyone has gone bonkers for babies thanks to the impending royal birth and with a national baby boom occurring, according to the Office of National Statistics, expect a few more Baby Shower invitations in your inbox.

 

To lessen the stress of present-buying, Caroline Green from ShopStyle, the UK’s largest style search engine, has been tracking the best and least expected online retailers for imminent arrivals and new mums. Here are her Best of the Net:

 

1)      Great Little Trading Company

Their beautifully curated collection of toys, accessories, furniture and bedding is always on trend. We love their selection of garden games!

2)      Mamas & Papas

Their selection of nursery interiors is gorgeous! Check out the moses baskets – practical and pretty.

3)      AlexandAlexa

They have an incredible array of kids’ designer labels. From Ralph Lauren to Catimini to Belle and Boo, there is something for everyone. Look out for the Mini Melissa Watermelon sandals – they’re so cute!

4)      Mothercare

Shopping for a first-time parent? Mothercare offers a great selection of baby gifts – from tiny newborn hats and socks to crib mobiles and bottle warmers, it’s where new parents go to stock up on the basics.

5)      Harrods

Where else will you get a cashmere teddy bear?

 

From high end to unique and quirky gifts, everyone is catered for, so there is no need to go gaga!