Marriage On The Up

Weddings are as popular as ever with recent statistics showing an increase in marriages fuelled by the over 35’s! Even with the economy weak, marriage is stronger than ever and last month saw another crowd pulling bridal show full of radiance and a serious hunting ground for girls in wedding mode at the NEC National Wedding Show Birmingham from the 16^th-18^th March.

Our team were busy liaising with the press throughout the weekend including ITV Central News who captured the first day of wedding madness with a primetime report on how marriage is back in fashion and reported an average of 20k is being spent on a single wedding seen here:

http://www.itv.com/news/central/2012-03-16/weddings-on-the-rise/

Mother-of the brides, bridesmaids  and grooms were not shy in taking centre stage as we witnessed many buying their ‘total look’ and being inspired by the newcomers to the show including Austin Reed bespoke, Hobbs and a favourite of Smith & Monger - TwoBirds bridesmaid.  

Another newby Etsy showed great innovation from their head accessories through to their button bouquets and novel Wills and Kate cushions!  We were particularly enamoured with their centrepiece of a tiered cardboard wedding cake.

The new vintage area was again a draw for bridal parties with highlights including Amanda Caroline Couture (bespoke vintage headwear), Yummy Little Cakes (exactly what it says on the tin) and Miss Lola's Bakehouse (love the attention to detail of the Marie Antoinette cupcakes), Vintage Love Stationary and Rachel Simpson Shoes.... loving the ‘tilly’ design. 

S&M gained access backstage with in-house fashion photographer Chris Dadey to take a sneak peek at the great work of Severin Hubert, Creative Director at the Hepburn Collection and top make-up artist Mariam Jensen for the main catwalk show. Both teams gave a contemporary look and fresh approach to their first NWS catwalk season which is seen here on bridal blog Rock My Wedding:

http://www.rockmywedding.co.uk/a-fashion-forward-friday/

Jaw dropping honeymoon destinations from the Travel Designers were great to research for dream escapes and exotic honeymoon destinations – everyone wanted to sample the Jalousie plantation resort ......the perfect getaway. 

Best to finish on an all-important bridal note - a true favourite of the catwalk show was Enzoani at Margot Raybould boutique. 

No rest for S&M as our NWS team are already now working with our fabulous client Ocean Media towards the Autumn NWS in London from 28^th-30^th Sept 2012 and in Birmingham from 5^th-7^th October 2012.

Smith & Monger appointed to handle the PR for G'NOSH

G’NOSH is a fantastic tasting gourmet dips brand that uses only the finest natural ingredients, exploding with taste, as fresh and natural as if you made it at home – without any fuss.  The name G’NOSH combines easy-going sociable food (that’ll be the NOSH), with a love of gourmet (which is what the G stands for!).

The PR and Social media programme will support the launch during March 2012, with the intention of quickly establishing itself as the first, freshest, and tastiest, premium dips brand in the UK. The launch will spearhead the first phase of distribution through leading independents, supported by extensive ‘edible advertising’, and promotions, before embarking on a programme to rollout nationwide.

Richard Lamballe, Smith & Monger Founder comments,

“The G’NOSH team is working with one of the most exciting food launches of 2012. A simple idea, that tastes as good as it sounds, backed by a brilliantly delivered brand and fronted by a dynamic entrepreneur passionate about food. The product speaks for itself.”

Charlotte Knight, G’NOSH Founder comments,
“As a brand we have big ambitions - to revolutionize people’s snacking, entertaining and mealtime options. G’NOSH aims to excite and inspire people about fresh gourmet dips, encouraging them to share and socialize. PR and social media are at the heart of building the brand’s profile, creating a buzz and sharing the news about G’NOSH”.

G’NOSH has been developed by Charlotte Knight, a mother of two, and former marketing leader from the Banking & IT sector, who wanted to combine a lifelong passion for food and entertaining, with her ambitions of becoming an entrepreneur in the food sector. Formerly from NZ,  Charlotte spotted an obvious gap in the UK market for non-hummus flavours, and seeking inspiration from the dips back “down under”, she saw the opportunity to raise investment to create a distinctive brand for her gourmet dips without the fuss. G’NOSH was born.

G’NOSH is manufactured in Fulham London, at the company’s commercial kitchen, and has been  on sale, exclusively for a 4 week exclusive period in Selfridges, London before rolling out to other stores.

http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1121986/smith-monger-palm-pr-appointed-gnosh/

WWW.GNOSH.CO.UK

Bridal Mania Hits the National Wedding Show - London

What a success!  Packed house, celebrity visits, a stunning catwalk show and a brand new makeover showcasing the cool vintage area.

This was the place to be for any would-be bride and last Friday 24^th February saw the S&M team head down to London’s Olympia for 3 days of hard work, excitement and fun with the emphasis on ‘all about the pretty’ for the magical wedding experience that is the National Wedding Show -London.

We witnessed so many happy brides with their Mums overwhelmed and excited by the vast array of ideas and brands on show from over 200 exhibitors that we have been busy working towards over the 6 months with our client Ocean Media.....whatever the theme, NWS had it covered! 

The cream of the bridal press visited the first catwalk show followed by a specially mixed Chambord Martini cocktail....or two! We were also honoured to have iconic Royal Bridal designer David Emanuel visit whilst filming his recent documentary as he happily chatted with the exhibitors and bridal fashion editors whilst watching the Catwalk. 

We invited celebrity couple Alex Reid and Chantelle Houghton, who were in high spirits when visiting on Saturday and were immediately drawn to an encrusted diamante shoe tower on the Girls of Elegance stand. The 'Cherish' shoe from the newly launched Era Boutique caught their eye, as well as private consultations with exclusive yacht weddings.....

S&M love all things vintage and we were so excited to unveil the new area to the press. Beautiful authentic dresses  mixed with new, adorned the rails.   

Highlights were Candy Camper, Petticoat Pictures, expert stylist Zoe Lem and the Pocket Library. We can reveal new bridal trend tip - ‘The Great Gatsby’ will be a prominent inspiration for brides this year.

Some great coverage already out in the national, bridal and blogging media:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2107534/Alex-Reid-Chantelle-Houghton-search-perfect-gown.html

http://www.bridesmagazine.co.uk/blog/2012/02/28/national-wedding-show-video

http://www.aliceinweddingland.co.uk/last-fridays-national-wedding-show-my-press-debut/

Next stop the NEC, Birmingham’s National Wedding Show on 16-18^th March 2012...we look forward to seeing you there!

www.nationalweddingshow.co.uk

Breakfast at The Ritz? Don't mind if we do.

Yesterday saw the S&M beauty team start the day at the The Ritz to launch the new Yardley London fragrance: Royal Diamond. Held in the beautiful Queen Elizabeth Room and the stunning William Kent room, it was a fitting venue to celebrate the launch of a fragrance from a truly British brand.

Guests were treated to a delectable breakfast including croissants, pastries, fruit and charcuterie served by the impeccable Ritz staff before being seated for the new fragrance presentation. 

Yardley London's Managing Director Quentin Higham started off the proceeding by introducing the brand and what it stands for - flowers, flowers and more flowers - before handing over to Marketing Manager Karen Cullen and then the lovely Catherine Mitchell from fragrance house IFF who took everyone on a ‘fragrance journey’ so they could understand how the brands first floral bouquet perfume was created.

Encouraged to firstly smell the fruity top notes (pear, bergamot and honey), floral heart (rose, peony and lily of the valley) and the earthy base notes (cedar wood, sandalwood and vanilla) of the new fragrance, the resulting fragrance was unveiled to the press attendees, along with the beautiful Charley who wore a floral dress inspired by Royal Diamond.

Gorgeous goody bags included an adorable posy of flowers inspired by the heart of the fragrance. Overall a thoroughly regal event that we loved working on with Yardley London. It left us totally excited for this year's celebratory events and feeling utterly proud to be British!

Flower Power with Yardley London

Amongst the madness of London Fashion Week, this weekend saw S&M’s Katie and Asha offer a therapeutic respite to the hectic schedule of shows for a select group of beauty bloggers at Yardley London’s Bath & Body Blogger Event. 

The girls, along with Karen Cullen of Yardley London, descended upon the Jane Packer Flower School with Fei Zhang of Peonies & Lilies, Sheenie Shaikh from Just-Nice-Things, Rachel Phipps of The Glossy Guide and Bettina from Beauty Swot to learn the art of flower making.

Teacher Akira, took the group through the process of creating a simple but effective ‘hatbox’ of pink English roses, white Gerberas and lavender with the optional addition of foliage, making it look like a piece of cake and creating a work of art in about 5 minutes flat. 

Though understandably not quite matching Akira’s standard and speed, the resulting hatboxes created by the amateur florists were each their own little piece of art and interestingly reflected and revealed the personalities of the group.

Feeling a sense of pride in achievement and exchanging compliments on each other’s blossoming talent in floristry, the bloggers got to learn about the new Bath & Body collection, comprising of luxury body washes, moisturising body lotions and nourishing hand & nail creams, all infused with one of five different floral fragrances – English Rose, English Lavender, Royal English Daisy, Peony and Lily of the Valley.

Also learning about Yardley London’s first advertising campaign in 16 years set to launch this Spring and inspired by its brand essence – flowers and its fashion heritage – Fei, Sheenie, Rachel and Bettina all got to take home their own floral creations and a bag of Yardley London Bath & Body goodies to lather and moisturise themselves in an array of delicate floral scents.

An Apple a Day...

Despite a last minute panic the night before, with a flurry of snow that threatened to spoil all the good work we’d done, a great press event it turned out to be last Friday with our fabulous client SkinCeuticals for the launch of their latest antioxidant, Phloretin CF Gel.

Thanks to the wonderful Mr Chris Inglefield (BSc, MBBS, FRCS Plastic) and his team at the London Bridge Plastic Surgery (LBPS) in Wimpole Street, who were the perfect hosts and allowed us to hold the event in beautiful surroundings at the clinic.

Mike and his fantastic team at Bubble turned up trumps with a delicious breakfast canapé reception of crispy bacon & egg muffins, fruit salad cups with sweet sugared cherries, blueberry pancakes, cinnamon French toast and antioxidant-filled juices – unsurprisingly not a trace was left! 

Slightly late start to the proceedings as the remnants of the snow meant that the oh so reliable English transport system saw trains and buses delayed, but delighted at the final turn-out for the AM session which included the likes of Marie Claire, Stylist, Glamour, Harpers Bazaar and FT’s How to Spend It.

After an introduction from SkinCeuticals Marketing Manager, Jane Toner, we were all treated to an inspiring talk from Chris Inglefield. A really knowledgeable expert who provided some interesting insights into antioxidants and why they’re so important for skin health, he talked about the product’s key ingredient Phloretin that is derived from apples, so maybe there is something in the old saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away!’

Chris also talked about how the new product works in conjunction with his treatments, one of which they launched at the event, the LBPS Skin Firming Treatment – we’re already in the queue! A really professional presentation, which was brought to life through Chris’ own personal experiences of skin health and positive feedback from the journalists attending, who left with a goody bag containing the new Phloretin CF Gel as well as other SkinCeuticals goodies.

Lovely lunch at Providores in Marylebone – I think our eyes were bigger than our bellies at this point – before the PM session where we were delighted to host the likes of Red, Conde Nast Traveller, Company and InStyle, over the most delectable (not to mention calorific) SkinCeuticals’ branded cupcakes and tea.

All in all, a great day catching up with our press friends and arming them with the latest in antioxidant skin care technology. We were thoroughly impressed with the professional and friendly team at LBPS from Chris, Cassie, Vanessa and Sam, through to Shaneed, Cheryl, Mary and Katie, a dream to work with.

So, one press event down but it’s busy, busy times ahead at S&M as we gear up for the excitement that is the National Wedding Show on 24-26 February and next week look forward to hosting another press launch, this time with the wonderful Yardley London. We see a few late nights coming on....

Hot Ticket for Summer

The snow may have only just thawed in London, but here at Smith & Monger our live events team are already diving headfirst into Summer. Preparations are well under way for The Spirit of Summer Fair 2012 PR campaign as S&M’s Sam and Laurel are working hard with the team at Clarion Events to spread the word about this year’s event which is taking place at London’s Olympia from Wednesday 16^th until Saturday 19^th May 2012.

It’s full steam ahead for S&M with lots of exciting features to shout about from the Summer Lifestyle Workshop – on topics from flower arranging to al fresco dining - to the Great Taste Awards Theatre (our mouths are watering already).

With just over 3 months to go to The Spirit of Summer Fair in association with House & Garden, there’s a whole host of confirmed exhibitors and our personal picks so far are:

Areti Patmos: we love the fact these customised swimwear designs are named after and inspired by the women in the designers' life. 

Thornback & Peel - gorgeous hand-printed textiles and accessories, from deckchairs and cushions, to stationery. The jelly mould and strawberry prints are particularly fun for Summer.

Alexis Dove - we're looking forward to seeing the cute owl pendants that form part of the new collections from this talented jewellery designer that will be unveiled at Spirit of Summer.

  

Charcoal & Grey - traditional, contemporary and original handmade textiles made from fabrics sourced from around the world. Our favourites are the vintage textiles, beautiful scarves, cushions and bedding.