A Galentines Brunch {Hen Party Inspiration}

If you're looking for a little hen party inspiration with a touch of class - then this gorgeous Galentine's Day brunch from Rebecca K. Events is just the thing for you. The lovely Rebecca. along with Jen from Jennifer's Paper, hosted this brunch for a group of wedding industry ladies to celebrate Galentine's Day, but there's no reason why you couldn't recreate something like this for a stylish hen celebration, or even for a day-after-the-wedding hangover brunch with your family and close friends. Although there aren't any rules when it comes to colour palettes for a wedding day, it definitely feels like you can be a little more 'free' when it comes to a party or event like a hen do, so I'm totally loving the bold pinks and oranges, combined with that striking monochrome floor and plush velvet seating - 116 Pall Mall - is such a gorgeous venue. I think you're going to love the florals, the quirky place settings and the quotes from inspiration women. This brunch really does have the feel good factor...

Rebecca from Rebecca K. Events: 2018 has been declared as the "Year of the Woman!". With an industry full of such amazing ladies, but unfortunately little time to always meet up, myself and Jen from Jennifer's Paper started brainstorming about throwing a little party during the slower time of January. We thought it was a wonderful reason to gather together and form a community over being competitive. Celebrating the achievements we have all made no matter how small or how large and talking about the struggles it also takes being a self employed girl boss, loving what we all do, but sharing and learning from struggles and mistakes. We decided to host a "Galentine's Strong Women" brunch with a small intimate group of London based wedding industry ladies. As the name suggests, Galentine's is a day to celebrate female friendships and gather your favourite gals together. Our aim was to toast to 2018 with a ladies filled brunch and lots of chit chat. We wanted the morning to be bright and fun and after speaking to everyone who attended, I think we all left feeling a little more pep in our step! The brunch was held in Cafe Duke, located at 116 Pall Mall, the gorgeously restored Grade 1 listed building in the heart of London. The entire venue is available to hire for weddings and we felt that the cafe was a bit of a hidden gem, and perfect for a casual ladies brunch. With the checked floors and the marble table tops, it makes you feel as if you have stepped into a French brasserie in Paris! We wanted the overall look and feel to reflect modern and bright and playful. With the a wonderful list of suppliers, Jen and I put together a modern Valentine's theme for the modern stylish ladies that we all are! As guests entered the cafe we wanted to make sure that people could network in an easy relaxed environment. A lot of the guests were people who we felt like we knew through instagram, but had never actually met in real life! Instead of creating name badges, we had guests name and social media handle on a straw that they could use for the brunch cocktail "The Ginger Spice". It was a great way to make conversation! We created a small lipstick station that represented one item that we believe represents a lot strong, powerful women...a BOLD lip. Birchbox UK provided us with bold lip colours that we displayed with photos of powerful women all rocking a bright lip; Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey, Sophia Amoruso, Sarah Blakely, among others. As the quote says, "Give a girl the right lipstick and she can rule the world!".

The brunch featured delicious and healthy items including a make your own granola bowl, fresh berry beetroot smoothies, assorted breakfast toasts amongst other items that we find on some of our favourite brunch spots in the city. We ended the brunch with a mix of sweets from Laduree and assorted Galentines chocolates to spread the love around. We wanted to carry the theme of strong women throughout the brunch. We set the table with placemats that Jen created, instead of covering the gorgeous table with a linen {bespoke placemats, one of my favourite things!}. We hired a few pieces from Classic Crockery that really stood out in the setting such as the amazing black cutlery. On top of the chargers we purchased a beautiful pink plate from IKEA and had Pale Press write each guests name on their place settings, these acted as their place card and a gift to take home. Each guests chair had an important historic women quote hanging from the chair with a little piece of history about them sitting on the chair. It was a nice reminder to all of us of the fantastic things that women are doing and have done over time. Blue Sky flowers created an amazing splash of pink and peach flowers scattered throughout the table and the venue which was a perfect addition to the bright and modern style! Life is busy and many of us wedding industry women have little ones, a husband, another business or another job. We have busy lives and sometimes are not able to make enough time to meet up and connect with women in our industry. I am so excited that we took the time to celebrate with an amazing group of women in a gorgeous location styled by a wonderful group of creatives! Cheers to Galentines!