Having discovered Rushden Lakes for the first-time last year, I’ve been a regular visitor since. With each passing month there seems to be even more store and leisure openings, which makes every visit different to the last and it’s quickly become our shopping destination of choice as a family! My children love our visits but our most recent trip was an adults-only day for myself and my husband. As newlyweds we’re about to go on our honeymoon to Mexico, so we took a whole day off to spend at the Lakes to stock up on all of those holiday essentials we knew we’d need.
With so much shopping variety we knew we’d be able to get everything done in one go - and we did! We started in Primark, which was a great attraction for us on our visit. Thanks to the unreliability of the good old-fashioned weather, we didn’t want to break the bank with our holiday basics, so we went for affordable instead to justify buying as much as we would need.
The great thing about Primark at Rushden Lakes is there’s a huge womenswear section for me – hurray! And a really large menswear section too (as well as childrenswear and home.) So while I was there, I picked up all of my honeymoon basic shorts, strappy tops and sandals which will make up the bulk of my day-to-day essentials. Along with a great bikini and beach coverup. I tried on a huge selection of items as the current summer range is so on-trend I found it hard to make my selections!
My husband got a huge portion of all of his honeymoon clothing while in-store. The value was too good to resist! He picked up shorts, polo tops, chinos, shoes, t-shirts, footwear and swim shorts all in one store – which shows how good their menswear selection is. We’d highly recommend a visit to men wanting to shop without spending too much time doing so, as you’ll get so much in one place.
We also picked up a brand-new suitcase from Primark – who knew they did luggage?! But for only £30 we got a great little case to help with our packing and it’s sturdy as well as being a great size, so we felt like we balanced fun with practical all in one store.
Next up on my shopping list was the accessories! If you pick your accessories well when shopping for a honeymoon or holiday then you can bring a whole outfit to life. And the right accessories will take even a simple statement dress or outfit to a whole new level. I was in the market for a stylish hat and the choice was amazing. I settled on a mustard and white accent straw version which will be both practical during the day but also look great in the evenings too. I found the accessories selection at Rushden Lakes to be excellent – Accessorize has a lovely store which is currently full of summer-themed sparkly goodies! Primark, River Island and M&S also had good selections for jewellery, bags, hats and all those kinds of items. Plus, Pandora has a beautiful little boutique offering more personal and premium pieces if that’s what you’re looking for.
Another key store we visited was New Look which has a great range of more statement summer items. The store is so well stocked! Again, the Rushden Lakes branch has one of the best selections I’ve found in this area so I managed to get some key items for my trip. I found they had a huge range of on-trend prints in both dresses and jumpsuits, all with a real summer vibe. And their selection of midi and maxi skirts was brilliant – I snapped up three dresses and two skirts in here. Paired with basic tees or crops, these will give me a great selection of summer evening attire!
I can’t forget the shoe selection too! Everyone needs new shoes for their honeymoon, right?! We got our basic summer flip-flops from Primark and New Look, and made a pit-stop at Schuh for me to treat myself to a great pair of knock-out wedges. Although my size wasn’t in-stock the staff were so helpful and enabled me to order the shoes online, making sure I got the right style and they were delivered to my home the following week.
Another honeymoon essential would be the beauty products, namely sun protection. I burn really easily, and, in the heat, I need maximum sun protection. The Boots at Rushden Lakes had all its summer products in one area so we were able to grab enough sun protection, insect repellant and first aid bits to stock us for our trip. Plus, the Advantage Card points were a great bonus! If beauty is your thing you’ve also got L’Occitane to explore as well as the whole beauty department in House of Fraser. If you’re a beauty buff like me, I highly recommend checking this out!
Our final stop for the remaining bits for our honeymoon was H&M. This was our ‘final pieces to pull outfits together’ stop. I wanted some simple tops to team with statement skirts and my husband wanted some nice shirts. We found that the summer sale had just begun and we bagged some amazing finds! The sale was the neatest sale I’d ever seen, which really impressed me too – the store layout was easy to maneuver and the sale was neat and simple to browse. I also found that H&M had a really good selection of animal print items in all manner of styles which I loved. I’m living for the animal print trend right now, so I also purchased some cute tops to complete my haul.
To finish our busy day shopping we went for lunch at the newly opened TGI Friday’s – which is one of my favourite casual eateries. You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to food at Rushden Lakes but TGI’s has a great food selection and we were eager to try the new restaurant! After a huge meal and the odd cocktail, we reviewed our purchases to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything and after agreeing we’d done really well with our haul, we left happy, shopped out and honeymoon ready!
We had such a great day shopping and exploring everything Rushden Lakes has to offer – the shopping selection gets better all the time and I love seeing what’s new on each return visit. Already since we went the brand new Cineworld has opened which means that next time we come we may have to tie in with a movie and another meal. I’m sure my husband and the kids won’t complain much!
Thank you so much to Rushden Lakes for having us and helping us get ready for our dream honeymoon with the perfect day out.
With so much shopping variety we knew we’d be able to get everything done in one go - and we did! We started in Primark, which was a great attraction for us on our visit. Thanks to the unreliability of the good old-fashioned weather, we didn’t want to break the bank with our holiday basics, so we went for affordable instead to justify buying as much as we would need.
The great thing about Primark at Rushden Lakes is there’s a huge womenswear section for me – hurray! And a really large menswear section too (as well as childrenswear and home.) So while I was there, I picked up all of my honeymoon basic shorts, strappy tops and sandals which will make up the bulk of my day-to-day essentials. Along with a great bikini and beach coverup. I tried on a huge selection of items as the current summer range is so on-trend I found it hard to make my selections!
My husband got a huge portion of all of his honeymoon clothing while in-store. The value was too good to resist! He picked up shorts, polo tops, chinos, shoes, t-shirts, footwear and swim shorts all in one store – which shows how good their menswear selection is. We’d highly recommend a visit to men wanting to shop without spending too much time doing so, as you’ll get so much in one place.
We also picked up a brand-new suitcase from Primark – who knew they did luggage?! But for only £30 we got a great little case to help with our packing and it’s sturdy as well as being a great size, so we felt like we balanced fun with practical all in one store.
Next up on my shopping list was the accessories! If you pick your accessories well when shopping for a honeymoon or holiday then you can bring a whole outfit to life. And the right accessories will take even a simple statement dress or outfit to a whole new level. I was in the market for a stylish hat and the choice was amazing. I settled on a mustard and white accent straw version which will be both practical during the day but also look great in the evenings too. I found the accessories selection at Rushden Lakes to be excellent – Accessorize has a lovely store which is currently full of summer-themed sparkly goodies! Primark, River Island and M&S also had good selections for jewellery, bags, hats and all those kinds of items. Plus, Pandora has a beautiful little boutique offering more personal and premium pieces if that’s what you’re looking for.
Another key store we visited was New Look which has a great range of more statement summer items. The store is so well stocked! Again, the Rushden Lakes branch has one of the best selections I’ve found in this area so I managed to get some key items for my trip. I found they had a huge range of on-trend prints in both dresses and jumpsuits, all with a real summer vibe. And their selection of midi and maxi skirts was brilliant – I snapped up three dresses and two skirts in here. Paired with basic tees or crops, these will give me a great selection of summer evening attire!
I can’t forget the shoe selection too! Everyone needs new shoes for their honeymoon, right?! We got our basic summer flip-flops from Primark and New Look, and made a pit-stop at Schuh for me to treat myself to a great pair of knock-out wedges. Although my size wasn’t in-stock the staff were so helpful and enabled me to order the shoes online, making sure I got the right style and they were delivered to my home the following week.
Another honeymoon essential would be the beauty products, namely sun protection. I burn really easily, and, in the heat, I need maximum sun protection. The Boots at Rushden Lakes had all its summer products in one area so we were able to grab enough sun protection, insect repellant and first aid bits to stock us for our trip. Plus, the Advantage Card points were a great bonus! If beauty is your thing you’ve also got L’Occitane to explore as well as the whole beauty department in House of Fraser. If you’re a beauty buff like me, I highly recommend checking this out!
Our final stop for the remaining bits for our honeymoon was H&M. This was our ‘final pieces to pull outfits together’ stop. I wanted some simple tops to team with statement skirts and my husband wanted some nice shirts. We found that the summer sale had just begun and we bagged some amazing finds! The sale was the neatest sale I’d ever seen, which really impressed me too – the store layout was easy to maneuver and the sale was neat and simple to browse. I also found that H&M had a really good selection of animal print items in all manner of styles which I loved. I’m living for the animal print trend right now, so I also purchased some cute tops to complete my haul.
To finish our busy day shopping we went for lunch at the newly opened TGI Friday’s – which is one of my favourite casual eateries. You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to food at Rushden Lakes but TGI’s has a great food selection and we were eager to try the new restaurant! After a huge meal and the odd cocktail, we reviewed our purchases to make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything and after agreeing we’d done really well with our haul, we left happy, shopped out and honeymoon ready!
We had such a great day shopping and exploring everything Rushden Lakes has to offer – the shopping selection gets better all the time and I love seeing what’s new on each return visit. Already since we went the brand new Cineworld has opened which means that next time we come we may have to tie in with a movie and another meal. I’m sure my husband and the kids won’t complain much!
Thank you so much to Rushden Lakes for having us and helping us get ready for our dream honeymoon with the perfect day out.
