My Birmingham Birthday Bash

At the risk of sounding like a cynic, I must admit that I’m not usually all that excited for my birthday. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy celebrating and spending it with my family and friends, but I definitely don’t get that jittery feeling that we all used to get in our childhood. However, this year, somewhat miraculously, I actually felt the return of these beloved jitters as I prepared for my 21st birthday!

As this was going to be my last special birthday for a while (until I turn 30 and start crying about how fast time is going), I thought I’d push the boat out and do a proper celebration. Organising a night out in another city with 12 somewhat unorganised uni students wasn’t going to be an easy feat, but I was determined to pull it off nonetheless. A few days after the celebrations, I can safely say, without fearing the wrath of the jinx, that I did in fact, pull it off! I had such a wonderful weekend that I just needed to write a post about it and share what I got up to!

As a student at the University of Birmingham, I have such a love for the city. Despite sometimes getting a bad rep, Birmingham has so many great bars, clubs and pubs to go to that suit any kind of night. It might not be London, but there is still so much on offer, and at least you don’t have to re-mortgage your house if you want to buy a vodka-lemonade…

Finding a hotel for nine people on Easter bank holiday weekend proved a pretty difficult task at first, until I eventually stumbled across The Jury’s Inn. Situated slap bang in the centre of Birmingham on Broad Street, and just a stone’s throw away from bars and clubs, this hotel was the perfect location for our group. Overall we managed to get a room for one night, including an unlimited buffet breakfast for just £31 each! The rooms were spacious, clean and nicely decorated, what more could we ask for?

(As you can see, the bed on the left was ruined within 0.5 seconds of being in the room when my boyfriend decided to front flip onto it)

Overall, I was super impressed with the hotel. It had a perfect location, really friendly staff, and everything about our stay here was just easy! I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for somewhere to stay in Birmingham!

As for the actual celebrations, I chose to have a fancy meal at the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse because I had seen it on Instagram before and it looked like such a beautiful place. After seeing it in the flesh on Saturday night, it’s safe to say that it lived up to my expectations!

Situated right at the top of the Cube in Birmingham, the restaurant had a huge champagne bar, a rooftop terrace and a 360 degree view of the Birmingham skyline- pretty amazing if you ask me. When you book, you pay a £10 deposit per person (an extra £5 if you want a window seat) and this gets taken off your bill on the night!

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All the way through to sunset, the view just got better and better.

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We ate wonderful food, drank wonderful drinks and our meal was accompanied by a live singer/pianist which really added to the atmosphere! (Watch the video below to hear how amazing he was)

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The meal really was an amazing experience. We were treated so well by our waitress, the food was lovely and the atmosphere and view really couldn’t be beaten! If you’re looking for somewhere special to celebrate a birthday, then this is the perfect place!

After the restaurant we headed back to the hotel for some prosecco, before finally going to some bars in the area (all of which were no further than a 10 minute walk away from the hotel!) We started off at Aluna, a fancy cocktail bar right next to the mailbox that serves the coolest drinks. Fizzing, smoking, sparkling, you name it, they’ve got it. This place was a bit more on the pricey side, but a great place to have a drink or two for the atmosphere! After that we headed to Brindley place which has loads of bars, and we spent the rest of the night going to a few of our favourites!

One of the main things I was excited about for my 21st was having the chance to properly dress up. As something I don’t seem to do all that much anymore, I couldn’t wait! I chose this beaut dress from Emily Shak’s party collection at In The Style and I was absolutely obsessed.

Of course, no dress is complete without a killer pair of heels. And these heels from Topshop, certainly are killer. I didn’t know it was possible to feel emotionally attached to pair of shoes until now…

So, in a nutshell, I had a pretty amazing birthday. As a bunch of students, it was so nice to do something a little fancy for a change! If you’re looking to do something special for your birthday then I definitely recommend coming to Birmingham, it could be a night to remember!

How are you celebrating your birthday this year? I’d love to know in the comments below!