(Newport)
The weekend had finally arrived of the finals of Miss Inspiration UK! A two day final showcasing the beautiful female form whether it be slim, curvy, big, tall or small! I was so excited to be reunited with the South West girlies, I arrived a little bit before them so had a lovely stroll in the spring sun (it was even warm as well!!!) around newport before getting ready for the first night of the final, the PJ party!!!!
(Disney onsie!)
My roomie Celene came in bang on time, quick change then met the other girls to all stroll in our jammies through Newport to the Dolman Theatre, not the strangest thing Wales has seen this past week!! Everyone looked so comfy and eager to meet everyone and see what we had in stall for us. And of course get some cotton candy! We were all split into our divisions and grouped up to get to know each other, and provide an entertainment piece. Some sang, others danced, but my group?? We did a PT session! Everyone was on their feet and squatting whilst we put them through their paces, along with the other girls doing their workout based on their life so Sarah doing the mummy workout, Grace doing the air hostess, Amy doing he healthcare and then Pamela doing the Karate! And we were voted the best! So we got little crowns and first dibs on the cupcakes! Second was create outfits using bin bags and other items, we totally rocked that runway then a nice catwalk off at the end. My walk was sassy and included a squat, of course!!!!
(South West girls reunited!!)
Next day (sat) was pageant final day!!! Bright and early for a whole day of rehearsals, interviews and performance!! First of we learnt, well attempted to learn the opening number dance to Sia, Chalinder which has a lot of arm and feet movements so I mostly freestyled as I was at the back! Then going through all the stages, as well as having our interviews! I felt my interview could of been a little better, esp as I shook the judges hands forgetting my hands are always cold! (cold hands, warm heart!!!). Then the manic rush to get ready for the opening! I have short hair compared to the long haired beauties so it didn't take as long, just there trying to make it as big as possible! I am awful when it comes to looking like a girl!!
(Opening round- White Dress. Sherri Hill by Stardust Boutique)
Opening round was a white dress, which I had two beautiful sherri hill dresses from Stardust, of course where else?!! I lent my other to the other Hannah who placed 3rd overall (my dress totally had a say in that, I kid ;) I'm not usually a fan of cocktail dresses as for a curvy girl they just make your butt huge but I had alot of compliments as well as feel like a proper princess!!!
(Round 2- Fun Fashion. Outfit made by yours truly!!)
Next up was fun fashion, which of course meant the Disney dress was back! Complete with the ankle breaker disney shoes and minnie mouse ears!! This was the only round I was worried about as the shoes are sky scrappers of heels. I feared I would end up on those youtube videos of pageant girls falling off stage but I kept my cool and even did a twirl, not taking my eyes off the judges and strutting my stuff! I had my swimwear underneath as we had to super quick change into swimwear for the next round!
(Flying the flag for swimwear!)
Swimwear, the round every girl dreads. I hadn't done a swimwear section for three years since the Miss Galaxy finals. My body is not like it used to be, it has been abused from being a holiday rep and good food, as well as a lack of routine until I came back to work as a personal trainer. It's not like it used to be when i didn't eat properly and had an unhealthy relationship with my body. There are still many things I would change about me, mainly when i get stressed or nervous my condition means I bloat so no matter how many crunches I do i will still have a belly. But I am proud of my curves, I am also proud of my tattoos as well. This is a modern day society where we should be able to express ourselves through the clothes we wear and what we chose to put on our body. I went out here and worked my high low, strutted my stuff and even though I was one of the biggest, I still gave it everything I had!!
(Evening wear, Jovani the dress of dreams!)
Last round, my fav, evening wear. Once again I put on my jovani gown (Stardust again!!) and did my walk, getting that miss england turn perfect (for me anyways) as well as having my hair up for the first time!! Taking baby steps (usually I hate my ears and forehead so growing as a person!!). This is also the round I like to shop in my head at all the lovely gowns!! Interval break which involved doritos in our evening gowns, then back on stage for the crowing!!
(Miss congeniality winners!)
So overall, I didnt win the big crown. I dont know my true placement or scores but i know i didnt get into the top 20, which sadden me a bit as I felt I could of been there. I felt so amazing on stage and gave my best performance yet but rather than be sad and moan about it, there were clearly other girls who shone more or the judges were looking for something different, after all you cant be everyones cup of hot chocolate!! However, I did win one of the best awards of all, Miss Congeniality UK!!! This is the second time ive won it in this pageant and means so much as its the contestants that vote for it! I was just being my normal self, maybe its because I always had chocolate.... Overall I had an amazing time, met some great people and resaw some awesome girlies, which my girl Celene actually took the Woman's title!! Woohoo go girl! Got to try her crown on so i got to wear it at least once! We also got actual food halfway through provided for us which was amazing! I had chilli, heaven! I will be back next year, dedicating time to raise money and awareness now that I dont have to fight for my job!
(wedding dresses again, sigh what a life!)
But this pageant girl doesnt rest,on the sunday it was travel from Newport to the Swindon Wedding's VIP event which transformed the Swindon Supermarines Rugby Club into the most beautiful wedding venue!! I got to wear a stunning gown from Rachel's Wedding, who I have modelled for before and also get my make up done by Simply Beautiful. I got to meet up with Nicole again and wear pretty dresses and eat cake!! We had alot of future brides, I even helped sew the seed about one wedding dress who made the sell!!
(Dresses by Rachel's Wedding, props from Venue Uncovered)
We even got given these dresses to keep! Im not sure if im going to keep the dress as a gown or turn into a high low fashion wear but its so light and belle coloured!! Nicole really suited the blue one which has been modelled before by Miss Swindon 2012 Ela. I think this should be her dress to give her crown away this year. Photos are of course by the lovely CMG Photography. So that is my inspiration journey come to an end for this part. I of course will be reapplying and fundraising, but I feel I have left it far too long to not get back into the pageant scene, Zante took a big part of my year last year (wouldnt change it for the world though!) so this year is all about pageants and rediscovery of all things sparkly!!!! So if anyone has pageants to enter, charity events to attend or anything that you think will be of interest, give me a message!!
Lots of love
Hannah
x <3 x
Miss Swindon Inspiration 2015
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