Our featured wedding today is Emma and Darren's beautifully simple and elegant winter wedding in Cornwall. They were married at Watergate Bay Hotel and with only 22 guests the day was intimate, relaxed and family friendly. With the wedding happening just a few days before Christmas, the styling was fresh and wintery with lots of green foliage and white blooms, whilst candles added a romantic, cosy atmosphere.

Emma wore Jesus Peiro 8040, which was just perfect for the laid back but elegant feel of the wedding. The gown features graceful full length lace sleeves and a sleek, soft skirt. Emma made the dress her own with the addition of a delicate lace panel to the deep v neckline.

Find out more about this wonderful day below, with images by Debs Alexander.

 

Jesus Peiro 8040 wedding dress

I picked the very first dress I tried on in the Chapel! As soon as I arrived, Corinne had picked out a number of dresses based on my 'pre-questionnaire', and had nailed it with all of them! But the Jesus Peiro 8040 took the edge from how I felt in it. I just knew it was the one; I couldn't stop looking at myself in the mirror! As I was having a small, intimate wedding before Christmas, I knew I wanted something glamorous and feminine without being too 'girly', which just isn't me. But had no idea what this translated to in real terms! I had no prerequisites aside from the fact I wanted a sleek silhouette. The sleeves, neckline and back were my favourite and I just felt so feminine and classic in it. It was everything I had dreamed of, without even knowing!

I brought my Mum to my appointment, and my youngest daughter, Darcey, who was a baby at the time and I was petrified of her touching anything but everyone made us feel so at home. Even if Darcey wouldn't let the curtain be shut! Mum loved it too, as soon as I put it on and we both went back to the 'original' dress with every subsequent dress I tried! We knew there and then! First boutique, first dress!

Dress Shopping

I loved seeing the girls and feeling part of the Miss Bush family. We always had a giggle and it made it such a special, memorable experience. Also Jo working her magic with the amendments and tweaks we made to the dress made it really exciting as I knew the dress was being made to fit me specifically and all the little nips, tucks and additions meant the dress was truly bespoke.

I had a couple of wobbles over fittings but the entire team made me feel totally at ease and able to come straight in and chat through with you. I always knew that at the heart of what you do is that you want your brides to be totally happy and the best for us, which comes across in droves. Everyone is so invested in your process, you're made to feel like you're the only bride getting married.

Styling

I bought a beautiful hairband and kept the veil really simple. Because of the dress with the lace sleeves and beautiful low neckline (with an amazing addition of lace by the lovely Jo!) I felt like I didn't need a necklace and kept the jewellery really simple with diamond stud earrings. I then went a bit bolder with my choice of shoes; red velvet stiletto sandals (a bargain from Zara!) as Darren had red silk inside his suit and I wanted to pay a little homage to the time of year. I loved them and they were so comfortable all day. I went back and bought them in other colours afterwards!

A simple, classic winter wedding in Cornwall

The day was beautiful, styled brilliantly by the hotel and the amazing Wedding Decor / Hire company Stargazey (Samantha) who couldn't have done more before the big day and on the day itself. Being far away from Cornwall, we didn't get to go down and do the usual trial runs so I had to trust the suppliers I'd picked implicitly but I knew they would come through for me. Samantha and the florist, Rebecca at the Garden Gate Flower Company were absolutely fantastic and styled my wedding just as I envisaged. A beautiful winter wonderland theme, with lots of green foliage and whites / cream flowers. The scent in the room was amazing from the eucalyptus and paper whites. We had lots of candles too and pictures of our family dotted in amongst the flowers. It was stunning - the hotel were taking photos of the event space because they loved it so much!

I wanted to keep it simple, classic and wintery without being 'Christmassy'. Red was banned (aside from my shoes!). The event space itself has a stunning backdrop, floor to ceiling windows overlooking the beach so you want to keep everything else quite simple so as not to take away from that. And it didn't it worked perfectly.

I also wanted it to be perfect for a family wedding, so the children felt as at home as the children. And this worked perfectly as it is such a family friendly hotel and chilled out.

The best bits

I loved both getting ready with my sisters and mum and the little ones running around the place. When they say the morning goes fast, I now know what they mean! Wow, it went in a flash! Then there were lots of beautiful moments throughout the day. What I loved about keeping it so small (there were 22 of us) is that I got to spend the whole day with Darren and we could take it all in together. The photographer, Debs Alexander, was a superstar and so perfect for our day. She managed to get such natural shots of us all and it was so relaxed and informal, everyone felt really at home. My other favourite part of the day (aside from the food which was a triumph, as was the beautiful cake!) but right at the end of the evening, there were only a few of us left and we were sitting round a big circular table, by candlelight with our Cornish gin and tonics (can't beat a Tarquins gin!) and music playing, just talking about the day and stories from the past, laughing with one another as the children played and caused havoc around us. It was absolutely perfect and epitomised the family wedding I wanted.

Emma's Advice

Trust the process, it will all come together in the end and be perfect.The girls at Miss Bush are the experts; trust them. They know what they are doing!

Go with your heart; you'll know the right dress when you put it on. I liken it to anything in life that's meant to be, you just know.

Get a great time behind you that takes all the stress out of the day. I'm very particular and do a lot of research first on suppliers like your florist, photographer, venue, etc. I need to click with people and every single one of my suppliers was amazing, the best I could have asked for. We barely had any face to face time and everything was done in a few phone calls / emails. And it was perfect. The excelled themselves because I gave a clear picture of what I wanted (including mood boards) and then trusted them to do what they do best. It actually all felt a bit too easy if I'm honest and there wasn't one single moment of stress on the day at all.

And for me, a small wedding was everything I could have wished for and more. It was perfect, intimate and I got to spend the entire day with my new husband. We had a party with all our friends a couple of months later so I got to wear my dress again and we had a massive party with a live band to celebrate again. Which was so much fun! We got two days to celebrate. But seriously, having those who are the most important people in your life around you on your special day is what it's all about.

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