The Brands: #BloggerPitP
You might have read my #BloggerPitP event review this week - and if you haven't quite frankly where have you been?? As fabulous as the event was and what a smashing job the girls did of organising it, it really was the brands that got involved that set it apart from any other traditional picnic.
With that in mind I thought it was only fair I gave you the low down on who got involved and what they sent us (plus who doesn't love a good old nosey in an event goody bag?)
Bunting provided by Interior Goods.
Decorations provided by Talking Tables.
Flowers provided by Bloom And Wild.
The Decorations:
One of the things most commented on during the picnic was just how Instagrammable it was and boy were they right - we did have a Pinterest board to inspire us after all. In addition to the cute little things I picked up like pots and napkins and all the jam jars our guests brought with them PLUS Sarah's handwritten signs, we then got a bunch of stuff gifted to us to top it off.
The very first brand (I think, don't hold me to this) to get in touch asking to get involved was Interior Goods who supplied us with the bunting for the picnic. We had 6 strips all in all and they were tied together and then to the trees to create a little space in which to have the picnic. We did strangle ourselves a few times but that was more to do with how low we hung it rather than the quality of the bunting which was of course, impeccable. Interior Goods sent us a variety of patterns from plain to striped to floral and they fitted the setting and the trees as i it was planned. Some lucky winners also got to take home the bunting at the end of the day after us photographing them within an inch of their life and sadly I wasn't one of them - jel.
As well as our bunting, Mel also managed to secure a delivery from Talking Tables, the party decoration wizards. Along with butterfly bunting which was tied to the trees and hanging decorations, we were also sent straws and serving bowls for the picnic itself and FORTY yes forty pineapple garlands for the goody bags. As an organiser I managed to wangle myself one of each of the designs and my absolute favourite is the metallic hanging garland - my office space has never looked so jazzy. Talking Tables were insanely jealous with what they sent and they are also looking for attendees who made off with some pineapple products to get in touch for a possible collab so definitely get involved with that!
Like I mentioned in my event review, you'd have thought we'd stop there with decorations but no no, we went full game and went for flowers too. Originally we played around with a few ideas of how we'd like to feature flowers at the event but in the end Bloom And Wild suggested they send us two of their bouquets and it was the most gorgeous final touch. You might have heard of Bloom And Wild before because they have such a good rep with bloggers but seriously, the blooms were HUGE and lasted so well after being unpacked and packed so many times to come to the picnic. They even survived a little fall when the wind got a bit too much. Magic.
Lunch provided by Benugo.
Only bloggers would put Mikado in gold paper cups. #Instagram.
Snacks provided by Ritz.
Drinks provided by Vita Coco.
Mid picnic pick me ups provided by Oreo.
Half time delivery from Only By Nature.
The Main Event:
So when we organised the event we asked each guest who signed up to bring a little something with them to eat and we created a spreadsheet which they all added to and they all put themselves down for multiple goodies. Little did we know at this point we'd get SO MUCH FOOD gifted to us to eat on the day and suddenly we had enough to feed an army.
The day started with a delivery from Benugo who'd got in touch a few days previous to say they'd like to give us a few things. So a few things turned into about 10 boxes at least stuffed full of picnic food from sandwiches to fruit to muffins to baguettes to flapjacks to I don't even know what. Needless to say everyone filled their plates AND managed to take some home with them because it was all just so tempting. I didn't even manage to get to half the picnic from where I was sat because it was just insane but Mel assured me the muffins in particular were pretty incredible.
We also got given a few snacks and picnic favourites from Mikado, Ritz and Oreo in a variety of flavours which we took an embarrassingly long time to photograph. The one thing I was most excited to try was the Oreo Strawberry Cheesecake flavour and what was the one thing I bizarrely didn't get to try? Yep you guessed it, they managed to disappear before my very eyes. Luckily when the four of us were cleaning up the end we found a pack of unopened original Oreos and I nabbed them as a treat for the boyfriend which he was pretty happy with. We were also kindly given 5 or 6 bottles of Vita Coco Chocolate Coconut Water which was lucky because the one thing we were short on was drinks with all that food.
After the success of the delivery of food the afternoon was topped off at 3pm by a delivery from the lovely people at Only By Nature. Turning up with a cool bag full of froyo, and I mean FULL. We had so much one of our lovely guests went and gave the rest to people wandering in the park who were super grateful and enjoyed it as much as we did! Naturally we let some of them melt whilst we were taking photos but they were still delicious!
Yes we carried all of this through London. No it was not easy.
The raffle prizes.
The Raffle:
Some of the brands who got involved with us were so generous (seriously, how they give away so much is beyond me), we also managed to collect enough for a little raffle too and with the bunting, everyone won at least one prize. The beauts at Lily O'Briens Chocolates gave us so many different selections of chocolate hampers and boxes and the guests quickly snapped them up when choosing their prizes! As well as allllll the chocolate, we also had two MASSIVE boxes of OTeas which I know Sarirah was insanely happy to win!
Just a small sample of the goody bags.
Perks of being co-organiser? Getting all the leftover Robinsons squash.
Our brands.
The Goody Bags:
I outlined exactly what was in the goody bags in my event review but I thought I should mention exactly what was in mine! Again, as organisers we had the perks of nabbing whatever was left over at the end of the day so I had uhm, multiples of a lot of these which I was pretty excited about and my goody bag was fit to burst.
As well as a discount code for my shop (yes I managed to have one of my own in my own goody bag) and all the little bits and bobs I also got 2 prints and a card from Effi's Sparkleberry Illustrations.
As well as all the stationery goodies I had a butt load of food including Propercorn which I was SO excited to get. I deliberately held off buying any in the shops for weeks so I could enjoy the gifted bags so much. I chose Lightly Sea Salted because I am a traditional sorta gal and you'll see quite quickly I am all about that salted snacks life. I ate them on the train home AFTER a Burger King. No regrets.
As if Lily O'Briens couldn't have been generous enough with all the boxes for the raffle, we also got a bag of chocolate each AND a bar of chocolate too. Honestly, they sent so much I can't cope. So much chocolately goodness. I went for one of only two salted caramel bars (Sarah had the other one) which I haven't started yet but am planning on sharing with my Dad and I chose the Cocoa Cookie Crunch bag.
Sticking with the lightly salted theme, we also got a bag of Ape Snacks each with their lightly salted coconut curls. I wasn't sure if I'd like these because I'm not the biggest fan of Coconut but they were surprisingly good and so moreish! I gave a few to my family (it was only a little bag, I'm not going wild giving away all my goodies hun) and they seemed to go down well with them too.
Firm favourites of bloggers and non bloggers alike, the lovely people at Graze sent us the biggest variety of their snack bags in so many different flavours. Unfortnuately I'm one of those fussy little people with a nut allergy so lol can't eat it because certain death and all that but I chose a bag I thought my boyfrien might like most and I'll be sure to report what he thought of them!
I mentioned on social media that I managed to get away with quite the collection of Robinsons squash which they sent to us in handy handbag (geddit) size. We had a few limited edition ones which were snaffled up straight away but I was more than happy to make off with lots of apple flavours because it's my all time fav. These will be keeping me hydrated for all of about a day until I inevitably drink them all because OMG SO GOOD. They also sent us a few full sized bottles for the picnic itself it's worth noting!
Anddd then if you thought they couldn't possibly have wangled MORE free stuff.....well we did. Not just all about that food life (although mainly cos eating = win), we also got some freebies for the other side of the picnic you might not have thought about. As well as Vitamins from Bassett's, Baobab super food powder from Aduna and a teeny tiny box from OTeas (how cute), we also got some items for the day itself.
Ready to mop up any spillages or to clean sticky hands that've been in too much food, Milton sent us 40 packs of their antibacterial wipes which as any girl knows - literal lifesaver. Zap-It sent us their insect bite treatment for those pesky bugs flying around Hyde Park and I am genuinly intrigued to use this but don't particularly want to be bitten (dilemma). Anddd to top it all off Frezyderm sent us each a little sachet of suncream to keep us safe if the summer made an attempt to return to us - spoiler, it didn't but at least it didn't rain!
Blankets gifted by Hammam Havlu.
And finally, my favourite:
The item I was 100% most looking forward to at the picnic was by far and away the blankets provided by Hammam Havlu. They are the most lightweight yet durable towels I have ever seen, they were so easy to pack up into a tiny space in my suitcase (I carried Effi's home too FYI) and yet they held us and the picnic with ease at the event. They folded out huge and we were kindly sent 10 so we had plenty of room to spread out - which was lucky given all the food! Naturally, as with any picnic, mine and Effi's blankets got stained with a strawberry mishap but a quick spin in the washing machine got it out right away good as new which is amazing considering mine was blue and white. I really want to dedicate a better photo to this piece in my Friday Favourites at the end of the week but from this sneak peek I'm sure you can see the kind of quality we are talking about. I LOVED mine and I know the other organisers and the guests that won them in the raffle did as well.
On behalf of everyone who organised and attended #BloggerPitP I'd just like to say a massive thank you to all of the brands who sent us items to use because it really did make the difference to our day!
*All the items mentioned in this post were gifted to us as part of #BloggerPitP.