It is a pleasure to share Jenna and George's joyful, colourful Owlpen Manor wedding with you today. The wedding took place in August and was filled with gorgeous, vibrant flowers and wonderful personal details.
Jenna wore Jesus Peiro's iconic 2415 sparkling cape, over the simple, elegant 2427 wedding dress. With the dress making such a statement, Jenna kept her styling simple and classic, with classic pearl drop earrings and a sleek half up hair do to let the cape shine.
Read on to find out more about the day and Jenna's dress shopping experience in her own words, with images by Heart Full of Tea.
Jesus Peiro 2427 wedding dress with the 2415 cape
Probably about 80% of the dresses I tried on were by Jesus Peiro so I knew pretty earlier on that I had found my designer, it was just a matter of choosing between dresses from the collection. That was the hard bit. I loved the very elegant style of the dresses - they felt classic and timeless. It was important to me that I didn't feel restricted in my dress. I wanted to be able to enjoy our wedding day in full, the food and the dancing, so I did a lot of "testing" during my appointments (which mainly involved lunging and squatting in various dresses whilst my family, and a very patient Corinne(!) looked on). I was so happy when I found my dress. It ticked all the boxes - the fit was flattering without being skin tight and I have always loved a square neckline, it just felt very "me".
The cape was another story ...
In my initial emails with Miss Bush I said that I was open to trying anything, but that I wouldn't describe myself as a glittery or sparkly person. I had pictured myself in something "clean" and classic so when Corinne asked me to trust her and try on the Jesus Peiro cape I definitely had my doubts. I remember looking across the room to my mom and us both pulling a face when we first saw the glitter but the thing with Corinne is that you know you are in safe hands, she really knows what she is doing. The moment I saw myself in the cape I remember saying "...I think I might... absolutely love this" and I knew from the look on everyone's faces that they did too. I had never seen anything like it. On the rack it was something I would have never chosen, but on, it transformed the whole look into something really unique. I felt like a character from a fantasy novel, like I should be getting married at Winterfell (Game of Thrones) but without it feeling like a costume.
The cape was my big surprise on the day. As hard it was to keep it a secret, particularly from my lovely bridesmaids, I knew no description I could give would do it justice and that their reactions would be worth waiting for.
The cape also let me have two separate looks on the day without buying a second dress though by the time I changed out of it, I was covered in glitter so it was very much there to stay.
Dress Shopping
My mom, my (future - at the time!) sister in-law and mother in-law came dress shopping with me.
They were all super supportive throughout the dress buying process - particularly my lovely sister in-law, Hannah, whose first words with every dress I tried on were "most importantly how do you feel in it". All three of them became devoted members of "cape cult" and were sworn to secrecy. My mom told me that she struggled not to tell anyone she was so excited and would sometimes whisper the words "the cape!" to me and my mother in-law when we were together at family gatherings. So its safe to say they were big fans.
My favourite part of the dress shopping experience was trying on styles I would have never chosen myself and falling in love with them. Corinne has a real eye for what styles will suit brides. A wedding dress is like no other dress you own, so it makes sense that you should try something completely new whilst you have the chance.
Styling
I wanted to keep my accessories simple as I felt the dress and the cape gave me everything I really needed. I had two different types of pearl earrings (the second pair with a matching necklace which I put on once I removed the cape) both from Etsy and my pearl hair pins were from there too. My shoes were a great buy from Debenhams online (a bargain at £36!) and were super comfortable. We were getting married outside so I needed to be able to manoeuvre a grass aisle!
A fun and colourful wedding at Owlpen Manor
We got married at Owlpen Manor. I am originally from the midlands and my husband is from Surrey so we wanted somewhere in the middle(ish) with gorgeous countryside. Owlpen was the perfect venue because they only do two weddings per week, so as a Saturday wedding we got to make it a whole wedding weekend. We started celebrations with a relaxed dinner in the grounds of one of the cottages (the gorgeous Gristmill which you can see in the photos of our bridal party) the night before the wedding with our close family and friends who were staying on site. We finished celebrations with a picnic in the grounds on the Sunday - it was an amazing spread put on by George's family, and really gave us the chance to decompress and recap on what a wonderful day we had with our guests.
In the lead up to the wedding I spent a lot of time on Pintrest and Tik-Tok which is what inspires some of the extra touches. For our table numbers we used photos of us from different ages (from birth to age 9) and it was so fun going through old photo albums and comparing photos together. We also left anniversary cards on each table and asked our guests to leave messages for us as we hit each milestone - so we will be opening table 1's card on our first anniversary.
Instead of name cards, we left polaroids for each of our guests at their seats and again, it felt special going through and choosing each photo to use.
I had an idea for a family tree showing our grandparents and parents on their wedding days leading down to a photo of us when we got engaged and my wonderful friend (Daisy - UniquelyDaisy on Etsy) helped me bring that to life.
Daisy and her mom, my lovely godmother (Jo), made the most gorgeous wedding cake and cupcakes as their wedding gift to us. You can see that the bright, colourful, floral theme continued there.
The best bits
The Friday evening at our pre-wedding dinner was such a lovely way to kick off the celebrations - we really felt surrounded by love and people who wanted everything to go well for us.
Getting ready with my bridesmaids and seeing their reactions to the cape - I was right, it was totally worth waiting for.
Walking down the aisle and seeing George waiting - I don't think I stopped smiling from that point onwards.
Walking into our wedding breakfast and seeing all of our friends and family waving napkins and cheering for us.
The speeches - proving without any doubt that our bridesmaids and groomsmen really are some of the funniest and most thoughtful people you could find.
The wheelbarrow faux exit. This mad idea was borne out of my husband veto-ing a tuktuk or golf buggy to help us get around Owlpen's estate. My wonderful sister in-law devised a plan that if those options were out, he surely couldn't object to a wheelbarrow, decorated fittingly with blankets and fairy lights with tin cans trailing at the back, particularly if we didn't tell him! Both of us had a turn in the wheelbarrow on the day and although truly bizarre, it was great to have our family and friends cheering for us.
For the last song of the night, we invited our guests to join us on the dancefloor for a tribute to my Dad, Martin, who sadly passed away from cancer in 2021. We chose a song that he had picked for us to remember him by, Bob Marley's Three Little Birds. It goes "don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing is going to be alright". That was him down to a t. Although I wish more than anything that he could have been there, and quite a few tears were shed in the moment, dancing with my new husband, surrounded by the people we love with that song playing was a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Jenna's Advice
Trust the process (and the team at Miss Bush- they know what they are doing). Things might go wrong, or not entirely to plan on the day, but I think its important to remember that this is probably going to be the only time in your life that everyone you love is in the same room, everything else is secondary.
For practical tips - make sure you have a crochet hook for your dress buttons on the day - we didn't and my poor Mom, and her freshly manicured nails, are only just recovered from the stress of trying to get me buttoned up in time for the ceremony!
Suppliers
Venue: Owlpen Manor
Photographer: Heart Full of Tea
Videographer: S B Films
Florist: Daisy Belle Floral Design
Make up and hair: House of Bendy
Bridesmaids dresses: Rewritten
Caterer: Well Seasoned Cotswold Caterers
Stationery: Uniquely Daisy
Groom's suit: Casual Fitters