Our bride today, Francesca, has been working with Miss Bush for many years now as part of her role at superstar catering company Two Many Cooks. So it was an absolute joy to be able to dress Francesca for her own wedding earlier this year!
The wedding took place over the course of two separate events, with Francesca and James marrying in a chic London ceremony at one of our favourite locations, the iconic Chelsea Old Town Hall. Two weeks later, the marriage was celebrated at a stunning reception in the gardens of the brides parents home in Westcott, Surrey.
With two events to prepare for, Francesca had two fabulous outfits to choose. For the town hall ceremony, she followed her fashionista heart and chose the unique, stylish 2352 bridal outfit by Jesus Peiro. This includes a sleek strapless jumpsuit with wide leg palazzo trousers, which is worn below an elegant high neck tunic with front split, adorned at the collar with a bold flower corsage.
For the countryside celebrations, Francesca wanted a dress that chic but comfortable, with Fermina by Sophie et Voila coming out as the perfect option. The look includes a flowing romantic overdress, which sits above a simple strapless two-piece in stretch crepe. To switch up her look later in the day, Francesca also added the boxy 215 top from Jesus Peiro.
Read on to find out more about Francesca's dress shopping experience and her wedding to James.
Jesus Peiro bridal outfit and a Sophie et Voila wedding dress
Miss Bush got my style straight away! I have been to Miss Bush many times for work but going as a bride myself did NOT disappoint! I loved the simplicity in the looks. As I'm a wedding planner I see a LOT of wedding dresses and I wanted to wear something I hadn't seen before.
For the London look I wanted something sleek and streamlined, more catwalk then bridal. I fell in love with my London look by Jesus Peiro, I knew I wanted this to be the outfit James married me in. I can't believe I even got rather teary when I put it on!
For the Country Wedding look I wanted something floaty and really comfortable. I loved that I could take off the sheer cape & have two looks in one. I also got a little top from Miss bush that I put on in the evening, the more outfits the better!
I brought my Mother, Sister (MOH) and my Mother-in-law to shop with me. It was such a wonderful experience; they were so happy to be a part of it. I was concerned before starting to dress shop that I wouldn't enjoy the process as I am very impatient and I was worried I wouldn't like anything, how that changed! We ended up having such fun, making a day out of it going for a lovely lunch after.
Dress Shopping
My favourite part of dress shopping at Miss Bush were the incredibly talented women that run it, they are so knowledgeable & put you at ease. I also loved the amount of options when it comes to the style of dress on offer at Miss Bush, I even got a jumper saying 'Just Married' on it for the day after.
They sorted my Registry look, Country Wedding Look, Evening Look & day after look, it was my one-stop-shop!
Styling
For both looks i kept it simple & let the outfits do the talking, i just had a lovely simple vail for my Country Wedding & on both simple gold earrings.
A Chelsea Old Town Hall ceremony and Country Wedding celebration
For the big marquee wedding i wanted it to be fitting with it's surroundings. The venue was at my parents’ home in the Surrey Hills with a beautiful lake and so i wanted everything to work with this. I went for greens & whites for colours. The flowers were what was in season & fitted the colour scheme, they were wild & unstructured. As i work for a catering company (Two Many Cooks) i wanted to make sure the food was on point. I spent a long time creating the menu with our head chef & making sure that the menu would reflect us & that it was all crowd pleasers.
I wanted the guest experience to be great & the day to be authentic to us as a couple. So for the Ceremony instead of going to a church as we are not religious we did a ceremony with my uncle as the celebrant or 'Bishop of Love' as we call him on my parents lawn. This was magical & very intimate, decorated with wildflower displays by Alex at Jasmine & Jerusalem. We wrote our own vows & rather than singing hymns we sand 'I’m a Believer' By The Monkees & finished with 'All You Need is Love' sang by one of my bridesmaids. As a surprise whilst the last 'hymn' was sang, a Brass Band snuck out form the bushes and joined in, our very own Love Actually moment. As James works in film he wanted some movie moments & this was one of them. We then followed the Brass Band down to the lake for our reception followed by Speeches, Dinner & Dancing.
The next day we had a Clarke vs Cura Sports Day with Pizza, Aperol & Ice Cream, we almost enjoyed this as much as the day before!
The best bits
Easy answer, having all the people you love in one place! It is a feeling like no other.
That's why we did a second day, to keep everyone longer.
Francesca's Advice
Another easy answer, go to Miss Bush! You will not be disappointed. I went to other bridal dress shops & it just wasn't the same experience. Let the ladies in the shop guide you, they know what looks good & what works. That goes for all your suppliers, once you have booked the professionals trust them. And finally delegate!
Suppliers
Bride, Event Planner: @chescacura
Catering: @twomanycooks
Town Hall Photographer: @jendeberigny
Country Wedding Photographer: @ameliaallenweddings
Videographer: @toastfilmsuk
Florist: @jasmineandjerusalem
Marquee: @sailandpeg
Bar and cocktails: @thedrunkenjockeys
Event hire: @couverthire
Plates: @maisonmargauxltd
Town hall outfit: @jesuspeiroofficial at @missbushbridal
Country wedding outfit: @sophieetvoilabridal at @missbushbridal
Hair: @carolannearmstrong
Cake: @gaya_cakes
Lighting: @lightingwithintent
Bell tents: @beauandbelltents
Furniture: @cohire
Linen: @just_4_linen
Tree in bar: @twilighttrees
Brass band: @brassjunkiesbrassband
Evening band: @faketanband
DJ: @howlingowluk
Photobooth: @boomerang_booth
Luxury loos: @sweetpeatoilets