This week at Hill House we celebrated all things wedding and prepared for the lock down wedding of the century by remembering fond memories. As we can recall who we used to be, we regain a sense of self that improves their self-esteem and increases our happiness and positivity. The whole week was filled with fascinating tales of our weddings, wedding mishaps and photos that bring flooding back the joyous celebrations of our married lives.
Wedding week started with us making beautiful handcrafted wedding invitations as part of our Arts and Crafts Club. This is was the first time we got a glimpse into what the week ahead had instore for us. The whole morning, we bounced around ideas of what we would like to see at Friday’s wedding and how we can help out.
Monday afternoon we got activate with a fun game of balloon bounce, while others enjoyed a game of giant crossword.
In our garden view lounge, we enjoyed some fun balloon games including balloon juggling, not sure if we will be entering this year’s talent show with balloon juggling but it did get everyone laughing.
Tuesday morning there was a wide range of fun activities we could get involved in. It was hard to choose. Our amazing activity team helped us stay looking glamorous by styling our hair for us while others enjoyed memory games.
Tuesday afternoon we tested out the new giant snakes and ladders games. Working in teams we raced around the board trying to be the first to reach the finish line and avoiding the snakes as we went, the game is great to play on the floor as it allows everyone the opportunity to play and join in.
Our scrapbooks help preserve memories and the fun experience we take part in everyday here at Hill House, we have worked so hard on them and can’t wait to show our families when they next visit.
A birthday in lock down isn’t ideal but the staff at Hill House are always going above and beyond to make them extra special. Having a social distancing window birthday visit from family so we could open cards and gifts together made the day perfect.
Wednesday was as day of refection and reminiscing as we listed wedding traditions, old wives’ tales and stories from our weddings. We spent the morning sharing our stories as a group and looking at the amazing wedding themed display table that to our surprise had items that our families had sent in to be displayed. Wedding cake order forms from the 1957, copies of telegrams, our cake toppers and even our wedding albums.
Garden View lounge enjoyed a group game of snakes and ladders before lunch.
Our afternoon was packed with fun activities as we started a new jigsaw puzzle, learnt new knitting techniques from staff and enjoyed an afternoon of pampering, hair makeup and nails.
Alternatively, we enjoyed our movement to music class as we sung, march and wiggled to the beat of the music. Movement to music is one of the many fun exercise classes we enjoy at Hill House.
The big day is fast approaching we were all so keen to find out who the surprise Bride and Groom were going to be but we hadn’t managed to crack anyone for information. We spent Thursday morning crafting table decorations and making place names, others enjoyed therapeutic arts like water paining and conversations of our own special days.
Exercising with the parachute is an energetic and refreshing way to start our day. It never fails to bring a smile to our faces.
Thursday afternoon we took part in a Sugar Craft Club, as we got ready to decorate the 3-tier wedding cake. We made edible icing flowers using an array of cutters and moulds. We also enjoyed learning how to make realistic sugar roses. Bryony took us through a step by step technique of moulding the individual petals by hand. We then worked as a group to cover the 3-tier cake in yummy chocolate buttercream before adding the final decorations.
Our stunning wedding cake.
The interactive activity centre is always in use somewhere in the home, we enjoyed an afternoon of music as we danced to reveal the artist who sung each song by clearing the discs as we danced.
It is wedding day! We spent Friday morning sharing our wedding picture with each other, we started by playing a game of guess who. We tried to guess who was in each wedding picture, before sharing some information of our special day. Seeing all the beautiful wedding dresses, suits and bridesmaid outfits shows just how fashion was changing.
We spent the late morning making stunning wedding bouquets as part of our Flower Arranging Club. Using artificial flowers to make button holes, decorations and bridal arrangements.
The dining room was decorated with floral wedding bunting, we checked the seating plan before sitting to enjoy the wedding breakfast. Our table decorations made earlier in the week where pride of place on each table holding the table number. The wedding breakfast was followed by a fabulous surprise as we took part in a game of ‘ Guess Who’ we took it in turns to try and work out which staff member was who from their wedding pictures, it was so lovely for them to share the pictures of their special day with us, some where easier to guess then others.
2.30pm the church bells rang as we took our seats for the Wedding of the century. We were dressed to impress with fascinators, hats and our best outfits. We all had key roles to play from bridesmaids, ushers, best men, to mother and father of the bride and groom. We even played the part of the vicar. We were so excited to see the bride and groom for the first time…. our wonderful chef Jade and Alex from the kitchen team played the role of Bride and Groom perfectly. Her dress was stunning, his suit was sharp. The humour and fun was there from the start. We listened as the vicar gave thanks to us for being there to celebrate the special day. We followed the order of service and sang hymns together, gave thanks and listened to personalised vowels. The wedding photographer snapped away many pictures and after the service we took it in turns to have our pictures taken with the happy couple.
No wedding would be complete with out a party and this bride and groom laid on a lavish wedding tea. After they cut the cake, we were served tea, coffee and wedding cake in fine bone china tea cups and saucers. The wedding tea went mobile visiting residents and offering tea, coffee and wedding cake around the home. Sharing stories of our wedding inspired by the days wedding and all the excitement building up to it.
“thank you for a fun week leading up to today’s wedding you have all worked so hard” – Ivy
Saturday morning, we started the day of with some resistant exercises using the exercise bands working the top half of our bodies. We also enjoyed playing board games together and playing cards with carers.
Celebrating a special lady on her birthday with a yummy chocolate cake.
Saturday afternoon we enjoyed garden walks in the glorious sunshine and well as target throwing games on the interactive activity centre.
Sunday morning, we caught up with the daily news while reading our papers and listening to classical music. We spent time one on one enjoying fun activities such as ball games, quizzes and skype calls to our families.
The afternoon we took on crosswords and word games, others settled down to watch ‘7 brides and 7 brothers’ on the big screen.
In the garden view lounge we enjoyed a musical singalong with silly hats, before enjoying movie club.
