by Hanami Dream | 27, April, 2016 | news
It’s been nearly 4 months since my blog was announced as one of the 10 individual finalists in the wedding category of the UK Blog Awards 2016. After voting and then judging, we’ve had a long time to wait. Now finally we get to hear the winners announced this Friday at an awards ceremony in London.
I’m proud to be a finalist and, honestly, I’m so honoured to just be counted alongside my fellow nominees. I’m going along really for a great night out, the delicious bowl food and a brilliant chance to network with some amazing bloggers. I feel like I’ve won already (yes, I know that sounds cliche and cheesy!) as the process has given me such a sense of achievement.
Win or lose, the awards have changed the focus of Hanami Dream. It has given me more confidence and the opportunity to promote my blog more.
For me, blogging has put me back on a level playing field again. After being on maternity leave, I found that there weren’t many flexible options available for women with experience, knowledge and great skills. But no one knows if I’m writing a blog post in my pyjamas late at night, or if I’ve just returned from the school run, or I’m covered in snot from one or more of my offspring. I feel on an equal footing again and blogging means I can still use all my skill set but at a convenient time to me.
The UK Blog Awards have been the catalyst for me to open my mind up to different opportunities and it has given my blog a new lease of life. Since I was announced as a finalist in January my blog has evolved considerably and I now feel that I’ve honed it and progressed it to the next level.
I look forward to hearing the winners announced on Friday night. But more importantly I look forward to the next chapter in the journey of my blog.
by Hanami Dream | 5, April, 2016 | news, styled shoots
After a short hiatus (and a couple more babies between us!), Hanami Dream and Farrow Photography are proud to announce that they will be doing another styled shoot later this year.
Farrow Photography & Hanami Dream
They first joined forces in 2014 to bring to life some inspirational themes to show how you can enhance your milestone events (whatever the age of the guest). Their first shoot was based on Alice in Wonderland and they held a cute tea party to mark Alice Day (4th July).
Their next shoot followed shortly afterwards in August to mark the 75th anniversary of the release of the Wizard of Oz film. They were honoured to be able to showcase some amazing products from local suppliers in their Wizard of Oz themed children’s party.
Photography by Farrow Photography
Following the success of their previous themed photo shoots, they will collaborate once again to produce an amazing bridal styled shoot based around another well known story, The Wind in the Willows.
The shoot is planned for this autumn in the Oxfordshire countryside of the Cotswolds and we’re excited to offer the opportunity for local suppliers to join with us. So let us know if you’d like to provide products to bring our creative ideas to life in a wonderful new inspirational shoot.
The beauty of styled shoots (versus a real life wedding) is that this is your opportunity to be a little more extravagant and really show off what you’ve always wanted to do. You can indulge your fantasies. Maybe you’ve got a new product that couples won’t have seen yet or you want to create something really unusual that you wouldn’t normally do.
Styled shoots are a collaboration of like minded people that can create great things together but perhaps don’t have the budgets to produce this kind of work if they all worked independently.
Everyone works pro bono, so it is just your products that you’d need to provide to be involved. Nicola from Hanami Dream organises and styles the shoots and Sandra from Farrow Photography takes the shots. And the rewards are amazing with great imagery of your products in an amazing lifestyle surrounding, plus inclusion in all our promotion of the shoot and a feature on Hanami Dream’s blog, which is a UK Blog Awards finalist this year. So there’d be plenty of exposure of your beautiful products.
This is an inspirational and aspirational wedding styled shoot to provide images that we want to share with the whole wedding world. We live in a beautiful part of the UK and have some wonderful talented suppliers in the wedding industry right on our doorstep. So let’s show what our part of the world is truly capable of producing!
If you’re local and think you’d be interested in showcasing your products in our shoot then please email Nicola from Hanami Dream and outline what your product is and how you think it would fit in and enhance our theme. We’ve put together a mood board on Pinterest so you can get an idea of the kind of things that we’re after.
We are looking for some of the following (although this list isn’t exhaustive – if you can offer something we’ve not thought of we’d love to hear from you too):
- Accessories
- Bridalwear
- Bridesmaids dresses
- Cakes
- Catering
- Décor
- Favours
- Florist
- Hair & Make Up
- Models
- Shoes
- Signage
- Suits
- Tableware
- Transport (including a vintage car, a colourful old fashioned caravan and a barge!)
We’ll only be including one supplier from each category (ie only one florist will be used for the whole shoot) to provide clarity and clear communication.
You can see from our previous shoots that we really like close up detail shots which show off everyone’s products that have contributed very nicely – it is all about the little details that bring any event to life.
We look forward to sharing more news as plans unfold for this colloboration.
Photography by Farrow Photography
by Hanami Dream | 29, January, 2016 | news
I am absolutely thrilled with the exciting week I’ve had to round off January.
Firstly on Wednesday I was picked by Jacqueline Gold CBE (CEO of Ann Summers and Knickerbox) to be one of her weekly #WOW winners. What an honour to now be counted as one of her Women on Wednesday that she thinks have potential to grow and succeed in their industry. I’m very proud to be joining the prestigious #WOW club.
Then if that wasn’t enough excitement, I’ve also found out today that my blog has been shortlisted in the UK Blog Awards 2016!
Thank you so much to everyone for all your votes. I really appreciate your support and it has ensured the blog has made it to the final round in the wedding and event categories!
Now it’s all down to the judges and getting ready for a spangly awards ceremony in April.
I’m alongside some other amazing blogs so the judges are going to have a tricky task ahead. I’m just really chuffed to have made it this far.
Congratulations to all my fellow individual finalists in the UK Blog Awards wedding category. I’m proud to be a finalist alongside you.
So there we are – what a week! First a very proud Jacqueline Gold #WOWwinner and now a finalist in the #UKBA16. Can’t wait to see what on earth will February will bring!
Thanks once again for voting.
#proud #overthemoon #chuffedtobits
by Hanami Dream | 5, January, 2016 | blog, news
1. Pantone® announce colour report for Fall 2015
2. Trend predictions for children party themes in 2015
3. How we organised our Alice in Wonderland tea party
4. How we went somewhere over the rainbow with our Wizard of Oz party
5. Celebrating milestone occasions in 2015
by Hanami Dream | 4, January, 2016 | news
Happy New Year!
Our year is starting with great excitement as we are thrilled to be entered in the UK Blog Awards.
If you like reading our blog then we’d really appreciate your support. So please vote for Hanami Dream in the wedding category of the UK Blog Awards #UKBA16.
http://www.blogawardsuk.co.uk/ukba2016/my-entry/hanami-dream
Voting is open from today until Monday 25th January 2016 at 9pm. You can vote once a day, every day for 3 whole weeks! So please keep voting for us.
Thank you.
by Hanami Dream | 31, December, 2015 | news
1. Real life proposal stories
2. Wedding time capsule
3. Thank you gifts at weddings
4. Trend predictions for weddings in 2015
5. Why are we called Hanami Dream?
6. Pantone® announce colour report for Spring 2016
7. What if? Do you really need wedding insurance?
8. 5 essential tips for booking your wedding band
9. 1910s wedding versus 2010s wedding
10. Happy wedding anniversary
by Hanami Dream | 25, October, 2015 | news
Very proud to have won the fiesta mood board in the recent UKAWEP spring/summer Pantone® competition.
Sara from Burnett’s Boards, picked the winners for each colour and shared her thoughts on her blog today – http://burnettsboards.com/2015/10/wedding-event-institute-pantone-contest/
Many thanks to Burnett’s Boards for their kind words:
“Fiesta is bold, bright, exciting, and a total party color, which is why Nicola Jackson’s energetically red mood board was the winner for me. Indian weddings are big, colorful, (often) week-long events with a multitude of parties and red is a beautiful color for that amount of enthusiasm. Plus look at that cake – it’s fit for a queen!”
by Hanami Dream | 19, October, 2015 | news
Really proud to have won the UK Academy of Wedding and Event Planning’s fiesta SS16 Pantone® mood board competition.
http://www.weddingacademylive.com/2015/10/19/and-the-winners-are/
Image Credits (clockwise from top left)
arzimasks.com
best-restaurants-in-marrakech.com
capitalator.com
cyclehousefamily.com
dowdingshop.com
esubstation.com
fitnessfoodonline.com
furnitureskart.com
indosiang.com
listingtrips.com
by Hanami Dream | 17, March, 2015 | news
Hanami (pronounced ha-na-mee) Dream, my company name came about quite simply because of my love of cherry blossom.
I love seeing the blossom buds appearing on branches, the trees laden with beautiful flowers and then the petals floating in the breeze like confetti at a wedding.
Hanami (花見) literally means “flower viewing” and it is the traditional Japanese custom of enjoying the beauty of cherry blossoms (“sakura”).
Nowadays it is still a big event in Japan and people avidly watch the weather forecasts to see the “cherry blossom front” moving across the country so they know when the cherry blossom will bloom. The cherry blossoms generally start opening around 22nd – 26th March, with full bloom a week later. So at this time of year, there are lots of outdoor parties beneath the sakura either in the day or by night.
What a beautiful season – happy spring time!
by Hanami Dream | 25, July, 2014 | news, styled shoots
Hanami Dream and Farrow Photography are collaborating again. This time they will be following the yellow brick road with a Wizard of Oz themed children’s party. They will also be showcasing some amazing products from local suppliers – after all there’s no place like home.
Look out for the photos next month when they go over the rainbow and celebrate the 75th anniversary of the release of the Wizard of Oz film.