Are you looking for something a little bit different at your wedding reception?

If so, and you are getting married within the Yorkshire area, why not book the Dearne Big Band who play swing hits from the 1940’s. The band consists of 4 trombones, 4 trumpets, 5 saxophones, a rhythm section and vocals.

Dearne Big Band

Here are just a few of the pieces in their repotoire: American Patrol, A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, A String Of Pearls, Begin The Beguine, Chattanooga Choo Choo, Come Fly With Me, Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree, I Get A Kick Out Of You, In The Mood, Little Brown Jug, Mack The Knife, Moonlight Serenade, Pennsylvania 65000, Take The A Train and Tuxedo Junction.

The band playing at a recent wedding

Playing great music by the best of the classic big bands (Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Ted Heath), they are guaranteed to get your guests up dancing and jiving!

On a more serious note, as a member of the band myself, I would like to tell you about our most recent gig in Switzerland, which was to raise money for a small charity called Rainbows4children. After seeing what the charity has achieved so far, I felt compelled to write about it.

The charity was set up by Kathryn and Max Robinson whose aim was to help the children of Ethiopia, by building a school in memory of Max’s son Nicolas.

The school is situated in Mekele and opened on September 12th 2005. Since then, with the help of the Tigray Disabled Veterans’s Association (TDVA) it has steadily grown, with new classrooms built each year. Over 600 pupils now attend the school. 70% of the children are from family’s with disabled parents and their school fees are subsidised, giving them the chance for an education which they previously would not have had.

Nicolas Primary School (2008) - An extra floor has now been built since this photograph was taken.

Children in class at the Nicolas Primary School (2007)

Children enjoying play activity at the Nicolas Kindergarten (2008)

Children at the Nicolas Primary School enjoying a break from lessons (2007)

Next year a music room, library and an outdoor eating area are all planned. The music room is going to be named after the Dearne Big Band’s former Musical Director ‘Holin Hammerton’.

Mr Holin Hammerton

It was a great privilege for us to perform at the charity concert to help raise more money for this fantastic cause. If you would like to find out more about the work done, please visit the Rainbows4childrens’s website at www.rainbows4children.org

The Dearne Big Band with Max and Kathryn Robinson

Entertainment Dearne Big Band

My latest collection to add to the Pink Polar family of designs is ‘Vintage Spot’.

A current trend combining polka dots and the popular Rosewood font. The main focus is the initials of the bride and groom.

Once again, this collection can be produced in any colour, and there are a selection of colours already created.

Example colour alternatives

The full range of stationery is available for this collection. If you would like to see a particular product before I get chance to upload them to the website, please feel free to email me for a copy on jo@pink-polar.com

Wedding Invitations, Wedding Stationery Polka, Vintage, Wedding Invitations, Wedding Stationery

Do you like modern and simple designs, clean lines and white space? If so, our latest collection, ‘Bride & Groom’ could be the one for you.

A quirky and clean design, it’s perfect for those wishing to keep their stationery friendly and simple.

The 'Bride & Groom' Wedding Invitation

We can produce this range in any colour, to match perfectly with your chosen colour scheme. Our colour matching service is free of charge, all we would need is a swatch of fabric (from your bridesmaid dress for example) or something else for us to match to.

Examples in different colours

The full range of stationery is available for this collection. If you would like to see a particular product before I get chance to upload them to the website, please feel free to email me for a copy on jo@pink-polar.com

Wedding Invitations, Wedding Stationery Bride and Groom, Wedding Invitations, Wedding Stationery

As more of our couples are moving forward in their married lives, the pitter patter of tiny feet are arriving! With this in mind we are now expanding into Baby and Occasion stationery.

Our first range that we have launched is the ‘Pram’ design. The cards are illustrated with a beautiful classic pram with a fine polka dot hood. The polka dot design is mirrored on the inside of the cards which are ready for you to fill in by hand.

After hearing from several friends that they struggled to get matching Thank you Cards to tie in with their Christening Invitations I made sure that I designed both, so everything is co-ordinated :+)

Christening Invitation

Christening Invitation and matching Thank You Card

At the moment they are only available on notonthehighstreet.com but we will have them on our own website very soon.

Christening Invitations Christening, Christening invitations

Excitement is in the air in the Pink Polar studio as we are now launched on the award winning boutique site.

While the momentum is strong, we are currently in the midsts of designing a range of products for a new section, on both our own website and notonthehighstreet – ‘Special Occasion Cards’ such as, Baby Announcements, Christening Invitations and Thank You Cards to name a few.

Look out for our new designs – coming soon!

Wedding Stationery not on the high street

For those of you that don’t know, notonthehighstreet.com is an award-winning, leading contemporary marketplace for the UK’s best small ‘creative’ independent businesses.

Unlike other online marketplaces, they are very selective who sells with them and only accept 10% of applications to become a partner, needless to say we are really excited to be accepted!

We have been accepted!

notonthehighstreet.com Home Page

The site has a dedicated section on Weddings, where you can find stationery, bridal fashion & jewellery, gifts, thank you presents and much, much more.

notonthehighstreet Wedding Section

Take a look in the ‘Styling your wedding’ section for some stunning and unique ideas.

Styling your wedding

What’s more, you can even have your wedding list with notonthehighstreet.com. You don’t have to have everything all from the same shop!

There is a wonderful section on personalised products and gifts too.

Personalised Gifts

Click on the link and take a look for yourself, I guarantee you’ll be on there while once you see the unique products on offer. www.notonthehighstreet.com

We should be going ‘live’ on the site within the next month. I’ll keep you posted!

Personalised gift ideas, Styling Your Wedding, Wedding List, Wedding Stationery not on the high street, Pink Polar

Sadly, Pink Polar has lost it’s Polar.

Last week time came to say goodbye to Bonny, our beautiful Border Collie Cross, the inspiration for the company name. She hadn’t been herself for some time, we didn’t want her to suffer and so made the heartbreaking decision to have her put to sleep.

My gorgeous 'Polar Bear' Bonny

She first came to us eight years ago, a rescue dog from the RSPCA. As soon as I saw her I fell in love. She had the most gorgeous white fluffy coat, an amazing temperament and lots and lots of love to give to anyone she met. The first day she came home with us we took her straight out for a walk. When we got back home she went and obediently stood by the car, waiting to be taken back to the kennels as she was used to – we had to explain that this was where she lived now (I think she understood :+)

Not long after this we discovered that she had diabetes – I wasn’t even aware that dogs could get this. With this we embarked on a daily routine for the next seven and a half years, an injection on a morning and then again in the evening.

Drinking out of the Thames on a walk into Windsor

When she was first diagnosed, the vet did tell me that she would probably go blind through this but I never thought much more about it until a year later when she lost her sight rapidly. From first noticing that she was losing her sight, it took only three weeks for it to go completely. Thank goodness we took out pet insurance! She was taken to an eye specialist who gave me a thorough grilling, on whether or not I really wanted her to have the operation as after all he said, dogs don’t need to read or write or drive a car? I decided to go ahead with the cataract operation (despite the slight risks involved and the fact that she didn’t need to read or write) and her sight was restored! What a happy day that was :+)

The dreaded 'cone'! Although it never bothered her. She got used to them!

She continued through the next five years without a problem, enjoying life to the full, but was then unfortunately diagnosed with heart disease. With this we embarked upon another routine, two tablets on a morning, and two more in the evening. As long as we had some juicy tit-bits to hide them in this was not a problem, as most dogs, she loved her food!

She loved nothing more then ripping opening wrapping paper

Once more, life carried on without a problem, until a year later. Unfortunately, once again due to her diabetes, she got an ulcer on her right eye that resulted in her losing the eye altogether. After a traumatic recovery, she bounced back and was with us for one more year.

Considering we were given an approximate life expectancy of three years after been diagnosed with diabetes, she amazed us all (vets incuded!). We were extremely lucky to have had so many years with her, what an extremely special dog she was.

She will be greatly missed, but what lovely memories we have. The best dog in the world… ever… xxx

Me and my Bon Bons

Wedding Stationery Pink Polar, Polar Bear

Once again we are exhibiting at Elsecar Heritage Centre Wedding Fayre, one of the biggest and best wedding fayres in Yorkshire

Don’t miss this year’s event. There will be over 40 quality and experienced exhibitors offering a wide range of services and expertise to help make your big day truly memorable.

This year it is taking place on Sunday 2nd of May: Elsecar Heritage Centre, Wath Road, Elsecar, Barnsley S74 8HJ. For directions visit the Elsecar Heritage Website.

Come along and meet us in person. You can view all of our collections and discuss any specific requirements you have in mind. All of our stationery is fully customisable and can be tailored to suit your needs.

Wedding Fayres, Wedding Suppliers Wedding Fayre, Wedding Stationery

Are you local to Sheffield? If so, why not pop along to the wedding Fayre at Debenhams in Meadowhall, Sheffield, and see our products for yourself?

The event is taking place on Saturday the 20th and Sunday the 21st of February and we would love to see you there. It is always good to see the quality of our products for yourself and you will be able to speak to us in person should you have any specific requirements.

We look forward to seeing you :+)

Wedding Stationery Wedding Fayre

Getting married is a wonderful experience whatever time of the year it is, but Christmas time seems to add an extra magical feeling to the day.

I know this post is a little late but I couldn’t resist sharing the photo’s of Pink Polar’s visit to the Christmas markets in Germany. One of the places we visited was the magnificant Town Hall (the Rathaus).

The Magnificant 'Rathaus' in Hannover

As we were looking round we came across a newly wed bride and groom having their wedding photographs taken in the main hall.

The Bride & Groom

This splendid building was built between 1901 and 1913. It has a lift that takes visitors up to the spectacular 10m dome, where you can enjoy amazing views over the city. It is a true architectural masterpiece, the interior is as aesthetically pleasing as the exterior, with gorgeous grand staircases, balconies & columns. Along with the small lake at the rear of  the building, it is a perfect backdrop for wedding photographs.

The grand staircase

Here are some photo’s of the wonderful markets. As you wander around, clutching your gluhwein for warmth, you are surrounded by the magical lights, the elaborate stalls and the mouthwatering smells from the numerous stalls selling the delicious bratwurst sausages.

Me (Jo), my sister Lou & Michael

Michael at the amazing stand in Kropke

The bustling market

Hannover Christmas Market

If ever you get the chance to visit the German Christmas market in Hannover, we here at Pink Polar wouldn’t hesitate in recommending it!

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