Reflecting on 2025

Better late than never, I was trying to get this posted whilst still in January! Thankfully, it’s the month that has dragged on for an eternity. I’ve done my yearly review since 2013, and quite selfishly, they are great to look back on! 2025 was quite the big year; it was the year I became a fianceé and also visited 9 countries. I don’t think I anticipated ending the year knee deep in wedding planning!

January

2025 started with an incredible trip to Iceland, which Stefan had booked as part of my 30th Birthday present. I won’t lie, Iceland has never really been on my radar, but it really felt like a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We experienced it with a sheet of snow, making it ever so magical. During our time in Iceland, we went on the Golden Circle Tour & the South of Iceland Tour. Both of which I would really recommend, but seeing a glacier in real life was incredible. The Sky Lagoon was also another place I would seriously recommend.

February

February started with a trip over to my favourite place in the world, Orlando, Florida, with my Mum. We went for 9 days and managed to do so much between Universal Studios and Walt Disney World. We actually managed to get our flights with Virgin Points, which you can read more about how to travel for free with Virgin Atlantic. It’s been a while since my Mum had been to Florida, so it was lovely to go with her.

March

Starting another month off with a 10/10 Sunday Roast at Butler Whites in Hull. Highly recommend and would love to revisit very soon! Then things got super exciting as I saw Sabrina Carpenter at the Co-op Live, attended my friend’s charity ball and THEN went to the C2C Festival in Glasgow to see Lainey Wilson – all in one weekend! It was truly the best weekend. 2025 was truly the year of supporting the girly pop music.

April

April was another fun month, kicking off with being asked to be my bestie’s Maid of Honour. It was then my Mum’s 60th, which I had planned a big party and celebrated for pretty much the whole month. I do think I could be a party planner if I really set my mind to it, as I just love doing it all. This month’s Sunday Roast was the amazing platter at Miller & Carter in York.

May

May was a pretty big month, filled with lots of amazing food, a few blogging events and one big trip. I had a girly weekend in Leeds, also filled with delicious food and attended the opening of Boardroom in Beverley. Walter also needed surgery right before our big holiday, so that was quite a stressful time. Turns out I don’t do well with Walter suffering, and Walter doesn’t do well with keeping bandages on.

Stefan and I then headed down to London, where we seemed to spend the whole time panic shopping for our holiday and fitted in a trip to Flat Iron. We then flew from Gatwick to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. I was absolutely beside myself about visiting the Caribbean and having 10 nights in all-inclusive heaven at Secrets Royal Beach. We even had our own butler!

Read more: Dopamine Dressing with Very

June

We were still in the Dominican Republic at the start of June, and we actually got engaged on the last night. No idea why Stefan waited a full ten days to do it, but it was an amazing end to the trip. I’d love to go back one day; we had the best time. We had a lot of celebrating when we landed back in the UK, and Mum and I took another trip down to London. We stayed at the Art’otel at Battersea Power Station, which had the most amazing rooftop pool. We finished the month at our first Wedding Fair at Grand Villa Heights, where we ended up staying – more on that later!

Read more: I’m getting married! 💍

July

Another jam-packed month starting off with flying to Belgium for Rock Werchter Music Festival. Along with Stefan and two friends, we had the best time seeing artists like Gracie Abrams, Noah Kahan, Linkin Park and Green Day. The line-up is always 10/10, but my only comments are that it’s a very compact festival, so a lot of the stages have noise crossover. We also got to spend a day exploring Brussels, which is somewhere I’ve never been before. Chocolate and beer were consumed!

I also had one of my friends come and visit me, and we did a lot of exploring of the Yorkshire Coast and went to a McFly concert. In July, we also celebrated my Brother turning 40, had a day at York Races and of course, attended a few more wedding fairs. We also thought we’d found THE VENUE, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

August

August is the month we visited THE wedding venue for the first time, and ended up booking it! We visited Waterside at Chainbridge, Ruswarp, and I wrote a Sunday Roast Diaries post, which is one of my favourite places we’ve visited in 2025. We also flew to Vienna and drove to Bratislava for a wedding; it was a very quick whirlwind trip, but lovely nonetheless. The whole month was leading up to our engagement party, which we celebrated with all our loved ones. We had the best day ever and were over the moon with how everything turned out. I also did my bridesmaid proposals, which were the cutest thing ever.

September

In September, we tried to ramp up the wedding planning and, of course, attended every Wedding Fair in the local area. We managed to pin down some great vendors and really got the ball rolling. Also in September, we did a few food reviews, attended a party at Headingly Stadium and went to see One Republic in Manchester and McFly vs Busted in Leeds.

October

October kicked off with another wedding abroad as we flew out to Portugal. We stayed in Vilamoura, which was a gorgeous marina with loads of restaurants and bars. It was a lovely couple of days, and it was roasting hot, even in October! We also had a lovely weekend away in Harrogate for Stefan’s birthday. I’d booked An Evening with Freddie Flintoff, and we also went to the Old Liquor Store in York for Sunday Roast Diaries.

Also in October (I barely spent any time at home), my Mum and I ventured down to London to see The Devil Wears Prada in the West End and also try on some bridal bits. Then it was time to go properly Wedding Dress shopping. The first place we went was Dotty Bridal in Wakefield – I’m going to talk about my experiences in some upcoming Wedding Diaries posts. However, it was such a surreal experience trying on ACTUAL wedding dresses.

A week later, I tried on dresses at The Wedding Room, which is a local Bridal boutique to me and found THE ONE. In fact, it was literally the first one I tried on. The month finished with a girly trip to Saltmoore in Sandsend, where we visited their spa and Pizzeria.

November

November started with a stay at Grand Villa Heights which I’d visited a few of their wedding fairs, and I was so excited to be visiting. Especially as we stayed in the Bridal Suite, which featured the most amazing bathtub! I was lucky to be invited to a few more stays during November, including working with the Inn Collection at the Knaresborough Inn and staying at Bike & Boot in the Peak District as part of a festive trip to Chatsworth.

I also spent lots of time working on the Festive Gift Guides, which you guys seemed to love again! The festive trips didn’t stop, as of course, I had to visit York Christmas markets a couple of times!

December

My favourite time of the year! Christmas! Obviously, lots of festive activities, decorations and indulging in food took place. I also won a trip with the chain Katie O’Brien’s to Dublin, which Stefan and I took in December. It was a super cute festive trip which saw us visit the Guinness Factory, eat ALLLL the food and see some of the sights. I also got to work with Very on a Festive Dressing campaign, which I shot in Dublin, and I ended up LOVING the photos.

There’s no rest for the wicked; we headed straight to Castle Howard for their Christmas display when we got back. However, we tried to have a slow and chilled Christmas and to be honest, we barely left the house between Christmas and New Year’s. We hosted Christmas again, which I do love doing. Christmas food is just the best. It was a really lovely ending to the year, just slobbing out and taking a breath.

2026 is going to be a huge year. Filled with weddings, including our own. I’ve also got some exciting trips planned (I’ve even been on one already!). I’m *trying* to chill out when I can and take a moment. It’s so important not to burn out but also to live life to the fullest! I can’t wait to share more exciting adventures with you all. Here’s to 2026!