Antony & Francesca's London Wedding may have been a smaller, more intimate affair than first planned, but we can see from the photos shared with us that it was a beautiful, special and romantic day. Francesca looked breathtaking in her elegant, perfectly fitted Sapphire wedding dress by Suzanne Neville, which was the ideal dress choice for the stunning St Etheldreda's Church.⁠ The couple worked around the restrictions with a simple reception in the bride's Grandmother's garden, celebrating with champagne and individual picnic baskets for each guest.

Read on to find out more about Francesca's dress shopping journey and their wedding story, with images by Bizzy Arnott.

Suzanne Neville Sapphire wedding dress

I chose Suzanne Neville's Sapphire dress. I know it's a cliche, but I just felt like a princess in it! If you can't go all out for your wedding day, well, when can you? For a dress that big though, it was amazing how comfortable I felt in it, and how well it transitioned from church to a small garden in Streatham - which was not our original wedding day plan! I couldn't believe that I was able to move around so easily in such a large skirt, plus it had pockets, and who doesn't love a dress with pockets? I loved how the corset held and supported me, nipping in my waist and letting me relax about any unsightly lumps or bumps being on show... My ultimate, favourite thing about the dress though had to be that neckline. It was smart and elegant, the off the shoulder's sleeves framed my collarbone and gave a hint of my décolletage, and yet it was still church appropriate. I felt beautiful, elegant and a bit sexy on my wedding day, which for me, is the ultimate goal in how a bride should feel!

Dress Shopping

I knew that I wanted to keep the dress choosing as simple as possible. What if I loved something and other people didn't like it? Or vice versa? I didn't want to be swayed and confused by a million different opinions - on the day no one is going to tell you if they didn't like it, and all that matters is that I feel comfortable and beautiful in it. I also was keen to keep the dress as much as surprise as possible... So, for me, it was a no brainer that the only person who should come with me would be my Mother. She knows me so well, and I trust her to be honest if it really doesn't suit me.

Having said all that, when I first tried my dress on at Miss Bush, Mum was adamant it didn't suit me! I think the corset and sleeves didn't quite fit as it was a sample dress, but I could imagine straight away what it would look like when fitted properly. I remember swishing about in it and already feeling so special. By the end of that first session we had actually decided on another dress and were ready to put the deposit down, but Corrine quite rightly told us to sit on it, and come back in a week or so later to try it on again. I am so pleased she did that, as looking back the whole process can be a bit overwhelming!

This time, I also brought my Stepfather with me as I wanted his opinion. I tried on my top three favourites and I decided to include the one Mum wasn't keen on as I just couldn't get it out of my head. Luckily for me, they both unanimously picked that as their favourite! Which was a relief as I had already decided it was the dress for me - I just sighed with happiness when I tried it on!

When I got engaged everyone told me I'd need loads of time to get the dress made and ready. I immediately spent a small fortune panic booking in fittings with so many different dress shops. My mum had told me about Miss Bush through a friend of a friend of hers, and it was the first place we went to. We had the most welcoming, incredible experience - Corrine took her time to ask all about the wedding and get a real feel of "me" and what would work for both me and the wedding we had planned. We tried on loads of different dresses and I know we went well over the hour time slot, but never once felt rushed or pushed. I am so grateful that Corrine gave us the space to come back in a week or so to make the final decision. Wedding dress shopping can be surprisingly tiring as well as utterly overwhelming and it was so good to be able to come back to it with fresh eyes. Not to mention that we ended up going an entirely different direction dress-wise on our second visit!

In the gap in between, Mum and I went to numerous other boutiques and wedding dress designers. Across the board we had a miserable time! We were either crammed into small, dirty changing rooms or so pushed to buy the dress right away we felt desperately uncomfortable. I joke with friends now though that the final straw for my Mother was when we went to a very upmarket, high-end designer and all she was offered a glass of water... at Miss Bush there was prosecco on tap or delicious coffee from next door! In all seriousness though, after those other fittings we both knew that even though I hadn't completely decided which dress to go with, we were going to buy it from Miss Bush and nowhere else as the experience alone was so joyous.

Postponing

The only major problem and issue we had with our wedding was Covid. Although saying "only", what an understatement! It was a completely devastating nightmare and my heart goes out to everyone who's dealing with it.

Our original wedding was going to be at my cousin's beautiful Château in Burgundy, France but we realised quite early on that we'd have to cancel. Even though it was planned for August and there was a chance that things might be easing by then, there was no way we could ask our family and friends to take that risk for us. The next big question we had to deal with was to postpone entirely, or not. As you can't actually get legally married in France, we still had a date booked in July to get married at our local registry office in London, and after talking with each other and our families, we both knew we didn't want to delay the wedding. Life is short and if Covid has taught us anything, it was that truly a big, grand abroad wedding was not the most important thing. All that is important is that we have each other, and we wanted to celebrate that by getting married.

I make the decision not to postpone sound easy, and whilst it was for us, we were still having to make these choices when we were in lockdown and weddings were currently banned. We didn't know what kind of wedding we'd be looking at - how many people could come, if receptions would be allowed and even whether the restrictions would actually be lifted by then. We also had an added worry whether Antony's sister would be able to make it over from Italy, plus my Father, Stepmother and brother all live in the Isle of Man and they were in very strict lockdown, lasting much longer the rest of the UK. In the end, my Father had to apply to the Isle of Man Government for special permission to leave, and they all had to quarantine for 2 full weeks when they returned home after the wedding.

During all this, I felt so grateful that the Miss Bush team kept sending reassuring emails keeping us up to date with everything that's going on and their future plans to reopen and bring the team off of furlough. As lockdown started to ease, I sent Rosie a rather passionate email asking if there was ever a chance my wedding dress could be made in a month's time, and she was fantastic and booked me in right away for a fitting. We don't know what 2021 holds for us, and I thought that maybe this wedding would be my only chance to wear "The Dress", even if only 3 people got to see it. I was so grateful to Rosie for being so positive and taking it all in her stride, and I won't forget the joy and relief I felt at that first fitting of actually finally being able to do something positive wedding related after months of debating and worry!

In the end, I added another spanner in the works as we then decided last minute that we didn't want to get married in a registry office in July, and instead we would hold out for our original date in August. My husband has links with a beautiful Church in central London, who miraculously had availability the day of the wedding, plus we thought our families might have more of a chance making it over to London a month later. Rosie was so patient with me and rearranged all the fitting dates for me so they could be closer to the wedding date, and didn't grumble once about the fact that all her hard work of sweet-talking Suzanne Neville into making the dress in such quick turnaround was wasted!

Styling

With a dress as simple and elegant as the Sapphire, I knew I wanted to keep everything else just as simple and let the clean lines, perfect fit and luxurious fabric do the talking. Everything that is, except for my shoes which were bright blue with sparkles! Everyone needs a bit of sparkle in their lives, right?

The ribbon edging on my veil matched the small belt on the dress, and I kept my hair up with simple white flowers pinned in it, to show the beautiful wing-like collar at the back of the dress. I wore my grandmother's bracelet as my something old and something borrowed, my shoes were of course my something blue, and my dress was new! The bracelet and my earrings, a wedding gift from my Mother, were sapphires which not only matched the name of the dress (totally unintentional!) but also tied in with the blue of the Bridesmaid dresses and flowers.

In fact, I loved the veil so much but hated the thought of all these beautiful items being packed up to gather dust in the attic for the next 20 years. So, we've done something some people might think is rather shocking with it... we've cut it up and with the ribbon from my bouquet, my Stepmother has made the most beautiful scented bags, filled with all the leftover confetti from the wedding (we were panning for a wedding of 150 and instead had 30 - there's a lot of leftovers!). I'm keeping one and giving the others to my mother, my stepmother and my mother in law as a precious memento of the day.

An intimate London wedding

I truly think that it wasn't until the morning of the wedding that I actually began to believe the wedding was going to happen. Having changed from France to London, and then back into turmoil as Boris Johnson yet again changed the goalposts, we really felt we had been through the mill!

We ended up having to organise the entire afternoon in less than one week. Because we could only have 30 people with no on site "staff" such as caterers, we couldn't spend much time over the decorations, food and flowers. Things I had thought were essential to a wedding became totally unimportant as we realised all we wanted were to hear the speeches and be able to raise a glass of champagne to celebrate with our very closest friends and family.

Food for everyone came in Covid-friendly individual picnic bags which everyone said how delicious and filling they were, and my brother heroically became the barman. It was incredible how all our friends and family pitched in to help - the morning of the wedding my Stepfather even made a mad dash into Brixton to buy some white balloons to decorate the garden with!

I never thought I was a fan of colour schemes but there ended up being a clear 'light blue' theme throughout the wedding; in my jewellery, in the bridesmaid dresses, Groom's shirt and tie and also in the bouquets and buttonholes. It tied everyone nicely together, and looks lovely in the photos. The flowers not only looked beautiful but they smelt of an English garden on a summer's day which was magical.

Special mention must also go to our cake maker Sophie Cabot who had to adapt a few times as the plans changed! Sophie created the most personal, beautiful cake - work of art really - I have ever seen in my entire life. Not only was it totally breath-taking and special, it was also completely delicious. As the night wore on I would see people hovering around it cutting more slices off! I think the cake was also a perfect metaphor for the wedding - whilst it was completely beautiful and wonderful, it is also so transient - you can't keep it forever, you have to cut into it and take a big bite. All that lasts are wonderful memories and a delicious taste in your mouth!

The best bits

Honestly, for me, my most favourite part of the day was the service. From walking down the aisle, to saying our vows in front of our friends and family, I have never, ever felt happiness like it. That we managed to get married in the middle of a pandemic, cancelling our plans twice over and having to make huge sacrifices on a day that, quite frankly I've thought about as a little girl, well I'm pretty bloody proud of us! We were buzzing for days afterwards, in fact I think I still am!⁠

Francesca's Advice

Work out what is truly important to you as a couple, and what both you cannot do without at your wedding. It makes everything so much easier when you have a clear mindset of what you, and your partner, need (not always the same as want!) on your wedding day. Also, stop worrying about it! The day will fly by and you'll be so truly happy you won't care if the napkins aren't quite the right colour white you wanted, or if the tiniest detail doesn't quite go to plan.

One practical thing I would suggest is to have a clear list of what formal photos you want on the day and appoint an usher to manage it. We had been so caught up in the turmoil of replanning the wedding we slightly left the list of photos slide. Poor Bizzy, our wonderful photographer, had such a difficult time corralling us all together! Also, don't rush the photos as they are the one thing that lasts! Luckily Bizzy was brilliant and captured some stunning photos for us.

Postponing and rearranging a wedding is a truly heartbreaking thing. Hold onto the love you have for each other, but don't also forget the love and support you have from your family and friends- they want to help you! We were blown away by how incredible and kind all our friends were - even the ones we sadly couldn't have join us, they supported us every which way they could which made the day so very, very special.

This entry was posted in Our Brides and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.