Hello again! If you haven’t read my previous pregnancy post, I would highly advise to do so as it holds the background story to this blog post. So as you will have read my pregnancy wasn’t a very pleasant one and all the plans of babymooning, baby shower’s had to be scrapped as I was not in a fit state to have one. I was itching to go out and baby shop, all my baby buys had to be online as I couldn’t move. I was cancelling plans for brunches and meet ups because many of my friends weren’t aware of the situation I was in. None of this helped my mood and my husband, Mohammed, could see the affect this was having on me.
Once my movement got better and I was more mobile after the previous 12 weeks (yep you read that correctly) of being completely not, he organised an intimate baby shower with a few of my friends coupled with a baby shoot. He left the details to one of my besties who booked afternoon tea at the Grand Pacific in Manchester. All of this was a surprise and unbeknown to me, Mohammed had told me we were going for a weekend stay in Manchester and as such I packed accordingly. On the day in question, I got dressed and was all ready to leave but only to be greeted with “are you going to wear that” with a not so impressed look by Mohammed. He then said he had planned a nice lunch so I should really wear something not so casual and that I needed to be quick otherwise we would be late. Now for any woman this is not what you want to hear. I had to ransack my entire wardrobe, finding an outfit that was appropriate and of course fitted and then a hijab to go with. That being said we were late, we got to Manchester and Mohammed was literally dragging me and I was so chilled out because I had no idea to why we needed to rush for lunch. We got to the Grand Pacific which I had never been to before so I was taking in the glorious surrounds and the live band which was fab only to see some familiar faces with a decorative table with all things baby on. I was definitely surprised and very impressed that Mohammed had managed to organise this and keep it a secret as he is terrible at doing so. Every surprise present he thinks of getting me is not a surprise as he reveals what he is planning to get so I am fully aware prior to receiving the said present lol.
The morning events all made sense to me now and I was so glad I had changed as I would have looked completely out of place otherwise. The afternoon tea was explained by our very nice waiter and we had chosen to replace certain items with pescatarian options. The beautiful building, the intricate décor and the live band definitely give off those fancy date night vibes.
As afternoon tea’s go this was quite fancy and I definitely had a great afternoon with the girls and I would definitely recommend for such occasions but I am going to throw a spanner in the works now. I love a good afternoon tea and have had many afternoon teas in various cafes and restaurants but my all-time favourite would have to be Betty’s. You simply cannot beat an iconic British afternoon tea filled with fresh sandwiches, scones and the bit I always look forward to is the desserts. I feel Betty’s delivers on each and the experience as a whole is typically what an afternoon tea should be like. The tea room itself makes such a nice setting and the chance to purchase some of the delights is always a plus in my books! I would love to hear your thoughts and also recommendations of others that you feel are great.
All in all it was a fab surprise, and turned out beautifully. I was so ready to finally enjoy what was left of my pregnancy which there wasn't much left of as Zakariyya decided he wanted to greet us earlier than expected.
