Shall I start from the beginning? I first heard about this event way back in December and it sounded so good. The theme was Gossip Girl, there would be a gifting lounge with nearly twenty brands, plus a three course meal with drinks. Yes, it cost £28, but I had never been to an event in London before, and considering my parents spent around £15 on a coke and gin and tonic when they went last to London, I thought £28 sounded about right for a three course meal.
Maybe I was naive in thinking this and there's been a lot of debate on twitter about whether bloggers are being exploited and whether they should pay for events. But I've paid for food at events before, whether this was a contribution to a buffet, or eating at the restaurant where our event was held. I didn't mind paying that much; as far as I'm concerned I was simply paying for a meal, with the bonus of being able to meet other bloggers and brands.
So where did it go wrong?
I first felt a little uneasy after not receiving a confirmation email right away. The only thing I had was my Paypal receipt to prove that I had paid. Plus, I had bought 2 tickets, one for me and my sister, and there seemed to be no acknowledgement of this. I had to tweet them to find out that she would be on a list as a plus 1. It seemed a lot of other people had issues with the lack of communication, some not receiving emails others had.
I can't remember what annoyed me next, whether it was the first change of menu or finding out that some people were going to be attending the gifting lounge without actually paying. Yes, that's right. Whilst the rest of us had to pay £28 for what was now a 'self serving buffet style dinner... including Oriental, Mediterranean, and Italian cuisine,' others were able to attend without paying a single penny. Of course, they weren't invited to the dinner party, but the main event was open to anyone.
A few weeks passed, and we received a third email, informing us that the menu was changing yet again.
'Unfortunately the catering company that was originally booked, has had to cancel with us last minute.
I've been able to arrange an alternative caterer who can provide us with gourmet, wood fire oven pizzas. To accompany that there will still be a variety of self serve options for your starter and dessert to choose from, plus drinks as originally planned.'
However, to say sorry, we would receive a VIP gifting card, making us priority in the gifting lounge.
So shall we get to the actual event?
We arrived just on time, after getting lost to find the venue. It was hidden away and not really clearly signed, but maybe that was just me being new to the area. There was a woman at the door who took our names and told us what table we'd be on. She said straight away that they weren't ready to start the meal yet, so have a look around.
On the right, there was a huge table full of bottles of drink, however we weren't offered one, and I'm not cheeky enough to ask if we could get one.
The venue itself was smaller than what I thought it would be. It did remind me a bit of the gallery in Gossip Girl, as it was all white and brick walls, however I think a nice cocktail bar would have been fitting.
Inside, it just felt very awkward. There was no music playing, no one really mingling and some brands were still setting up. I wanted a host or someone to jump in and get us all chatting but it didn't happen. I'd say there were about ten different brands, a lot less than the twenty that were suppose to be coming. Don't get me wrong, every one we spoke to was lovely, and we received a yummy collagen drink. However, none of the brands were giving things out just yet as the gifting lounge wasn't suppose to start until 6.
Bloggerslvehub made it very clear that not everyone would receive a gift as there wouldn't be enough to go around and I completely understand that, but the dinner party guests receiving priority went completely out the window.
We were told to queue for dinner about half past five, but that was just another disaster. At this point I started to feel sorry for the organisers. Basically, the company who made the pizzas had delivered them without writing any names on the boxes, or even writing down what they were. This resulted in all the pizzas being opened and passed around, making them go cold. My sister was given the wrong pizza and had to wait another twenty minutes to be given hers.
I'd say it took around 40 mins for every one to be seated. The chairs were benches (not good for us ladies wearing dresses.) We had plastic cutlery, plastic plates. Plus the 'drinks' we were supposedly getting was actually a jug of water.
At this point, I think everyone was fuming. The meal was not worth £28 as it was essentially a take out pizza. After we had eaten, we were told to help ourselves to desert, but to be honest, I couldn't be bothered to maneuver off the bench, and the deserts left a lot to be desired.
After talking to the other bloggers on the table, a few saying that were going to go find a bar, and watching a silent episode of Gossip Girl that was projected onto the wall, we decided to take another look at the gifting lounge.
Oh my God, you couldn't even move. Considering our meal was late being served, we was late getting back to the lounge and it was completely packed. There must have been some issues with health and safety because there was way too many people for the tiny venue.
We left about ten minutes after without talking to any of the brands.
Overall, the whole event was such a disappointment. We had spent over £100 on train tickets, travelling from Grimsby. A further £56 on the event itself, which was two cold pizzas. It was a complete joke and has put me off ever attending a Bloggerslvehub event again.
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