The best thing about blogging about in my opinion – aside from the incredible opportunities it can present – is the community itself. Although I’ve always had a passion for writing, beauty and photography, I’ve never had anyone in the ‘real world’ who shared the same interests and so in the past, my poor friends on Facebook would have to endure my (now hilarious) photo shoots, rather basic articles and wanderlust. When blogging came along, it was amazing to have a platform to pour my passions into – and equally, to meet other like-minded people.
In the past, I’ve met some of my closest friends at blogging events – so during my gap year, with a bit of spare time on my hands – I started organising my own. The first couple were fairly basic, with some pizza and champagne (you can’t really go wrong with either to be honest) and a steady flowing conversation filled with all things blog related. However last year, things took the bigger and better approach – with over 145 bloggers swarming to the amazing Paramount, Centre Point for the #BloggersFestival (post & pictures here). Although organising the event from start to finish, and bringing brands on board – was a stressful affair, I loved every minute and watching it all come together at the end produced an overwhelming amount of satisfaction that I’d never had before.
This year, with exams and assignments galore due to my wonderful University course, I was unsure as to whether I’d be able to fulfil my craving to organise another, so when Search Laboratory expressed an interest in potentially collaborating for a blogger event – I jumped on board straight away.
So, Friday 10th April played host to the #SLBloggerBash at One Alfred Place (in Soho), the work of the wonderful Alice at Search Laboratory and myself. With a chilled, relaxed atmosphere and no set structure, the main activities were provided by the incredible brands we invited along – BonPrix, Wynsors, Quiz Clothing, Urban Outfitters, Modern Rugs and Tuscany Now. Those who came along were encouraged to try a spot of wine tasting (with a luxury food hamper on offer), welly throwing, blogger boules and even to take a ‘prom queen selfie’ – all in the name of some amazing prizes!
My contribution to the event was the introduction of the Blogger Bake Off, an optional part of the day but something fun for those that love to bake nonetheless. Probably the most photogenic part of the room, it soon filled up with an amazing array of sweet treats – from Oreo Cupcakes to a Ferrero Rocher Tree (yes really, it looked incredible), it was a very difficult task to taste test them all and crown just one ‘Star Baker’! However, eventually – the amazing Oreo Cupcakes baked by Beauty Is Perfection was chosen as the winner, taking home a very generous prize package donated by Cloud Nine – brand new ‘slow baked’ Touch Irons worth £99! I can’t wait to hear what she thinks of them as they’re a personal favourite of mine!
Guests were each treated to a glass of wine and some incredible canapés (the risotto balls especially) – as well as a rather vast selection of goody bags, which although I think should never be the sole focus of any event – are a lovely bonus and fab to look through on the train journey home!
Search Laboratory and Wynsors each had 100 goody bags to give away while I also put together a bag of goodies for bloggers to take home myself. Unfortunately, the goody bags I’d ordered only delivered half of the expected amount – so towards the end of the event, I set up a ‘pick and mix’ table with goodies to try and take home. I think this went down pretty well – I wish I’d taken a picture of it though as the table looked amazing adorned with lots of pretty products!
Green & Black’s generously donated a large amount of their world class chocolate delights – in handy (and almost guilt free) treat size portions, which went down an absolute storm! Cocoa Brown tan, one of my personal favourite bronzing brands, kindly sent 50 full-size samples of their Gradual Tan, which lots of bloggers left excited to try. I have found this to be a really affordable and effective brand in terms of self-tanning, as you can build up a colour dependent on how long you use the products for and there’s no horrible biscuit smell or orange undertones! Zeo sent a very generous crate of their amazing sparkling fruity drinks, another personal favourite. In flavours including Blood Orange & Citrus, Mixed Berry and Peach & Grapefruit, they are certainly thirst quenching and delicious – and a mere 30 calories!
Green People sent bloggers a gorgeous selection of samples to try, tied together in the cutest of white organza bags, my personal favourite is the exfoliator – but I’d love to hear what others thought, while 9Bar sent over an array of their incredible nutritious but delicious fruity bars with carob, sunflower and sesame seeds. Goody bags were also filled with a selection of Jools drinks, in assorted flavours. I hadn’t actually previously tried these – but they’re really unique! It’s essentially a green tea (cold) with refreshing bursts of fruit pearls – so unusual but incredible. They’re stocked in Whole Foods and Harrods if you fancy a taste!
Rescue Remedy – who are a lifesaver in situations where you need an extra helping hand to calm yourself down, donated their amazing Rescue Chewing Gums – which are much like the original formula, but in an easier and more subtle form. I almost could have done with a whole box of these before the event started!
I’d really like to thank everyone who came along – as without you, there would be no event. I know many of you travelled from far and wide, so I really appreciate the effort you made in getting there and spending the day with me! I was overwhelmed by how polite and thankful every was with regards to me organising the event – when really, I had you to thank! I love nothing more than seeing other bloggers go home with a handful of business cards and some new friends who they might have only previously spoken to online. Although the online world is brilliant, nothing beats a day of chatting all things blog related until your voice disappears (which mine did – today, I’m having to whisper).
Alice and the Search Laboratory team did a wonderful job and without them – there would be no event either, so thank you again! I think it’s great when brands and bloggers work together in harmony, creating relationships for collaborations in the future – with no pressure for anything to feel overly commercial or too forced. This was exactly the sort of feel I wanted to go for when I started these events – and hopefully this will continue into the future too!
My next event is already in the planning process, as although it’s months and months away (Saturday 5th September), it will be solely me organising it this time – so I thought I’d get a head start. It will be much of the same – with a focus on a friendly, welcoming atmosphere and networking, with brands providing the activities if you’d like to get involved (but no pressure to) but on a much larger scale, as I’ve booked an absolutely incredible venue! I want to keep some of it a surprise until the day but so far, we’ve got Mode Media (who are the main sponsor – and work with bloggers a lot, so I’m so excited to have their expertise on board), Very.co.uk and LEGO!
If you’d like to sign up to receive an invite to the September event – or events of mine in the future (I’d love to do 3 a year!), please visit the Scarlett London Events Page here. I’m still just a blogger with no professional experience who enjoys organising them, however it’s something I’d love to do full time in the future – and in the meantime, I’m really loving every minute of it!
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