Vintage… looking to the past for inspiration and excitement in the here and now.
It may be 40’s pin-up style glamour or making your own fascinator then dancing the Charleston; an afternoon tea party with delicious cupcakes served on fine bone china, or even prohibition era cocktail parties – and who doesn’t want to visit a speakeasy!!
Whatever your vintage desire, we have searched, and will continue to scour, our lovely land for the best vintage themed activities for our weekend breaks. Find out more about...
- Afternoon Tea in the City
- A Vintage or Burlesque Tea Party in your cottage with the option of a 40's pin-up style hair and make-up session
- Photo shoot in city centre bars
- Vintage Dance Lessons – Cheeky Charleston, Hula Hooping, Back in Time, The Ultimate Showgirl
- Life Drawing
- "Make your own" workshops - Fascinators, Lingerie, Jewellery or Bathtime Treats
- Cupcake Classes
- Punting
- Lewis Carroll Cruises – Alice in Wonderland or The Mad Hatters Tea Party
- Sewing bunting workshop
Afternoon Tea in the City
Available everywhere
A traditional afternoon tea with a selection of finger sandwiches on brown or white bread, including smoked salmon, ham and mustard, cucumber, coronation chicken, two freshly based scones with clotted cream and homemade preserves and selection of cakes and biscuits. You have a choice of teas, or coffee, and you can add a glass of house champagne.
A Vintage or Burlesque Tea Party in your cottage with the option of a 40's pin-up style hair and make-up session
Available in Bath, Bristol & Somerset; Cheltenham & Gloucestershire; and Oxford & The Cotswolds
Enjoy a full afternoon tea with delicate sandwiches, delicious scones and decadent cupcakes. Get in the vintage mood with the dressing up box full of feathers, gloves and pearls and point your pinkie finger with style while sipping on the finest teas or enjoying your complimentary cocktail. Everything you need is provided from vintage crockery to champagne glasses (and it's all taken away again meaning no washing up for you!)
Burlesque - enjoy tea as above with the added excitement of a two hour burlesque master. Learn how to twirl, tease, tantalise. Wear anything you feel comfortable in for your master class from gym wear to frilly knickers and fishnets.
Pin-Up Hair & Make-up - enjoy tea as above while you and your guests are transformed at the hands of a professional make-up artist into beautiful 1940's pinup girls or sexy rockabilly chicks!
Photo Shoot in city centre bars
Available in Bath, Bristol & Somerset; Cheltenham & Gloucestershire; Oxford & The Cotswolds; and Norwich & Norfolk
Our two hour photo shoots are fun, relaxed and supportive and you will leave with beautiful images you can cherish forever. You will be working with an experienced and friendly photographer and director, so don’t worry if you have never done a shoot before, you are in safe hands.
Transform yourself into a sassy showgirl, a burlesque scarlet, a cute 50’s pin up girl or go nearly nude! We have a big props box for you to play with and also can suggest shoot themes such as: Afternoon tease, Ahoy Sailor, Desperate Housewife, Boudoir Beauty, Rockabilly, Cabaret Chic, Nearly Nude & more. You will receive top 15 images on disc. Please note this does not include Make-Up or Clothes.
Vintage Dance Lessons
Available in Bath, Bristol & Somerset; Cheltenham & Gloucestershire; and Oxford & The Cotswolds
Cheeky Charleston Dancing - Take a trip back to the 1920’s as you learn the vintage dance moves that were once danced by flappers. The ragtime-jazz music is infectious and you won’t be able to stop smiling as you learn the quirky and witty charleston steps, including grannies knee caps, the hitchhiker and the shoe shine!
Hula Hooping - Improve your fitness and have fun as you learn how to spin an adult-sized hula hoop on your body and in your hands. Our beginner’s workshop will take you through a variety of moves with the hoop. Hula hoops are provided.
Back In Time - Venture back to the 1920’s and travel through the decades to the 1960’s whilst learning a feast of vintage dance styles. Learn the knobbly knees quirky style of the 20’s Charleston, then the infectious kicks of 30’s/40’s swing dancing. Pick up the pace even more with some twists and flicks of the 50’s jive (no partner needed!) and then save your last bit of energy for the psychedelic style that is 60’s go go dancing!
The Ultimate Showgirl - Transform yourself into a true showgirl as you learn all of the cabaret styles of dance including beautiful burlesque, high-kicking can-can, cheeky charleston and fabulous fan dance. By the end of this action packed course you will be posing and teasing like a burlesque star, mesmerizing with your ostrich feather fans, amusing with your quirky flapper steps and flashing your knickers as you can-can!
Life Drawing Classes
Available in Bath
Our tutor takes you through a range of drawing techniques and games designed to improve your drawing skills whilst having a right old giggle! All in the presence of a male model, of course! You each leave with a selection of portraits in different styles.
"Make Your Own" workshops
Available in Bath
Fascinators: You'll each make a beautiful fascinator, that could even be worn at the wedding! We have a wide range of colours, so that you can each make something that matches your outfits perfectly.
Lingerie-Making: A great laugh, with the bonus that you get to make something beautiful to wear! We'll make garters and/or nipple tassels, using our vast selection of lace, ribbon, beads, diamantes and buttons. We'll guide you through various techniques and give you inspiration along the way, to create your own lovely lingerie!
Jewellery-Making: Each person creates a couple of items of jewellery including a necklace, earrings or bracelet. You spend the first portion of the workshop choosing your colour-scheme from our array of beads (glass, ceramic, semi-precious etc). Our tutor then takes you through the beading process, touching on a few techniques depending on the type of jewellery you'd like to make.
Bathtime Treats: You'll learn how to make your own bath bombs & bath cookies. We'll start by picking colours & fragrances, before mixing and moulding them with the rest of the ingredients into bathtime treats. We'll also have a selection of delectable decorations to personalise your goodies, including rose petals, glitter & various other suitably girly treats!
Our workshops include all materials, tea, coffee, soft drinks & biscuits. If more substantial refreshments are required, we can provide a really lovely afternoon tea with fancy sandwiches & cakes or we can do a more basic range of freshly made sandwiches & tray bakes. You are welcome to bring along wine/drinks.
Cupcake Classes (1.5 hours)
Available in Bristol
Cupcakes are in vogue at the moment & this is a fun course designed to get you decorating cup cakes with some exciting modern designs. You will be provided with a mix of six ready baked cupcakes & then make up decorations from sugar & chocolate paste which will be used to decorate the cakes. You will also learn how to pipe on a topping of flavoured buttercream & ganache toppings. Finally the cupcakes are decorated with your creations and other decorations before the finished cakes are packed into a gift box & tied up with a ribbon for you to give as a gift or to eat yourself!!
Punting
Available in Bath, Cambridge & Oxford
Hire a flotilla of punts and take turns being captain - messing about on the water is guaranteed fun! This is a self drive activity though chauffeured punts can be arranged
Lewis Carroll Cruises
Available in Oxford
Alice in Wonderland: 2.5 hour cruise along the same stretch of river as that rowed by Lewis Carroll and Alice in 1862 when the story of Alice in Wonderland was told for the first time and we take in many points along the river bank that are referenced in the stories.
Mad Hatters Tea Party: 2.5 hour cruise with tea, freshly made sandwiches, cakes, and scones with clotted cream and jam included. The boat cruises along the same stretch of river as that rowed by Lewis Carroll and Alice in 1862 when the story of Alice in Wonderland was told for the first time and we take in many points along the river bank that are referenced in the stories.
For groups of 8 passengers or more these trips will be private. Groups of less than 8 passengers will need to pay a supplement in order to have a private cruise.
Sewing Bunting Workshop
Available in York & The Wolds
This is great for people looking for an activity which suits all ages and sewing abilities. You use vintage inspired fabrics to cut bunting flags. A sewing machine is used to attach the flags to lengths of ribbon before you decorate flags using a hand stitching needle and felt or other fabrics (usually people like to spell a name, good luck, Mr and Mrs or just decorate with hearts etc, but you can leave the flags blank too). You are not expected to provide anything as all materials are supplied and you will finish the workshop with a two meter length of bunting. This activity last two hours and can take place in your cottage, in a studio or in a York city centre food store. We can provide a Vintage Tea Party with this.
You decide how to combine these activities however they are subject to availability so do check your destination and call us to check the dates. Please remember that you are not limited to just the Vintage activities, you can combine these with any activities from our other packages (Relaxation, Lady of the Manor, Gastro Gourmet, Thrill Seeking, or Citylife). For instance, why not combine a morning cookery lesson and lunch with an afternoon in a spa? It's your holiday, have it your way!
If you would like to find out more, have a look at our destinations and at our cottages then get in touch, you can call us free on 0800 234 6039, or email info@acaciacottages.co.uk, or if you would prefer we'll call you, just fill in your details on the Contact Us page.
Any comments or questions, any problems you're having, can't find what you're looking for, etc, please just give us a call, we're always happy to help.
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