Holly & Joshua were married in the beautiful Surrey Hills in May, with an emotional ceremony at St Mary & All Saints, Dunsfold, followed by an intimate reception in the gorgeous barn at Nurscombe Farmhouse near Guildford.

Holly wore a stunning bespoke creation from Suzanne Neville. As one our Designer Day brides, Holly had the opportunity to meet Suzanne in person, and have her ideas drawn up by the designer herself! The result was a an elegant strapless gown with built in corset and full, romantic skirt. A removable lace overlay was added to the top with an elegant scalloped neckline and full length lace sleeves. It looked so beautiful and was just perfect for Holly's wonderful Surrey Hills wedding day. 

We're so delighted to share the full feature with you below. Read on to find out more, in Holly's own words...

 

Holly's bespoke Suzanne Neville wedding dress

I wore a bespoke Suzanne Neville dress and it was my dream! Watching Suzanne herself sketch it at the Designer Evening (back in 2019!) was a very special memory. I actually stayed pretty close to what I thought would suit me - long lace sleeves and a big princess-like skirt! I was really indecisive about neckline and couldn't find anything that had long sleeves, a classic waist and a neckline that wasn't too plunging... so having the opportunity to look at a bespoke design was an amazing part of the magic of Miss Bush and Suzanne Neville! I had seen one other Suzanne Neville bride with just on/just off the shoulder lace and I loved it. I also knew that Suzanne Neville dresses could have the top half buttoned into the dress which would look like a complete dress, but could be taken away for just the strapless dress in the evening. I loved the idea of having a slightly different look in the evening for dancing and so this was my favourite thing about my dress. I really loved everything about it - the beautiful French lace sleeves with buttons that Corinne and I spent lots of time looking at different swatches for, the duchess satin bodice (with the most amazing corsetry inside!) and that huge, blowsy silk organza skirt that was up to my ears when I got into the wedding car with my Dad on the way to the church! It was my dream dress in every way - worth the wait and it's such a treat to get to wear it twice.

I visited Miss Bush with my mum. I had been to one other wedding dress shop and it was a good experience although I could tell my mum wasn't loving any of the dresses I was trying. It was a completely different experience at Miss Bush - it's so calm and special in the chapel and my mum had the best time with some champagne in hand... every dress I came out in she loved and was her new favourite!

Dress Shopping

I had a wonderful experience with Miss Bush and I tell everyone looking for a wedding dress about it - I feel like it went so beyond just a dress shopping experience for me. The chapel is so beautiful, spacious and open - it really gives a sense of atmosphere and you get to move around in these big beautiful dresses imagining you are walking down the aisle! I also still remember the arch of peachy coloured flowers above the door from when I first visited! It's such a different experience to anywhere else.

We also had an amazing time during the Designer Evening - bubbles and candlelight, meeting Suzanne Neville and watching her sketch my dress, being spoiled at The Nest a few doors down and discovering lots of amazing other suppliers like our gift list company, The Wedding Present Co.

I'm not sure how I can really describe the Miss Bush team and the impact they had on my experience getting married! We were about eight weeks away from getting married when we first went into lockdown. The emotional, mental and financial stress of trying to get married during these years is an experience only this group of brides and couples will have been through and it was really painful to see the wedding industry go through their experience of these years too. Miss Bush were the most amazingly supportive, human, helpful and present supplier throughout the two and a half years I've spent with them. They reacted to everything so impressively and proactively and went completely above and beyond what many people would expect from their ‘wedding dress shop’ which is why they really are much more to me than that. I really feel they are leaders in their industry, spending over a year campaigning on behalf on that industry in the media and with politicians, all the while supporting people postponing their marriages multiple times.

I also can't fail to mention how all of the above can be summed up by a moment where I ended up in the chapel completely naked apart from my wedding shoes and a thong, head between my legs with Jo and the Miss Bush girls fanning me with my dress fitting paperwork and feeding me biscuits! The perfect epitome of a covid bride - struggling with heat and breathing in a big dress wearing a mask, mentally not prepared that a wedding will actually happen after three years of waiting and a mum on zoom over 100 miles away. But Miss Bush were there, being the biggest supporters in these crazy moments and acting like it was just a normal Tuesday evening! They are just the best.

Styling

I'm tall and I had a long train to my wedding dress skirt so I chose a very simple single tier veil with extra length. I had flowers in my hair (and a flower crown for the evening). I wore a necklace my husband gave me for my 17th birthday (and that I've worn every day since) and my something borrowed was a beautiful pair of diamond earrings from my aunt. My shoes were from Dune and as small a heel as I could get away with! I love flowers and my amazing florist put together the most beautiful bouquet - she tied it with an offcut of the silk organza to match my wedding dress skirt that the SN team had very sweetly sent to me and I loved how it looked as a big blowsy ribbon around the bouquet. I also have to mention my amazing make up artist, Amy Conway. I'm still not sure how I got so lucky to meet her and book her but she was such a big part of our wedding as she insisted on finding a way to bring our pug Teddy to the reception! She was one of many people who were just so unbelievably kind and it meant so much.

A beautiful Surrey Hills wedding

Like most 'covid couples', our wedding day changed a lot! We had to plan for and consider 4 different dates, 3 different venues, 4 different scenarios for guest numbers etc. Up until three weeks before the wedding, we had never planned to have our reception in a barn but that's what we ended up doing! It was quite last minute and DIY, not in any way like the big fancy wedding we had originally planned (apart from the big comforts were having our ceremony in the same church and for me, being able to wear the dress I had chosen!).

We got married in the church of the village I grew up in and our reception was in a barn that we set up ourselves in the few days before. Everything was so personal and relaxed - we strung some fairy lights up for a bit of a dancefloor and our friends and family all helped with steaming table cloths, arranging flowers and hoovering the floor of the barn! We had 30 guests and everyone helped themselves or served other people champagne and food which actually made it really special and fun.

We have our 'second' wedding planned (a blessing ceremony and a bigger party) in September - again it's a million miles away from the original plan (almost literally as we've decided to have it at our new home in the Cotswolds) but we can't wait to celebrate with all of the people that couldn't be there and I feel very lucky to get to wear my dress again.

The best bits

The ceremony - it was incredibly emotional and with only 30 people, it felt very real and special, just simply about the most important part of saying your vows to each other. I think everyone in the church cried. There was some dramatic thunder as we were saying our vows and the sun shone as we came out - it was really amazing.

Holly's Advice

I was the sort of person that dreamed about their wedding years in advance, had a Pinterest board before I was engaged and spent lots of the two first years of being engaged thinking about every single detail of our dream wedding! Obviously everything was turned completely on its head and absolutely nothing went to plan... It even rained loads on the day but honestly absolutely none of it mattered and it was the best, most amazing day of our lives. There’s no feeling to compare when it is actually your wedding day. I really wouldn't have changed any of it and it was important to strip it back to what really matters about a wedding and a marriage, because a lot of what goes into a wedding doesn't really matter in the end! Although I would say... get the dress 😉

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