Anna Kara bridal launch party at Miss Bush

Late last Autumn we introduced a new designer, Anna Kara, to the boutique. As the end of the year was a little crazy for us, we decided to hold off until February before officially welcoming the brand to the Miss Bush family, with an evening of beautiful styling, good food, music, and of course, fabulous fashion.

With sensual silhouettes, floaty fabrics and a romantic, whimsical aesthetic the Anna Kara brand brings a softness that we've been missing from our collections. The designs feature beautiful nature inspired motifs, with sleeves and bodices covered in trailing vines, delicate leaves, tiny blossom flowers and scattered petals.

Emma says...

"The Anna Kara collection was the missing element of our offer. Miss Bush has always been strong on minimalism, fits the best corseted dresses, and has separates and fashion forward pieces. The missing jigsaw piece was soft, light and romantic dresses. Importantly though for our philosophy, I wanted them to European made, traceable and made from gorgeous fabrics. More difficult than you might believe.

I wasn’t prepared to compromise or take a label that I didn’t love to fill a gap on our rails. Boutiques don’t get given samples for brides to try on, I am spending my own money and if you think you are fussy as a bride you have not seen me on a buying trip…"

Flowers, food and drink

Ever since we met Lara from Wild Renata Flowers last year, and after seeing the magnificent florals she created for our bride Nikki recently, we have been longing to get her to Miss Bush to work her magic on the chapel arch. The Anna Kara event was the perfect chance to collaborate; we wanted to add a creative twist to the bohemian spirit at the heart of the Anna Kara brand, with a touch of British eccentricity and gothic, wintery style. The result was a rich, opulent and moody floral display with sumptuous florals in shades of muted purple and pink, antique yellows next to velvety deep red, and wild foliage in a rich dark green and burgundy. We've never had a chapel arch that looked quite so much like a painting, and it was just perfect for Emma's vision for the evening.

It's been quite a few years since Kalm Kitchen catered an event at The Chapel (in fact they worked on our first ever Chapel event in 2014!) and it was brilliant to have them back. As designer Anna Kara is from Krakow and all of the dresses are handmade in Poland, we opted for canapes and cocktails with a Polish inspired theme. The team at Kalm Kitchen put together a mouthwatering menu of treats which included veal & pork golabki, smoked sausage, sauerkraut and cornichons, truffled Cream cheese with radish on pumpernickel, Kohlrabi fritters with avocado purée or cucumber & dill gel, caviar & blinis, beetroot cured salmon, rye bread, herb creme fraiche and mini new potatoes wrapped in smoked bacon with a spiced sour cream dip.

The culinary highlight though had to be the two incredible, inviting grazing plates, which stood on display close to the chapel entrance and were just as beautiful as they were delicious. The savoury tray included beetroot hummus with goats’ cream and honey, basil and cashew nut pesto, sweet potato and flatleaf mini falafels, Salted pretzels, Norbury blue and Sussex charmer cheese, pickled baby garden vegetables, homemade oat cakes, black olive ficelle and bilberries, decorated with pretty wildflowers. The sweet version featured Brownies, macaroons, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, edible flowers, passionfruit, kiwi, and grapefruit.

We also put together a special cocktail for the evening; the Polish Mule, using Belvedere Vodka, elderflower syrup and sparkling ginger beer. Yum!

Guests were also treated to fab iced biscuits from Dolly Dewdrops Cake Art, who recreated beautiful, clever recreations of our lace motif from the event branding in edible icing.

Fashion, fun & music

The high point of any of our bridal events is always Emma's fantastic fashion presentation. These relaxed, informal displays involve our models showing off the dresses whilst Emma talks the guests through each the pieces, their styling options and what makes them perfect for Miss Bush brides. The Anna Kara party was no different, with Chloe and Clare looking wonderful in all of the dresses, which Emma styled with a British bohemian, Victorian Gothic feel. Hairstylist Sharon Roberts created relaxed, romantic waves whilst Carolanne Armstrong went dark and gothic with the make up, giving Chloe and Clare slightly smokey eyes, well defined brows, luminous skin and statement berry stained lips in deep blackcurrant. With the addition of lace up ankle boots, floral headpieces, dainty lace gloves and the cutest straw hat, it was the perfect representation of how we do boho here at Miss Bush.

It was also a delight to welcome to little sweethearts to the chapel to model the mini flower girl versions of Anna Kara's dresses. Jayne Redmond Handmade lent us her adorable daughter Lily, who along with friend Ophelia made the perfect models for these delicate lace dresses. They both did brilliantly!

Boomerang Booth and Spin Sisters were also back for the event, with the fun photobooth going down a treat as always and Laura from Spin Sisters helping to create a relaxed party atmosphere.