Louise in Jesus Peiro 8004 for a classic, elegant Wimbledon weddingMiss Bush

We have such a beautiful summer wedding to share with you today! Louise and Ashley were married in Wimbledon at St Mary’s Church, starting with getting ready and a couples photoshoot at Cannizaro House followed by a classically styled hydrangea filled reception at King’s College School.

Louise looked just wonderful in Jesus Peiro 8004, one of our most loved dresses from the 2018 collection. This stunning, contemporary lace wedding dress features the most beautiful, delicate lace sleeves and bodice above a comfortable wide waistband and full ballgown skirt with pockets.

Louise told us all about their day, and her dress shopping journey…

Jesus Peiro 8004 lace wedding dress

Dress shopping, for me, was very stressful and I expected it would be as I don’t enjoy clothes shopping. Everyone kept saying how they couldn’t wait to see my dress and how the bride and the dress were the most important thing on the day. Every time someone said this to me, I felt sick with nerves thinking I don’t want to let everyone down and not be this wonderful bride they are all imaging. I had a list of dress designers I couldn’t wait to try on. Six shops and 70 dresses later, I was starting to not want to get married anymore as I hated every single dress I had tried on. I felt old, frumpy and not myself. I was moaning to my hairdresser and she told me about Miss Bush. After looking at their Instagram I immediately booked an appointment. I remember filling out their online form, the section ‘what are you looking for’, and I put ‘something that makes me feel young’. As soon as I arrived at the Miss Bush chapel, I had butterflies. All of the dresses were nothing like I had seen anywhere else – they looked glamorous and luxurious and I couldn’t help myself but want to touch and feel them all. They were all bright ivory too which made me excited as so many I had tried on were a dark, dull ivory and in all honesty looked dirty. I was met by Emma, who straight away made me feel like I was hanging out with a friend. She read me like a book. She asked about the wedding format and the groom and after telling her all the details, I said I didn’t wear anything too in your face to which Emma replied, ‘with a 6 foot plus groom in a tuxedo, I am sorry but you are going to need something in your face to make sure everyone is looking at you when you are standing next to him at the altar.’ As soon as she said this, something just clicked in my brain and I thought, ‘yes – I am the bride, it is about me, I want everyone to know I’ve arrived!’ The classic movie story then followed, Emma had a Jesus Peiro dress out the back that she wanted me to try. When I put it on it was my size and fitted like a glove. It wasn’t the instant OMG this is the dress, probably because I was slightly numb from trying so many on, but after an hour of wearing it and realizing I did not want to take it off – I knew it was ‘The One’. The dress was nothing like what I had originally wanted in my head – I wanted a capped sleeve, mermaid style dress. The dress I ended up couldn’t have been further from this – long sleeves and full skirt. I loved the glamorous, dramatic skirt paired with the lace top – I didn’t want lace on my wedding dress, but this lace was modern and so beautifully placed I fell in love with it. I loved the shape the lace made on my back and I loved how it was slightly risky as it was see-thru but perfectly placed so nothing was on show. My favourite part of the dress was the waist section. I guess Emma could see it, but I hadn’t realised how small my waist was in comparison to the rest of my body. The mix of the tight waist with the dramatic, full skirt was very flattering on my shape. The dress was meant to have a petticoat underneath. I did try this, but I preferred being able to feel the skirt material on my legs underneath, so we opted to wear the dress without the petticoat. I am so glad I trusted Emma and tried the dress on she picked for me as I would never have picked it off the peg. I day dreamed about that dress every day after I found it and I have never felt more myself in anything. I am just so desperately sad that I will never get to wear it again.

Dress Shopping

I had my mum with me on the day when I found it. I think my mum was more relieved than me that we had finally found it after many tears over not liking anything and being dragged to London every weekend for the past month. When I first came out my mum was on her mobile as she thought it would be the same as the other shops where I hardly came out to show her. So, after a while I said, ‘Mum what do you think?’ and she looked up and put her glasses on and said its beautiful. I said yes, it is. Then I went back to the changing room as I always had done in other shops. Then in the changing room I started looking a bit more and came back out and said ‘Mum, what do you really think, there is something about it I like I think?’ So, she got up and held my hand and said she thought it was stunning. Then I remember feeling very hot because I think I knew then I had found the dress. I couldn’t stop looking at myself from every angle. I was actually smiling and feeling happy being in a wedding dress – something I had not felt before.

After the dress purchase, the fun bit began. I had a styling appointment with Rosie in the chapel to try on my dress with different veils and diamante hair pieces. It was a wonderful excuse to try the dress on again before the fittings and it gave me an opportunity to take my shoes, choose a veil and test my hair style all together. I loved it and put my mind at ease knowing all the little bits looked perfect together – it was the first time I cried a little in my dress – I think it was the veil. Rosie was also giving me pointers for the day like ‘don’t walk backwards in the dress’ – a very essential tip and made it all feel so real thinking I would actually wear this dress outside of the chapel. I then had two fitting appointments with Jo the seamstress. She made me feel amazing. All the tweaks she made, like narrowing the sleeves and nipping the waist in, completely transformed the dress. Every time I tried it on, I loved it more and more. All the ladies who work at Miss Bush were perfectionists and experts in what they did. I didn’t get a service like it anywhere else and they really took the time to get to know you to ensure the dress and the styling were unique to you.

Styling

I loved how the dress was effortlessly beautiful and to me felt very classic so I kept this thought with me when styling my dress. My friend Hannah did my hair. I knew I wanted my hair up as I know Ashley loves my hair up and so does my mum – I also always wear my hair down and wanted to feel different on the day as well as wanting to show off the back of my dress. My veil the same bright ivory colour as my dress and was completely plain. I didn’t want to distract from the dress in any way and I again wanted to keep my veil modern and young. My friend Julie did my make-up and after numerous trials she did it as natural as she could without me looking like I had no make-up on. For me it was all about the skin, I wanted that highlighted Hollywood glow! I accessorized my dress with a pair of very high, pink velvet heels from Topshop and a pair of antique diamond wing earrings that Ashley bought me.

A classic, elegant Wimbledon wedding

I kept the classic thought with me when styling the day and just kept everything beautifully simple. I didn’t want to look back in 20 years and think what was I thinking. I had my favourite flowers, hydrangeas, on their own in single stem vases and all the table and vases I kept to a silver theme. One of my bridesmaids said the room was me on a plate which I took as a compliment! On the day, I was a bag of nerves getting ready at the hotel. I was putting all the pieces together and they were all new and so unfamiliar – I just wanted Ashley to see me and put my mind at rest that he liked everything. I was with all my bridal party, my immediate family and family friends at the hotel. We all got a double decker bus together to the Church which was great as it took my nerves away for a bit all being together and excited. I arrived to the Church bells ringing and the Church full of all our family and friends and friends’ children. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest waiting to walk down the aisle. The bridal march started and away me and my dad went arm in arm to meet Ashley at the altar. I remember walking up just staring at him smiling thinking it felt like we had been apart for so long – but it was only one night. It felt like a very long but lovely walk to him. After a beautiful service, and us driving away in our wedding car (my dad’s cute little red Healey) thought a confetti line, we headed to Cannizaro House, the hotel we were staying at, for our couple’s photoshoot. We had half an hour just us away from everyone and Charlie, the photographer, captured the most beautiful moments of us relaxing together. I felt so at peace and so happy. We did have one funny moment during the shoot, where my veil flew up in the wind and attracted the attention of a rather large bull dog who came running over, sat on my dress and yanked my veil almost pulling me to the ground! Luckily no damage was done, only a few mud marks on my train. The rest of the day flew by in a magical blur of happiness – where I remember thinking my cheeks ached from smiling so much. We were so lucky as the sun shone on the day for us. We enjoyed canapes in the school’s courtyard, followed by our meal and speeches in the Great Hal before cake cutting and a night of non-stop dancing with Salut. I kept my veil on until the cake cutting as friends had told me they taken theirs off too soon and didn’t get any photographs with it on. I also kept my dress train down until after the first dance as again I wanted to get the photographs with the dress in all its glory. I was particularly impressed with myself as I managed to keep my shoes on all day and night without a single blister. The whole day was over so fast but thank goodness for videos and photographs as I get to re live it every day looking through all of them again and again.

The best bits

Seeing Ashley for the first time in the Church in his tuxedo is something I will never forget. I wanted to run down the aisle into his arms and tell him I loved him. But I held it together, clung onto my dad and took it all in and as soon as I reached Ashley at the altar, and he held my hand and told me he thought I looked stunning, I instantly felt at ease and safe and knew we were in for the most wonderful day together.

Advice from the bride

My overall advice is don’t compromise on any part of the day. Whether it’s with your dress or your table napkins – there are options for every budget just keep going until you find ‘The One’ for everything. I had never been one of those girl’s to dream of my wedding day since I was 4 years old but now I have got married I completely understand why people say it is the best day of your life and why it is so important to have everything you want exactly the way you want it on the day. It really was the most incredible feeling having everyone you love in one place just for you and the best part for me was I got to marry my best friend who I still cannot believe I get to call my husband. I would also suggest getting your partner involved. Ashley helped me with every single part of our wedding day, from choosing napkins and readings to helping me decorate the hall with vases and tea lights. As a couple we do everything together and our wedding was no exception and thank god I had him beside me, because I could not have planned the day without him. We are opposites in so many ways – he is so calm and level headed and I very much wear my emotions on my sleeves. You need a calm head for planning a wedding. Anytime I was having an issue with a supplier or being told something couldn’t happen the way I imagined, he would always swoop in and sort it all out. I was his complete priority when it came to our wedding and I trusted him explicitly that he would make sure we had the day we were both imagining, which we did.