Hoggy Warty Hogwarts

I kind of love Harry Potter as I'm sure many of you do and I have been itching to go to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, The Making of Harry Potter ever since I first heard about it. After luckily managing to get tickets in the Summer holidays, my sisters and my dad all trooped down to Leavesden Studio (where the HP series was actually filmed) last Thursday, eager to see for ourselves, the iconic sets, props and models that were used in the movies. Since my youngest sister had a child ticket, she was given one of these cute passports where she had to collect different stamps from around the attraction, I admit I was a teeny bit jealous! If you follow me on instagram you might have noticed a few photos but here are a few more from my day...

Jacket - Topshop, Blouse - Forever 21, Necklace - Miss Selfridge, Skirt - ASOS, Belt - c/o Next, 

Bag - Kwai Chung Plaza (HK), Shoes - Converse

We sampled the butterbeer which is pretty much a cream soda concoction with a frothy marshmallowy foam. It's sickly but I couldn't leave the studios without a taste! Diagon Alley was definitely a high point and it made me really wish that they were all real working shops.

The shop is horrifyingly expensive but a lot of fun to browse. As tempting as it was to buy school robes, Gryffindor scarves and wands, we ended up buying a armful of chocolate including Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Fizzing Whizzbees and a Chocolate Wand. We sat in the car afterwards with all our goodies, feeling a little like Harry in his first year where he buys his first treats off the trolley on the Hogwarts Express and devours them with Ron! Happy happy.

It was a really fabulous day out with the family and it'll leave you wishing you were a set designer/prop maker. It will also leave you in awe of all the workmanship and details that are part of every scene, from conception on pen and paper to the fully working models. I do wonder if they'll ever expand and include more sets from the film but we all left with smiles on our faces and with a couple more family photos to add to our photo albums! I would most definitely recommend a visit, in fact - I'd love to go back!