Hannah in Sassi Holford Ida for a festive winter wedding The CotswoldsMiss Bush

Hannah and Steve were married at the beautiful Cripps Barn in Bibury, The Cotswolds, for a beautifully elegant festive winter wedding.

Rather than opt for a typical Christmas theme, Hannah and Steve added a festive feel to their day with a chic silver and grey colour palette, gorgeous sequinned bridesmaid gowns, smart black tie for the groomsmen and lots of magical fairy lights.

Hannah tells us all about her stunning Sassi Holford Ida wedding dress, her experience of dress shopping, and the inspiration behind their December wedding day.

Sassi Holford IDA STRAPLESS FISHTAIL WEDDING DRESS

I wore the sleeveless version of ‘Ida’ by Sassi Holford, I loved how plain and simple it was, with beautiful buttons down the back, and the train was incredible. I was also really happy that it wasn’t strapless. It gave me a really lovely shape, which I never thought I would end up loving as I’m so conscious about my hips – if someone had told me before buying my dress that I’d end up with a fishtail I’d have sworn blind that would be the one style I would never be able to wear!

I felt wonderful wearing the dress on the day, Steve’s reaction to seeing me in it, confirmed I’d made the right decision!

DRESS SHOPPING

My mum and I went to a sample sale at Miss Bush just after Christmas 2017, it was the first time I’d tried on any dresses and I wasn’t sure what to expect. From looking online, I thought I wanted an all over lace A line gown as I’m very body conscious, so thought that would be the most flattering for me. I tried on a few different styles, but everything I thought I wanted wasn’t working on me. I tried on Ida and thought ‘oh I quite like this one’, I wouldn’t say I had the movie reaction of tears and jumping up and down clapping, and nor did my mum! We both just thought it was a beautiful dress! Once we left the chapel, I began to second guess myself and was worried that I hadn’t had the ‘perfect reaction’, did that mean it wasn’t really ‘the one’? I think in hindsight, we’re both quite sensible people and not overly dramatic at the best of times, so I would say don’t worry if you don’t get tears, it doesn’t mean it’s not the right dress!

My favourite part of the dress shopping experience was being alone with my mum in the stunning chapel looking at such exquisite dresses, it was the first time I had a real ‘I’m actually getting married moment’.

STYLING

When I went back for my accessories appointment, I decided to try on the lace Sassi Holford Sienna jacket, as I was slightly disappointed I’d ended up with a dress with no lace on it at all, I then had a butterflies in tummy moment and was so excited by the dresses overall look.

I had always really liked the idea of being able to change up my look from day to evening and the plain base of Ida allowed me to do that perfectly. I decided to wear the Sienna jacket for the ceremony and meal and then remove it for the evening to add a sparkly belt. Lots of the guests thought I’d changed dresses completely as it changed the look of the dress so massively!

As the dress had no bling on it for the day (the amazing Jo at Miss Bush removed the belt the dress originally came with, to enable me to wear the Sienna jacket) I went for a statement hair piece, which was bespoke made by Clemmie at Miss Clemmie bridal accessories. It was a chunky hair vine full of sparkle that I wore down the side of my hair. Because of the beautiful detail on the Sienna jacket, I decided my hair needed to be up to show it off to its fullest, I wanted something very soft and feminine and Anna White who did my hair got it spot on!

I wore a pair of silver shoes from Carvela, they were covered in tiny diamante’s which caught the light beautifully, the main attraction to them was that they weren’t too high as I wanted to keep them on as long as possible!

A FESTIVE WINTER WEDDING IN THE COTSWOLDS

Although it was a Christmas wedding we were both sure we didn’t want a ‘theme’, there were to be no crackers, no garish colours and absolutely no tinsel! We went with a soft grey, white and silver colour pallet.

The bridesmaids wore floor length grey tulle dresses with a silver sequin top from ASOS, and the men opted for navy blue tuxes and bow ties. We were keen that we didn’t want all the wedding party’s outfits to be too ‘matchy-matchy’ and were so pleased with how the finished look turned out, it was perfect for the time of year.

Most of my inspiration came from Pinterest, it’s so fantastic for getting ideas and getting creative – even if it does sometimes leave you wanting a wedding you have absolutely no chance of creating within budget!

The main styling that took place in the barn was flowers, and boy did we have a lot of flowers and foliage! They were so beautiful and although some people may consider it a waste, I am so glad we spent the money we did on them. They really added to the romantic atmosphere, and paired with the candlelight created my vision perfectly!

I was also inspired by other weddings that had already taken place at Cripps, I found it really useful to check out lots of pictures and photographers blogs of the barn to see what previous couples had done with the spaces available – this was particularly handy as we’re not local to the barn.

THE BEST BITS

Walking down the aisle and Steve turning round to see me and then crying his eyes out! I honestly never thought he’d cry as he’s not that emotional, but the fact he did proved what a massive occasion it was for us.

Another favourite moment was sitting down to our wedding breakfast as the whole room was singing and clapping along to Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas’, as we stood looking at all of our favourite people in one room, Steve and I both looked at each other and had a ‘wow, this is for us’ moment. You spend so long planning every little detail, imagining for over a year how the day will play out, to see it all come together so beautifully and better than you’d imagined is a feeling I’ll never forget.

ADVICE FROM THE BRIDE

Everyone says the same thing, but to say it’s all over so quickly is an understatement!

Hire a videographer – we have still yet to receive our video but we cannot wait to get it back – the day flies by in a bit of a blur so we are so excited to be able to re-live the little forgotten moments.

Be open minded when dress shopping, what you think you want/will suit you I found to be the complete opposite, give every shape a go and you might just surprise yourself.

Lots of people will tell you not to worry about the smaller details – I did, a lot, and I am so glad I did! The barn looked incredible and the attention to detail was a massive part of that, everyone commented on how amazing it was and whilst I don’t think people would’ve thought anything of it had we not have done the things we did, it really made our day all the more memorable.