Despite many great events popping up at The Bond this year, I only managed to get down to check it…read moreout this weekend. When I heard that a Gin Festival was hitting Digbeth, there wasn't a chance I was going to miss out. So, the Gin Festival was planned over the same weekend of City of Colours which meant that Digbeth had one buzzing weekend planned. I had hoped to get out on Saturday, but after hitting a nightclub on Friday night for a friends birthday; I was a little worse for wear in the day and didn't make it. It did mean that I had a rather special Sunday instead (which ended up being an even better choice than originally planned). Enough with the wittering and down to business... The Bond is located off the main drag of Digbeth and the other side of Heath Mill Lane from the entrance to the Custard Factory. You can walk down Digbeth High Street to get there, but we found it significantly quicker to walk down Fazeley Street from behind the back of Hotel La Tour. It's not that obvious when walking down from Fazeley Street, but one you get outside it there is a big iron sign which tells you that you have arrived. I imagine the building was once a warehouse used for stocking barges (as it's well positioned right next to the canal with a small area for boats to pull in), but it's now an events space. First thing of note... it's pretty big. There is plenty of outdoor space both covered and uncovered and a couple of buildings that were being utilised for the Gin Festival. It may be even bigger than this, but we only saw what was being used on the weekend. It has a large conference style room with a toilet block towards the back, a further indoor space with a smaller room and another toilet block and a large "car park" style area and another largish covered area outside. There is a cafe onsite (which was serving hot dogs on the weekend) but I'm not sure what the permanent fixtures of the site are as I have only been for the one event. I have to say, I really liked this venue. I liked the layout, the mix of outdoor and indoor spaces and the plentiful loos. Seeing as the event was held on a scorching Sunday afternoon, the shaded areas were very welcome and everything was laid out very sensitively. I would definitely attend another event in this space! I can't comment on drinks prices (as I was at a drinks based event), but I'll have to update this review if I get back to more events here.

I nice venue tucked away in Digbeth. There is a lovely courtyard area on the canal which is great…read morefor outdoor event. The are also two big rooms which can be hired out for weddings or markets. I came to a wedding in October and it was warm and cosy and the food was great. This weekend I came along to a winter food market. They had plenty of temporary food shacks set up in the courtyard selling waffles and burgers etc but inside there was stalls selling breads, pies, beers, as well as goods like cards and jewellery. It was a cold but sunny day and a pleasant place to be in. Only a ten min walk from the City Centre I would say.

Don't judge this store by its window display!…read more When we decided we were going to hire suits for our wedding this was the first place I thought of. Probably for the wrong reasons though. The wedding dresses I'd seen in the window had always reminded me of that TV programme 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding'. Bright, crazy outfits, where all tradition had been thrown out of the window, not really my kind of taste, but as it was local we thought we would just enquire. Thankfully the window display was not a full representation of Formal Affair. The manageress was really down to earth and had the experience and knowledge we were looking for. She gave us advice in regards to patterns and different looks and she didn't take offence if we chose not to go with it, she just wanted us to be happy. Everything we wanted, we got! There was a lot of different waistcoat choices and though they didn't keep all sizes in-store there was at least one of each pattern so we could see what worked together. We had it all confirmed within the hour and left feeling surprisingly satisfied. Generally you collect the suits a couple of days before your wedding and return them a couple of days after, yet we had a phone call a week before saying they were all ready to collect in-store...bonus! We booked and paid for a suit package when there was a deal on but it seems this deal comes around every few months so I'd suggest you keep your eyes peeled no matter how far ahead your wedding is. We were well within budget and the boys looked great!

As has been remarked upon elsewhere, the window display is not the most enticing - unless you want…read moreto look like a fainting groom on You've Been Framed. (Yes he got a black eye for the honeymoon - bride Sheila was livid - but on the bright side, they made £200 out of it). The sheer accessibility of the location, however, meant that it was my brother's first choice to at least begin exploring garb for himself, best man (me) and ushers. Once through the door, he never looked back, and this is where we were kitted out - and very smart we were too; not like Gary, from 1987, preserved on bundled-off-to-Beadle VHS, all emotional during his speech at a Trusthouse Forte. The clothes arrived on the agreed collection day as promised, with all items present and thankfully correct - we had heard horror stories from friends about other stockists who had supplied trousers with a waistband like a hula-hoop. While the staff were pleasant enough, there was very little interaction as we became mere clothes horses during prospective fittings. Almost inevitably, I felt vaguely spoken-down to. But that's because they thought I was Gary from 1987. I wasn't though, I was a real boy.

highly recommend zuriel media for your wedding day and other occasions very professional great…read morequality.

I've been here a few times over the years. Mostly, it's been to see their open days which are free…read moreto enter. It's a lovely old house that's great to see is still intact and right on our doorstep. Whenever there are events on you get to see inside the building. There are loads of lovely rooms both downstairs and up and the main reception hall is quite a space. When the events are on inside, you'll find various stalls dotted round both floors and in almost all the rooms. This can make it quite tricky to squeeze round with a pushchair, and my daughter wasn't too keen on the crowds squashing her in tighter spots. For me the best tine to go if you want to take the whole family are the summer open days, the next one is 15th July. You can get round both the house and gardens and there's just more space as everyone's not crammed into the one space at the same time-unless it's raining, of course! There are refreshments available and on family special days, there are lots of activities for the kids to join in. Check out the events calendar on the web page for details of more free family events through the year.

I've been to Highbury a couple of times previously - as a child I was dragged round on a school…read moretrip and don't really remember much about it except for a shameful game of rounders in the grounds after (I was always useless at rounders). Later still I went to a brilliant play here - all Victorian melodrama and audience participation. Anyway this weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to a wedding here and I have to say the setting, the gardens, the ambiance, the staff - everything was perfect. Things that stick out - apart from the fact I got to wear a fascinator, which was of course brilliant - the main reception room with staircase is stunning. Secondly the room where the wedding took place - with patio doors that lead out to the garden was straight out of Downton Abbey - and because it was south facing I could blame the sunlight for making my eyes stream (and not have to admit I was blubbing because it was all so lovely). Thirdly - the grounds - absolutely resplendent. The whole event was incredibly well organised and the staff were really, really sweet. I can't recommend this enough really - history buffs take note - this was the family home of Birmingham MP Joseph Chamberlain MP who lived here from 1878 onwards. To find out more it's worth popping along to one of their open days - full details can be found on the website.

I came here once for a course and this venue was perfect. It's very clean, feels new and modern…read morewith spacious rooms, rooms with large screens for lectures as well as a coffee break room. The studio is perfect for hosting courses, lectures etc. and is very centrally located in Birmingham city.

The Orange Studio, now renamed 'The Studio' has to be one of my favourite restaurants. I love how…read moreit's hidden away, even though it's right in the middle of the city centre. It's situated above the old Orange store on Cannon street, where there is now just an internet cafe on the ground floor. Below the restaurant are conference rooms and the restaurant sits on the top floor. The setting is modern and the atmosphere cool and relaxing. The outdoor seating has some pretty plants decorating it and it's really lovely to sit outside on a sunny day. The food is good and well presented. Perhaps slightly pricey, but not unreasonable and staff are friendly and attentive too!

A large conference centre in the city centre of Birmingham, inside it, is pretty modern and…read morefeatures a few stores including a WHSmith, Subway and Starbucks - do take note of the opening hours of these though as some might not open on Sunday's and/or close early sometimes. It's now served by the Library stop on the West Midlands Metro, following the tram extension which goes onto Broad Street. It is also next to The Library of Birmingham, while the building isn't as stunning as the aforementioned, it still remains rather modern and cool. The conference auditorium has a capacity of 1,500 which is quite impressive. I do think the staff didn't seem too helpful, I originally asked where the Starbucks was and felt the need to explain myself as he seemed rather confused. It is pretty expensive inside with one of the most expensive Starbucks' locations I've seen ever outside of a travel location (airport, station or motorway services). 3*

A well designed events complex with additional pop-up stores including an art gallery.read more

Not the biggest of function rooms, but nonetheless a great place to celebrate your mates birthday…read more Although, it's not ideal for large numbers of people, so make sure you don't invite too many friends. The same applies to the bar, which is placed in the corner of the room. It's tiny, and can get overcrowded easily, so expect to wait some time for your drink. The wait soon passes by though, especially if you bump into someone at the party who you've not seen in years! Drink selections aren't particularly great, and prices aren't as cheap as you'd hope. There are only two types of rum, standard white and standard dark, and the lager is the standard Carlsberg. The staff behind the bar aren't as cheerful as you'd expect either, but they do try and serve you as quickly as possible. Other than this, the whole atmosphere of the venue is really great, and there's a large dance floor for those who are already inebriated. There's also a sufficient amount of tables and chairs for those sober people to cheer on (*mock*) their drunken dancing friends.

Great place to learn Line Dancing, beginners, intermediates, latest dances & Old Favourites…read more Tuesday Nights with Elaine

I still dont think I'm fully over this event. It was jut so surreal and out there - very East…read moreLondon vibe, but perhaps the only thing that didnt equate to East London was a bunch of council types who somehow where let through the front door. You enter H.O.M and have to confess something, which I cant repeat here as it was very blue, so then you exchange your confession for a token to enter in the the House. Then you're greeted by what can be described as a creepy blonde guy dressed all in white asking you to enter at your peril and discover the spirit within and gives you what is a puzzle piece. As you enter, you're given a free bottle of Cubanisto beer and then lead in the actual club space, which is very dim, ultra violent, neon and gives off a rather macabre feel. We decorated our masks and then heralded a very crazy night of beer, cute little Cuban snacks and lots of photos! What a great event.

As PR events go, this wasn't all that…read more I went along expecting to see some great artists, free merchandise and get a feel for the brand. Instead, we were offered ONE free drink and the bar was serving their own drinks at £3 a bottle!? Couldn't believe it. Not only were they stingy on their merch, they then try to charge an arm and a leg for us to enjoy it. I did enjoy the skeleton key idea where you had to create a mask of three separate parts to then be given a key that is powered by NFC to open a box. I won a free pulled pork toasty, which was very tasty admittedly. The entertainment was average. I liked the DJ but they used a beatboxer which they created so much hype about with a "Countdown to Nightrise". He wasn't worth it. It felt like a bunch of out of touch people sat around a table and said, you know what, kids love beatboxers, let's get one. The drama of the entrance into the event had an interesting feeling, confessing your sins, walking through one by one. The problem was it made no sense and had no relation to the brand. The whole event tried to hard and at the same time, didn't try enough. We left to get our dance on down Hurst St, much more entertaining.