1. Tell us about YOU; who are you, where do you live and what do you do?

Shrinka, 36 years old, lived in London for over 15 years before moving to Surrey to have the best of both worlds, city life and country living! I work in Central London as a Client Partner in Luxury Advertising.

2. When & where are you getting married?

Our wedding day is on Friday 17th March (St Patricks Day!). Our ceremony is at Old Marylebone Town Hall, followed by our wedding reception at 34 Mayfair.

3.Tell us about your recent bridal event? (your hen) Where did you go? Who did you go with?

I was lucky to be taken to Paris for the best 3-day hen weekend in February. The girls surprised me with this weekend, with my fiancé helping to surprise. Given the timing of the new series of Emily in Paris, champagne and the show was awaiting me in the kitchen with the girls on zoom dressed all Parisian!

I wanted to keep it close knit and invited 5 of my closest girlfriends, from all different walks of my life, from a childhood friend to old work colleagues, to friends I’ve known for over 10 years from my nights working in London nightlife!

It was the most surreal weekend as it was the first time since living there as a single 21-year-old working in fashion, that I had been back. It felt full circle!

The weekend was filled with the most amazing things planned for me. I was fortunate that I ironically had shared with one of the girls what I would love to do if I was to ever go back, not knowing they were plotting my surprise hen! Little did I know the difficulty in getting some of them booked, but she went to all means to get the reservations sorted and the best recommendations reserved. Paris is definitely a city to know the right people, or it will be a real struggle especially for the restaurants and clubs who won’t even respond without a connection connecting you to them! We stayed in a beautiful modern AirBnB, in the 9th arr and quickly fell into Parisian life! We lived for the beige food, cheese, bread, French frites, and more cheese! My wedding diet was definitely put on pause HAHA!

There were also some spontaneous moments that happened… but let’s say what happens in Paris stays in Paris ;)

My keepsake from the trip was a bottle of French wine that the girls signed. Simple but a forever gift I will cherish. It’s currently on my office shelf next to my proposal bottle! That, and a surprise letter I found in my suitcase from my fiancé. 

The girls organised the most chic, stylish weekend from the moment we left at 7am on the Eurostar to the moment we left. If I was to describe myself in a weekend, it would have been this trip, I can’t thank them enough!! Champagne 24/7, the coolest and ‘hard to get’ reservations at Crazy Horse, Girafe Paris and Gigi, St Germain shopping and sightseeing, all the espressos, cheese and croque monsieur’s, the traditional hen games, the funniest laugh out loud moments and a lot of Parisian love!

4.Did you have a theme, what was the vibe, how did you choose the aesthetic?

There was no theme per se, the only real theme was for me to wear white, keep it Paris chic and accessorise with my unique Gigi & Olive items!

The heart mini veil, personalised cap came with me everywhere ;)

The girls took full advantage of Paris and wore head to toe black to compliment my white outfits. Glam with a French twist.

We also had a 90s and 00’s rnb playlist which will definitely have some Paris memories added to the wedding reception!

5.WHAT DID YOU WEAR? (WE WANT ALL THE DETAILS)

My very early Eurostar was accessorised with my Gigi & Olive “Mrs Ghosh-McCranor to be” cap and a big (faux) fur coat to look ‘bride ready’ early in the morning.

On the first night, I wore a white Zara oversized blazer worn as a dress, silver platforms, my YSL Loulou and my Gigi & Olive micro heart veil, gifted from my bridesmaids. It came out at night for dancing at Soho House!

On our second night, I did a two outfit switch up! For pre-drinks and getting ready at the AirBnB, I wore a white Arya Officiale Feather-trimmed PJ set, with sparkly kitten heels from Zara before switching into a white mini satin wrap dress from Zara, my trusted silver platforms and Hermès accessories bringing a Parisian touch to the outfit! I accessorised with a white pearl bucket bag and my trusted fur (Paris is cold in February!).

Zara has some amazing one-off pieces that’s sophisticated and stylish for a hen weekend!

6.WHAT WAS YOUR MOST EXPENSIVE PURCHASE? WAS IT WORTH IT?

The most expensive purchase that came with me was my YSL. Perfect size to throw my trusted lipstick, phone and compact mirror!

7. What was your best budget purchase for the event?

The best budget purchase was my silver platform heels from ASOS. They were a last minute purchase as a backup heel, but they were so comfortable, I wore them every night knowing I could dance in them till the early hours!

8.Did you do anything special for your group that you would recommend to other Brides?

As my hen was a surprise, and life has been 100mph since we got back, I am planning to surprise them all with a little ‘Parisian’ personal gift to thank them for the most memorable trip. I couldn’t have wished for a better hen.. the details of this gift will be hush hush as they will likely read this ;)

9.WHAT ARE YOUR 3 TOP TIPS TO OTHER BRIDES PLANNING THEIR HEN PARTY?

Gosh, there are so many but…

Number one, trust your girls! They are the girls who know you inside and out and will plan a hen that you will love, from start to finish.

Number two, always have back up bridal outfits! Especially when your hen is a surprise, take more than you need, you don’t want to regret leaving that accessory or dress!

Number three, as tempting as it is, try not to go too hard on the first night!! We had all the intentions to have a delicious dinner at Girafe, and head back after a night cap especially as we all had 4.30am alarms to get the Eurostar that morning, but the excitement and copious amount of champagne and cocktails kept us out till 3am… even though we had the best night at Soho House dancing all night to old school rnb, it definitely made the next day a little slower than planned!

10.What is the next thing on your Bridal to do list?

As we have a couple of weeks till we get married, the last ‘to do’s’ will be to write my vows (I work best under pressure!), have my final dress fitting and collection and start wedding packing!! As an organised person, I won’t be leaving that last minute. 

Follow Shrinka on Instagram to find out more about her wedding journey! If you're a real bride or groom getting married and have had a bridal event you'd like us to feature please email us at info@gigiandolive.com - we'd love to hear from you!