Legitimately don't know where to start here....
I've spent a good deal of the last 24 hours explaining to people what the "Bridie Brunch" is. The response is usually something along the lines of "that sounds brilliant". And you know what? It is! One of the best experiences of my life, and I do not say that lightly.
So it all started when Aisling Keenan (Editor Of
Xpose Magazine), Ellen Kavanagh (Creator and Owner Of
Waxperts Waxing Salon and Waxperts Wax), Karen Constantine (Half of the hilarious sister duo behind
Lovely Girlie Bits Blog and Youtube Channel) and Laura Cunningham (Editor Of
Confetti Magazine, Owner of
Hippenings Party Décor Wesbite and former singer in girl band
Triniti) joined Snapchat. Seriously, that was it. They joined the social media platform (that was formerly associated with teenagers sending each other dodgy photos) and started talking to the little people that live in their phones. As
Sharon Leavy so eloquently put it last night -
" the people who live in my phone are all real".
So they spoke to their phones and people liked what they had to say. Whether it was Aisling's hilarious Beyoncé fandom stories, Ellen's adorable toddler Cooper saying "Hiiii Eeeebody", Karen squealing with excitement about a new scarf purchase or Laura's cat Mark generally being a modern feline hero - we were watching. LOTS of us. So naturally the "Bridies" started talking to each other. Four successful business women with diverse backgrounds got together and had brunch in Ellen's house. We watched from our phones and sure isn't the rest history.
And so began the Bridie Brunch. They had brunch, we wanted to be there, and so they created THE BRUNCH. When I first heard that there was going to be an actual event I couldn't cope with the excitement. The sheer thought of getting to meet these fabulous ladies alongside delicious brunch and a goody bag? That is pretty much the perfect afternoon for a gal like me. Now, throw in the promise of "bottomless Mimosas" and I'm pretty much... drunk at 1pm. I joke, I joke. Kind of.
So I'll set the scene shall I? Those who were lucky enough to nab tickets arrived at
Sober Lane in Dublin 4 for the Brunch which would start at 11.30am. This is going to sound corny but the moment we arrived there was a buzz. Everyone was snapchatting, giggling and generally having the "ultimate chats" in anticipation of the big reveal. There was a little curtain up so we couldn't see the set up of the part of the room where the brunch would be. We could however hear Beyoncé playing! It was so SO exciting. The lovely Joanne from
Lovely Girlie Bits welcomed us all so perfectly by offering us Mimosas alongside a little name-tag set up whereby we were each given a little sticker (with an adorable pink Snapchat symbol on it, nonetheless) and we wrote down our Snapchat and general social media names. This is where it all started to feel a bit real. I'm not sure I can capture just how excited I was. I went alone by the way. Totally and utterly alone. As did many other ladies and gent (shout out to Paul from
Artisic Chicks). And do you think at any point I felt like I was on my own? Not at all. It was #inclusiveasfuck as the lovely Aisling Keenan proclaimed (but don't tell her Mammy she curses).
The surprise MC on the day was Ellen's charming husband Conrad. We all love him from Snapchat and he is a serious character. A total gent and just a really funny charismatic person. Himself and Ellen are quite literally the perfect couple. It's so obvious to see how crazy in love they are.
There was also a DJ who was just exceptionally cool in all ways. The music was brilliant. "Feel Good", positive and just totally upbeat and girly. That was the general tone of the day.
The food lads. The FOOD. Sober Lane are basically Brunch Baes. Seriously it was unreal. There was breakfast Pizza like. BREAKFAST PIZZA. Three courses later and we were full to the brim and attacking Instagram with photos of little edible stars on our dessert. Top notch food and I will 100% be back to Sober Lane for more. Fabulous place!
Apart from the general awesomeness, the highlight of the day was the goody bag. The girls really outdid themselves on this one. After a bit of banter and a photo op against the Snapchat Bridies backdrop we were given a goody bag. A beautiful girly bag full of goodies. It had fabulous products in it. Oh but it would get better. The girls cleverly did a bit of a Late Late Toy Show set up whereby they would discuss certain products and proclaim that there was one for "everyone in the audience". I genuinely think Karen's dog Bailey could hear the screams of us all from his bed. We were like caged animals. Each gift just got better and better.
Before the brunch came to an end, and following the genuine actual "ultimate chats" and Q&A with the girls, there was the Penneys Bridie competition. I didn't win (rot), but that's OK because didn't they only have a €20 Penneys voucher for everyone in the audience? I couldn't believe it. Off I went on my merry way and headed to Penneys straight after, baby less and tanked full of Mimosas. I arrived home at 5pm with a Spring in my step and a legitimate hangover by about 5pm. I was completely buzzing and I just kept explaining to the other half that I literally had the best day imaginable. My expectations were high but it was a million zillion times better than I ever could have imagined.
Do you like brunch, cocktails, beauty products and rubbing shoulders with Beyoncé's official towel assistant? Then you might just want to jump on the Bridie Brunch Band Wagon. I've absolutely no doubt that this is only the beginning for this revolutionary event. It is a really organic example of how social media just makes stuff happen. It's amazing really.
And for anyone interested, this is what the Goody Bag entailed. I did tell you it was amazing, right?
Some Foundation Samples And False Eyelashes from
Inglot
You can follow the Snapchat Bridies on
Twitter or
Facebook. I'll see you at the next Brunch my friends, but in the meantime you're probably going to want to A) join Snapchat and B) Add these people
- waxpertsellen
- cunninghamlaura
- conradjones13
- aislingmkeenan
- lovelygirlybits
- soberlaned4
and sure while you're there I am traceyquinn89
Until next time,
Bridie Tracey x
Labels: Bridie Brunch, Brunch, Event, Snapchat
