So, we have shown you what went on in London and in the Midlands. It simply remains to show you the fab time had by all in Manchester. Thank you to Alison Forster of Perfect Ally for organising it and sending us this write up…..

So on this day on September 26^th 2012, leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg and his wife Miriam visited Brighton Aldridge Community Academy during their party’s annual conference; horrendous storms hit part of the UK, more than 75 severe weather warnings were in place, mainly in the north of England.

Did this stop the UKAWP northern members attending the annual Mix and Mingle I hear you ask? No…………  we came out in force and what a fabulous evening we had.

This year we decided that we wanted to host our evening right in the heart of the North; Manchester and what better place to host the evening than one of Manchester’s finest Boutique Hotels Great John Street.

The hotel was originally a Victorian school house so was a perfect choice for us naughty school girls to cause havoc; incidentally nobody ended up in the ‘Headmaster’s Office.

The evening commenced in the Hotels Library with drinks and nibbles being kindly provided by Great John Street Hotel. We were then led on a grand tour of this eclectic hotel by Wedding and Events co-ordinators Brownwen Wood and Jessica Griffin. We certainly had some fun in the ‘Boys and Girls’ classrooms.

Unfortunately it was a ‘wet’ break so we were unable to go out and play in the ‘Roof Top Playground’…….

Therefore we all retreated to the ‘Library’ for more school mayhem…

We then had the Pièce de résistance – cake, but oh no!! not just any old cake…..

Butterflies & Angels ,Chocolatiers & Cake Designers surpassed themselves when they kindly offered to design us a cake especially for the Mix and Mingle evening. Little did I know that this tiny tiny cake!!!!! Made in white chocolate with a chocolate mud cake filling with raspberry ganache and raspberry coulis, adorned with golden skulls and tiny black Victorian cameo brooches would be this delicious and this big…….. Wow!!!!!

After stuffing our faces with tea and cake which was so expertly sliced by our very own gorgeous Andrea Swift from ‘Fabulous Days’ we had a demonstration and talk about the latest 2013 make up trends from ‘Flossy & Leigh, make up artists. Phoebe ‘Flossy’ Caramitsos and Amy Leigh Crank certainly wowed us with their expertise and flawless tales and showcasing some key hair trends using accessories supplied by ‘Eleventh Heaven’.

After catching up with everyone and passing on the high’s and lows of the season we had a final surprise……

Bronze medallist at London 2012 Para Olympian Natalie Waddon, Natalie competed for Paralympics in Beijing 2008, Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 and gold medal in the 200m Individual Medley in Athens.

Natalie wowed us all with her London 2012 Olympic medal and her future plans of becoming a wedding planner. So watch out Natalie’s going to be diving into the deep end very time soon.

Christine and her partner from ’Christine Harrison Photography’ were roped in to bring their cameras along so I owe them a massive thank you for tirelessly snapping and capturing it all for me to share with you.

And finally after much cake, champagne and make-up what more could a girl ask for? Oh yes! Goody bags….. filled with an abundance of gorgeous beauty products supplied by Great John Street Hotel, sample stationery by Love Story Stationery, thank you cards by Dragonfly Couture Stationers, CD by the fabulous Groove 54.  Great John Street Hotel, part of the Eclectic Hotel group is one of my favourite places in the city, not only was the decor fabulous, but the refreshments were delicious and the service was brilliantly organised – I can’t wait to organise the next one with them. If you’re ever in Manchester and want to treat yourself to staying somewhere nice, definitely check them out. The rooms are seriously decadent.