Book Review :: Cordially Invited, by Zoe Sugg

Cordially Invited by Zoe Sugg
ISBN: 1473687772
Published by Hachette NZ
on 2018-10-04
Genres: Nonfiction
Source: Hachette Publishing NZ
Find at Hachette NZ
Goodreads

For as long as Zoe Sugg can remember she has loved welcoming friends & family into her home, whether it's to celebrate someone else's big day or just being with friends, there is nothing she enjoys more than putting her energy into making any occasion special.

In Zoe's eyes the best thing about getting people together is there really is no right or wrong way: maybe you want to plan a throw-everything-at-it shindig, or simply make a special effort for one guest. Mostly it's about how people feel when they're in your company. How the smallest of gatherings can feel momentous, and the biggest of parties can feel intimate.

Over the years Zoe has shared glimpses of this side to her in her videos, with millions of viewers taking daily inspiration from her life. In Cordially Invited she shares her best and never seen before ideas in print. Divided into seasons, and woven through with Zoe's own stories and memories, this book reveals her favourite events - big or small - throughout the year and how to celebrate them in style.

From practical ideas for how to feed your guests and hacks for unexpected get-togethers to simple but impressive DIYs and those personal touches people will remember, Cordially Invited is Zoe's blueprint for making an event and a memory out of each day.

Last updated on 14 October 2023

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Cordially Invited looked so…well, inviting

Internet sensation Zoe Sugg (aka Zoella) has written a book, and it’s really rather beautiful. With the aim of giving readers ideas, tips, DIYs projects and recipes for a range of events throughout the year, Cordially Invited is a picture-heavy, pastel concoction of all things pretty. But is it really that useful?

Layout and style

The layout of this book is beautiful and they’ve done a really great job of using colour and textural elements. It’s easy to navigate around and the colours aren’t too glaring. My only grip is that there is a lot of text. A lot. Her introductions to sections could be halved and still have the same impact. Because there’s a lot of text, it’s quite small, which is another thing I didn’t quite enjoy.

The structure is also well done. There are four different sections for the four different season, each with various ideas for events you could throw for your friends and family. With each event there are ideas for decorations and how to make them, food and drinks recipes, and little additional touches you can add here and there for something special.

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What is inside Cordially Invited by Zoe Sugg?

The events

The events themselves were mostly ones that occur throughout the year – Christmas, birthdays, Easter (although we would never decorate for Easter – is Easter decor weird? That seems weird to me…) – but there were also other ideas such as brunch with friends, summer picnic on the lawn, cereal party, cosy fort-making evening etc.

While some of the ideas were really cute (ah, yes I want to make a blanket fort and stay in all day and watch movies with snacks), they didn’t seem to need an entire section of book dedicated to them. A cereal party actually sounds like fun to me, but surely I just get a whole bunch of cereal, grab some milk and we’re done, right? Yes, Sugg makes it all cute and pastel and it does look beautiful, but again, I don’t need an entire page dedicated to that. A paragraph would have done it. Or a Pinterest search.

The recipes

There are recipes spread throughout the book, themed to whichever event you’re currently flicking through. There were some yummy sounding things in there but none that I a) wouldn’t already know how to make or b) easily find a cookbook. I did however, really like the drink section, as she gives a few ideas and twists on the standard drinks we might already know.

The DIY projects

These were rather fun. Sugg shows you how to make things like a bunny garland for Easter (again, Easter? Random! Is this a thing? If you decorate your house for Easter, please let me know!), Christmas place names for the dinner table, tassels to border a tent in the garden and lots more. They are all very simple, and would be really good for people starting to get into the groove of doing their own decoration creation.

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Overall thoughts on Cordially Invited

It is a beautiful book with some really fun ideas in it, however, it’s unlikely to be a go-to for me. Most of my ideas for decorations, DIY projects, recipes and event planning shenanigans (of which there are a lot!) come from either my head, Pinterest, or me having an idea and going on Pinterest to see if anyone else has done it already and just how they managed it.

The other thing I just wanted to point out is that Zoe Sugg is an internet star, her name is on several books, and people flock to her website. She’s got a good source of income, and you can tell that that’s a big part of the projects in this book. If you’re reading this book, remember that just because she has items in her pages that make her events look incredible (and they do!) doesn’t mean you have to go out and get things to match. That’ll cost you a pretty penny. Try and imitate her ideas with cheaper items, make them yourself, or see if your friends have anything you can borrow.

For someone keen to host more events for their friends and family, and to add those little touches then I can see this book being really handy. For everyone else, it’s going to make beautiful backdrops to photos, and the occasional flick-through.

Have you had a look at Cordially Invited yet? What did you think? 

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I received this book for free from Hachette Publishing NZ in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.