Buckets & Spades - Men's Fashion, Design and Lifestyle Blog: america

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10 Jun 2018

Visiting San Francisco, Easton, PA + New York

These pages have been a little quiet of late. It feels like a similar situation to June 2017, minus the big Las Vegas wedding! This week will be my second trip over to the US in two weeks, both for separate projects, but both work related. If I was more organised I would have stayed over for the full two weeks, but my last minute budget just didn't allow it. You can officially call me a "super communter" at the moment.

Last week I was visiting San Francisco for the first Pinterest "In The Making" Creative Conference, and this week myself + Jordan will spending five days over in Easton, PA + New York to work on an extra special project - I'll be able to share a little more about that very soon!

My blog will probably stay quiet for a little longer, I'll be creating travel diaries for each place we stop at, but for now if you'd like to see more regular updates from me then I'll still be active on Instagram + Twitter.

Speak soon,

Mat.

7 Nov 2017

Visiting the Jack Daniel's Distillery, Lynchburg, Tennessee

Imagine travelling for 15 hours to spend 48 hours in Tennessee...Jack Daniel's invited me over to exeperience the brand in the way it was intended

A tour of the one and only Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, followed by a tasting class

Have you heard the story about how the late Mr Jack Daniel never revealed what the iconic no.7 - found on the front of the top selling American whiskey in the world - actually represents? Or how it's always been tradition of the company to gift each employee a bottle Jack along with their monthly pay check? Even more intriguing, the strange and unfortunately circumstances of how the man himself passed away from a freak incident involving a safe?

I was oblivious to all of the above until I had the pleasure of being invited by the Jack Daniel's brand to spend a couple of days in Tennessee, with the aim to discover what makes this globally recognised brand tick, and how they have built up a grass-roots empire from a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere.

The water used in the distilling process comes from within the distillery grounds

I’d hold my hands up and be the first one to say that Jack Daniel’s isn’t a brand I’d generally reach for on the shelves. I've always seem myself as quite open minded when it comes down to it, but I am guilty of overlooking certain things if I don't have some form of connection with them. My obsession with pop culture extends to having an deep appreciation for how brands can become ingrained within daily life - through clever marketing, memorable branding design, familiarity, hard work, and deep down a (usually) honest, homegrown product. Similar to how iconic brands such as McDonald's Coca-Cola, Disney, Apple + Nintendo are all instantly recognisable by the design of their logo, Jack Daniel's is just as synonymous worldwide with whiskey and music.

My whirlwind of weekend - which involved a 15 hour journey from Blackpool to Nashville, one way! - was something I'll never forget. The journey into the depths of Tennessee felt like it was never going to end, but our opened-armed welcome into the sleepy town of Lynchburg, where every single drop of Jack Daniel's whiskey has ever been made, quickly eliminated any tiredness. The air smelt industry-sweet and smiling faces graced every front porch.

A tour of the working distillery was done by our guide, Sam, with an enthusiasm and energy that only our American brothers can seem to achieve - showing us the inner-workings of the process but also emphasising on the finer points of the brand's heritage and infrastructure. For me, these were the moments where the brand started to come alive.

Our Las Vegas Wedding Day!

Pyjamas by Karen Mabon

Newspaper + stationery all designed by us, printed by The Newspaper Club + Moo

Photography by Branch & Cole

The day of our wedding was everything I hoped for. Even a freak stomach bug, which stopped me from eating and drinking for a few days, couldn't stop it from being the happiest day of my life. Recent events in Las Vegas had made me hesitate on sharing this post, but that's not what the city or its people would want. Vegas is a pretty special place indeed, like no other.

Our week in this crazy city (which included our pre-wedding shoot at the Neon Museum) was made even more special by being joined by 30 of our closest family and friends (and new friends, I'm looking at you Caleb + Levi!), which made it a truly an unforgettable experience. Just thinking back on our time there with everyone makes me want to relive it over and over again.

I'll keep this post short and sweet, but I must give our thanks to a few people:

Paul Smith for making my suit fit perfectly, Drakes for providing me with the awesome emerald green tie, The Newspaper Club for helping us create the newspaper for our guests, The Wynn hotel, SW restaurant + The Little Chapel of the West for being amazing hosts, Travis Allen aka the best and most classy Elvis tribute act you're ever likely to see. Special thank yous are also reserved for Caleb + Levi of Branch & Cole, whose names will live on as the legendary gents who documented every step of the way - I just hope that we made it a great experience for you too (that buffet, right?!)!

Take a look below at how our wedding day unfolded!

Dress by Victoria Beckham | Shoes + Bangle by Kate Spade

Watch by Paul Smith

Our private dining room at SW restaurant at The Wynn, with a little surprise at the end!

Instax memories, 2am beers and glazed donuts

Thank you for visiting, we both hope you enjoyed them! We couldn't be happier.
Mat + Hollie

10 Aug 2017

Got Married, Went Road Trippin' Part 1 | Las Vegas > San Francisco

It's about one month since we landed back from our Las Vegas Wedding / West Coast Road trip. At the time those long drives from city, to small town, down dirt roads and back to city again felt like they would never end, but now it's all starting to slightly feel like a distant memory. But it's a memory that will never be forgotten, because it wasn't just any road trip, it was the road trip after the happiest day of my life!

Seeing so many of our friends + family's smiling faces for a whole week was a pretty magical feeling, and the actual wedding ceremony was perfect. Spirits were high, food portions were ideal, drinks were endless, temperatures were ridiculous and sleep was pretty much none-existent...but I wouldn't change a thing.

We said goodbye to our guests (albeit a few of them who joined us on the road trip) in Vegas, and thanked them for making our week one of the most memorable in our lives. Over the next 10 days we would drive from The Wynn in LV to Hollywood Roosevelt in LA, via Yosemite, San Francisco, Monterey and Santa Barbara.

Wandering in Badwater Basin, Death Valley

The drive from Las Vegas, through Death Valley, to Yosemite took the best part of eight hours, but what an incredible way to see the country. Going from 48 degrees in Vegas to around 10 in Yosemite National Park was quite an exerprience. We spent two days exploring Yosemite, and if I'm totally honest, my words wouldn't be able to justify the feeling this place gives you. I was so in ore of the scale (how small it made me feel) and beauty of the place that my camera didn't come out of my bag that much. I'm OK with that!

From El Portal in Yosemite, we drove three hours to San Francisco.

Luggage for our trip c/o Horizn Studios

Two days in San Francisco gave us a good amount of time to explore, but not nearly enough to see everything I hoped for.

We stayed at Hotel Zetta, just by Union Square. The hotel was seriously good, from the small detail of the lobby decor and rec area, and the staff's attentiveness, to the British-inspired (but not corny at all) restaurant. When the staff found out we'd just got married they drew us a personalised cartoon of San Fran, and popped a bottle of champagne in our room! What can I say, if you want people to be happy, just equip a lobby with a pool table, photo-booth and Shuffleboard!

The step-counter was going crazy while we were there. We covered lots of ground but did miss a fair few things I wanted to see...until next time.

The view of San Francisco skyline from Alcatraz Island

I don't want to make these travel blogs too text-heavy, no one needs to read an essay on how good I thought our visit to Alcatraz Island was or how I have a tendency to spend way too much time trying to find good coffee. Photos will do the talking, and with that being said, Part 2 of our West Coast Road Trip will cover our journey from San Francisco to Hollywood!

Thanks for visiting,

Mat