Back in May, I was able to attend a charity masquerade ball in aid of Keech Hospice Care and the Alzheimer's Society. It's been a little dream of mine to attend a masquerade ball ever since I watched The Phantom of the Opera with it's famous Masquerade Ball scene for the first time (sad, but true.) The Hospice and Alzheimers Society are also two causes which I hold near and dear to my heart so being able to support them in the process was an added bonus. 

   My friend Jemma and I decided to make a day of it and take a well deserved break from revising for our A2 exams. We got our make-up done by Anu Peacock (Anu also did an amazing job at threading my eyebrows, I highly recommend her if you're in the Luton area!) and then made our way back to mine to get our gowns on. 

  I ended up wearing the dress I wore to prom, firstly because I vowed to get as much wear out of it as possible when my parents brought it for me, and secondly I really do still love it and the way it makes me feel when I wear it. Unfortunately, it's no longer available as the brand it's by, Project D, is no longer around. However, I have found a similar dress at Quiz, for just a fraction of the price of mine (here) and Jemma's gorgeous dress (which she found far more easier to dance in than I did mine) also from Quiz, is available here. And both of our masks (pictured above) were found on Amazon.

The ball itself was held in the Lodge at Woburn Safari Park which had been decorated so beautifully by Forever Petals, with a buffet, bar, sweet buffet, dance floor, DJ, photo booth and a bouncy castle (yes, a bouncy castle at a ball, my inner child was beyond happy.) 

We were also able to go out onto the lake behind the lodge on the pedalo swans (which may have definitely been the highlight of my night!)  

And of course we took advantage of the photobooth.. 

My mother told me to never have sweets before dinner, but that doesn't count at a masquerade ball, right? 

  The rest of the night was so much fun, although the event was on the smaller side, there was still such a good atmosphere. You got a real sense of people being there because they wanted to support the charities not because they felt as though they had too. The DJ for the night Tony Dobbin, also did an excellent job at getting laughs and played all the songs you wanted to hear. Nothing about the evening felt forced and although I only knew a handful of people at the event, everyone was extremely friendly.