alib28

This thread appears to have got very off-topic. The OP asked for people's experiences of ATOS face to face assessments, not people's ill-informed and ignorant opinions on who is entitled to receive benefits. To the OP - I suggest you look in the Disability interest group on here, as you are more likely to get considered responses from people who have actually experienced the ATOS assessment. I have not, although I have heard some interesting tips - one of which is to ask for your assessment to be recorded - they are legally obliged to do this if you request it, and it may help with appeals and so on.

Hi all Because I didn't end up buying my maid of honour a dress (long story), I have offered to pay for her to have her hair and nails done on the morning of the big day. I don't really want to get a mobile hairdresser in as we are getting ready in a hotel and neither myself nor my other bridesmaid are having our hair done. We are staying at the Rutland Hotel so I was wondering if anyone knew of any good hairdressers in broomhill who will do up-dos for a reasonable price? If they can do nails as well that would be a bonus... Its been a while since I have been up to broomhill so I don't really know what is up there any more! Thanks

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gluten-free-Cookbook-Kids-Adriana-Rabinovich/dp/0091923891/ref=sr_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346847467&sr=1-13 You might find this useful?

I have to say my experience with the audiologists at Hallamshire hasn't been great either. I had a routine appointment for a hearing check, I went through all the tests and checks etc then was just told 'ok that's it you can go now'. I had to actually ask them if everything with my hearing was still ok and they answered 'well we assume so but we don't actually know because we don't have your notes as you transferred here from Nottingham'. Hmm ok! I then asked to see my audiology graph curve and they said 'well why on earth do you want to see that?' I explained that I had copies of my previous ones at home so I would be able to compare the chart and then if I could see any big changes I could come back for further assessment but they laughed me off and refused to give me my chart. So I just have to hope my hearing hasn't got worse! It just felt like a wasted appointment and I was pretty shocked that there was no attempt to communicate the results of the check to me.

Has anyone else on this forum successfully managed to hire or sell items they used for decoration at their weddings? We ordered candelabras for our centrepieces, but our wedding isn't until October so we wondered about trying to hire them out a few times, with the aim of making our money back and if successful, perhaps even a little bit extra for the honeymoon! Do you think people would be interested in hiring stuff like that? I know florists and decoration companies will offer candelabra hire and that some venues would already have them but we would be offering them for a very competetive price including mirror plates and candles, and set-up at venue for a small extra charge so we thought it might seem more attractive than hiring from a company. Has anyone else tried this? What other ways have you thrifty brides found to make some savings or make some money back? (p.s. I have placed an ad in the classifieds on here so I will let everyone know how it goes!)

Hi all I am getting married in October and my maid of honour will be seven months pregnant. I was just wondering if anyone knew of anywhere where I can look for maternity bridesmaid's or formal dresses relatively cheap? Before I knew she was pregnant I had budgeted £100 for her dress and can't really afford to increase this but I am worried that this will not be enough now - I have had a look online and all the high steet shops' maternity ranges are very casual and most other sites seem to be offering bespoke (and therefore expensive) dresses. Never having been pregnant myself I may well be missing something really obvious, or there might be a high street shop with a better maternity range that I haven't thought of. I want her to feel really special on the day and not to have to wear something she is uncomfortable in, and I also don't want her to have to stress too much trying to find something - I thought if I could do some of the legwork that would be good. Any ideas? Has anyone else been in the same situation?

I have had this problem too - when I was a teenager I used to make hippy marble cakes with a friend - a year or so ago we decided to give in to nostalgia and recreate one, with very disappointing results!! The problem seems to be that most food colouring nowadays is natural as opposed to all the e-numbered crap we used to wolf down. Yes its healthier but the colour is much less strong - it works fine for icing but like you we tried in cake mix and there was barely any colour. However, I think you can still get hold of the non-natural stuff in some of the larger supermarkets and it might be worth visiting a specialist cake decorating shop. I know some people now recommend the colouring pastes you can buy rather than the little bottles of liquid. Let me know if you are successful!

A lot of shops are really funny about that sort of thing, I think you would still be best off ringing in advance to say you just want to browse - stupid I know! You are also more likely to be able to walk in and browse on a weekday.

Awesome thank you!

Wow, if its that price I'm definitely getting one, that's cheaper than we have been quoted for a vintage wedding car!!

Does anyone have any idea how much hiring one of these buses costs? Quite intrigued by the idea...

Hi all I cook a lot with chorizo, and while I love it, it would be great to have a bit of variety and cook with some other types of cooking sausage, such as andouille and Merguez - does anyone know somewhere in Sheffield where I can get these? (just to be clear I'm not really looking for slicing sausage, more like sausages that would go in stews and pasta etc). Thanks!

Can't comment on men's suit hire but was not impressed with them for wedding dresses and customer service in general.

I got my dress yesterday!! Sorry, I am very excited... The main reason I am posting though is that I just wanted to offer a recommendation for Emily Bridal which is where I bought my dress from. The dress itself was amazing but even if I hadn't found 'the one' there I would still be recommending that people visit because the service was amazing. It was Saturday and obviously busy but I never felt rushed, there didn't seem to be a limit on how many dresses I could try on (when I had narrowed it down to two they were happy to let me try them both on again), and I was made to feel really really special. Also I am a curvy 14 and even though a couple of the samples were a bit too small for me I was not made to feel like this was a problem. My 'entourage' was treated really well too, with coffee etc. When I found the one I liked they spent ages making suggestions of how I could personalise it a bit. The changing area was really lovely, and private. I had another appointment in another bridal shop straight after and so I decided to not commit to the dress until I had been in another shop, I went to the other shop and found nothing even remotely as amazing so I went back to Emily and they even let me try on the dress again, despite having other people to see to, and gave me and my ladies champagne to celebrate! I felt amazing the whole time I was there, and the whole experience was exactly what you would hope for for this special day. And no, I don't work for them and I'm not related to them! A place I certainly won't be recommending to people is Pronuptia - tried on quite a few dresses here but the samples were dirty and torn (and seemed quite out of date too), the changing area was a tiny curtained-off booth and they kept bringing people through the area where I was trying dresses on. I felt rushed here, I know it was a Saturday and its a busy time of year, but buying a wedding dress is a massive decision, and I won't be inclined to buy one anywhere I felt rushed. A friend of mine has had a bad experience with them after ordering her dress from there and yesterday really did nothing to change my mind about them. Good luck to everyone looking for their dress!

Hi, I probably don't have time to help you physically but I really do recommend that you buy 'SPSS Survival Guide' by Julie Pallant, it really is like having someone sat telling you what to do, its laid out really well and certainly helped me through my PhD! http://www.amazon.co.uk/SPSS-Survival-Manual-guide-analysis/dp/0335242391/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330073933&sr=8-1