Hello friends! I’m finally sitting down to share all the fun we had on our London trip in April. We found a way to pack as much as possible into this trip. It helps that Jake had been before for a weeklong work trip so he knew the area a bit. We spent hours planning our days before getting on our flight to ensure we could do a lot in a day without feeling too tired.

If you follow along on Instagram, you will know that the reason for the trip was to attend Star Wars Celebration. At first, when Jake proposed going to the convention a year ago, I politely declined because I didn’t want my first trip to a place I’d dreamed about going to for a Star Wars convention. Turns out, the convention was real but it was not the real reason to go to London. Jake had been planning this trip to get me to London to propose in a beautiful and romantic setting. More on that in a later post!

TRAVEL DAY

We took a red eye to London which I highly recommend! The goal was to sleep on the flight to help with the time change but with my bad back I found it hard to get comfortable but everyone else was snoring away on that flight. We landed in London early in the morning and were at our hotel, Aloft, by noon. We booked a hotel near the convention center so we were close which meant little travel time and being able to sleep late. We grabbed lunch at the hotel and took a walk around the area to do some sightseeing. I took a little nap before we headed out to meet up with friends for dinner and drinks at Canary Wharf. We wanted a chill night with some friends because we knew we would have to be up early for the convention the next day.

One thing I am so happy we did was purchase an Oyster card, their version of a metro card. They are easy to buy and reload making getting around very easy. The public transportation system makes so much sense and is easy to navigate. The fares are also very low so get the Citymapper app and plan your route!

DAY 1

Up early to go to Star Wars Celebration! If you are not familiar, it’s a very large gathering of Star Wars fans which Jake is. A lot of his friends came out of the local Pennsylvania Star Wars club when he first moved here so it was nice to meet up with friends and make some new ones. Lots of panels, exhibits, and booths to look at. For Star Wars fans, it’s their version of Black Friday/ Christmas all in one! The convention was fun but I was more excited about the after-party!

A tradition during Star Wars Celebration is that every night there are different parties and the first night was the big Bash. The rooftop bar, Crossrail Place Roof Garden, was ours for the night with Star Wars themed drinks and lots of laughs with friends, new and old.

What I Wore

Packing for this trip took a lot of planning to create a capsule wardrobe to fit everything in my suitcase. I splurged on a black leather jacket from Zara and it was perfect for the ever-changing weather conditions in London. I knew we would be going out a lot during our trip so I bought a pair of leather boots with a comfortable size heel to dress up jeans for nights like the Bash and also looked nice with a dress for a fancy dinner. I brought two pairs of jeans, one dark denim and, black jeans, and brought plenty of sweaters and tops to layer.