OK. We live in England. I get that. I also get that you can't plan anything around the weather - I haven't been a Londoner for over fifty years without learning
that. But when you've been planning an event for the end of July - after a heatwave - and the long-term weather forecast has been promising 'abundant sunshine' you kind of hope that you
just might be blessed.
Nope! The day dawned and we rose at 6am. The sun was
trying to poke through the clouds but a quick look at the weather forecast told us what we'd been dreading. Rather than the gloriously sunny event I'd envisaged in the church grounds, we'd need to rejig and get the 40-odd stall holders inside the two halls.
Thank goodness we did, because from about 11am set-up time until the end of the fair, the skies opened and refused to relent. The poor bouncy castle/carousel man (who had paid
me to be there!) didn't have one customer and the ice-cream van sold 2 ice-creams!
Despite that, locals braved the rain and paid their £1 entrance fee to enjoy the vast array of goods/activities I'd booked. My stallholders all told me they had a great day and many have emailed to say how well it was organised - how they couldn't have smelt the panic from me or Mr Misfit, I will never know!
All in all, against the odds, it
was a great day and we hit our £1K target, bar a couple of pounds. Would I do it again? If I lived in a country with a reliable climate, yes! I loved every second of the organisation and the
majority of the day but I can't do with the stress of weather-watching! So, I think I'll be sticking to my evening events where we have a roof over our heads and the weather can do what it jolly well likes!
Massive thanks go to:
Costa Coffee - supplied 200 cups for tea/coffee
BannerBuzzz - free banner
Domino's Pizza - supplied staff and free pizza raising £67 for us!
Little House of Baking - donated £20 despite being unable to attend
Putney Women's Institute - donated half of their takings - £88.50
And love & thanks to:
Mr Misfit - for supporting my mad-cap idea and being as wonderful as ever. Also for making 4 A-boards and two directional signs for under £2!
Ben & Kiki - for knitting (!) and running the kids' crafts / organising parking.
Elizabeth - for making 'Guess the weight of the cake' and doing a fab job of running the cafe and bar.
Virinder - for getting soaked on parking duty and general help.
Bee - for coming all the way from Cambridge, running a stall, washing up and mucking in.
Elaine - for selling almost all the jumble and making a child's day by donating her unicorn from the Tombola.
Marylou - for running the Tombola and winning / sharing the cake!
David - for getting soaked on the gate and engaging people with your winning banter! Also for organising the kitchen for our after-event meal.
Victoria - for manning the cake/dog/sweet stall and looking after Alfie!
Toby - the little whirlwind! Thanks for all that you did and for being so ready to help.
Johnny - for the muscle work, turning up so early and bringing Sarah to spend money!
Ann (my mum's vicar) - for letting us have the grounds and halls at a massively reduced price, for attending and for your donation.
Putney Man - for attending and for your generous donation.
Suzie - for setting up a table and buying nearly all the Prosecco!
'Fenella' - for your support leading up to the event and the ice-buckets and bunting. Don't
ever book a holiday again before consulting me!
And to all those who contributed who would like to remain anonymous.
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| When Mr Misfit put our signs up, the sun was still trying! |
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| Our fantastic banner from BannerBuzz at the venue - the church where we married. |
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| One DE-LICIOUS cake. |
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| A-boards for under £2! - the cost of the hinges. |
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| Hall One. |
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| From another angle. |
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| Front of Hall One. |
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| From the back of Hall One. |
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| Hall Two. |
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| From another angle. |
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| My lovely Twitter buddy, Bee, on the Mummy Misfit stand. |
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| The BBQ in the rain! |
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| Forlorn outdoors! |
