My dearest kinksters I write this two weeks after the event mainly because it has taken me two weeks to recover from it. I had to have a holiday I was worn out frazzled and truly pooped.
This is www.ohlalashop.co.uk second year at this event and yes its extremely tiring and a little overwhelming but so worth it. Last years event was such a great success we agreed before we had even packed up that we would do it all again this year and thats when the twelve months of preparation started.
Friday 19th August 2016.
We arrived at the Victoria Warehouse on Friday 19th of August bright and early ready to erect our stand. The van was rammed with stock, it took us nearly two hours to get all the stand and stock into the warehouse.
We worked flat out sorting the display and stock we finally finished with the stand looking ready for business around 3pm. The venue opened to the public at 4:30pm and the stampede started. Luckily this year we came prepared with some close friends of Ohlalashop.co.uk to help man the stand so we could get a break.
On our first break we set off on the hunt for a model we supply lingerie too by the name of Levi. We hunted high and low and could not find her anywhere. Eventually we found her in the entrance there had been a mix up and she did not have a stand in the venue to sell her calendars from. Obviously she was not in the best of moods.
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| Levi in the Otellio Corset |
The night was full of acts the first was cabaret of sin at 6pm followed by Jole PJ Pasquale. The nights entertainment did not stop there we then had Nina La Belle it was all very exciting with a real buzz in the warehouse.
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| Jole P J Pasquale |
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| Nina La Belle |
We finally packed up around 9pm and were invited to an awards ceremony but our feet were hurting and we knew saturday was going to be a long day so we called it a night and went back to the hotel for a well earned cup of tea.
Saturday 20th August 2016.
After a good nights sleep we woke on Saturday ready to sell we got down to the venue and got ready for the days work ahead of us.
We had agreed to do a catwalk on the saturday and we spent most of Saturday morning running round like headless chickens sorting out the models so they all had the right outfits and all knew what they were doing. The catwalk is harder to organise than you first think until you run one you never realise just how hard it is to sort out. There are many aspects to take care of. Firstly you have to chose the models you want then you have to chose the outfits you want those models to wear. The next thing to sort out is the music for the catwalk, our music took days to arrange. Once the music is done you then have to work out which model runs the catwalk at any given time. The timing is so important if the model goes to quickly the event is over before it starts. If they are to slow the music stops before the range is paraded out. To say I was stressed when it started was an under statement but when i peered round the curtain and saw everyone having such a great time, the audience we're whooping cheering and clapping it was all worth it, all the sleepless nights, all the emails, all the trouble. I have to say a massive thank you to all the models who took part without their patience understanding and hard work it would never of been as good a cat walk as it was.
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| The Oh La La Shop Lingerie Catwalk |
Unfortunately there was no time to rest on my laurels there was a stand to man and we were super busy so I rushed over to the stand and got stuck in to selling. We had a short break for tea and then the evenings entertainment started.
There was a gala 5 star meal for VIP paying ticket holders followed by international cabaret acts. The one that stuck in my mind was the European Queen of burlesque Miss Immodesty Blaize. Her costumes where like something out of the Moulin Rouge we were all spell bound when she entered the stage.
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| Miss Immodesty Blaize |
We eventually finished at midnight on Saturday and we were spent it had been a day of high emotion and we had not stopped all day so we were glad to be heading home to the hotel for some well earned rest.
Sunday 21st August 2016.
Sunday morning came round way to fast but we knew we were on the final lap the day started with a very busy flurry of customers we had no time to waste we sold a We-vibe 4+ with-in minutes of the venue opening and it did not let up all day. We had various acts and catwalks through the day mostly showing off latex but the high light of the day was Saffron from the well known band Republica making an appearance on stage to close the weekends events. She truly rocked the venue out and it was a very loud but fun end to what has been a huge success again this year.
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| Saffron from Republica |
We have obviously signed up for 2017. Rumour has it that there might be two Sexhibition weekends in 2017 one in London and one in Manchester. We have signed up to both and can reveal that we will be doing it all again September 1st-3rd 2017 in Victoria Warehouse. Please check out our social media feeds for details of the London Sexhibition show we will announce dates as soon as they are confirmed.
Lastly we have to thank a few people the first has become a very close supplier and true friend MiMi from Kinky Tehether she never stopped smiling all weekend and without her I do not think the weekend would of been so much fun. Chole and Abi thanks for manning the stand so we could have a break and special thanks to Gareth from Alterego lingerie who rushed a stocking order through to us so that we had the new lines on our stand. Cheryl and her partner Jay it takes a lot of guts to give something this big a go we know who much work you put into it and we thank you for giving us a weekend to trade laugh and enjoy x.
We will be on the road again this weekend. Saturday we are in Birmingham at the O2 academy with the Alternative and Burlesque market we then have to dash to a private members club party with our pop up shop. The fun does not stop there on Sunday we are in the centre of Bristol for Swamp a fetish market with an evening of fetish fun after the market closes. If your coming to any of these events please come and say Hi or if you would like any details of the events then please send us an email to ohlalashop@hotmail.co.uk.
Written By
Emma Jones
CEO Oh La La Shop Ltd
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