Miss Bush bride Sophie was one of our postponing brides from 2020; after so many cancellations and so much uncertainty, we were overjoyed to finally see these images from her wedding to Jack! The wedding was much smaller and more intimate than their original plans, but it turned out to be so wonderful and overflowing with love. Taking place in central Cheltenham, our couple were married at St Gregory the Great RC Church followed by a beautifully styled reception at the cool and stylish No. 131, an iconic hotel based a stone's throw from the city's Montpellier district.

Sophie wore a beautifully crafted custom Suzanne Neville wedding dress, created from her love of the off-the-shoulder neckline from Forever and and the sleek, elegant skirt from Nouveau. Sophie styled her look with minimal accessories to allow the dress to shine, opting for a chic low bun to show off the portrait neckline.

Sophie told us all about their wedding planning journey, and her experience creating her perfect Suzanne Neville dress. Find out more below, along with a gallery of stunning images from the day.

Sophie in custom Suzanne Neville for a chic and intimate city wedding in Cheltenham
A custom Suzanne Neville dress based on Forever and Nouveau
Miss Bush bride Sophie in a custom Suzanne Neville wedding dress with off the shoulder neckline

Sophie's custom Suzanne Neville wedding dress

I chose a bespoke version of Suzanne Neville's Forever. I loved that I was able to make the dress my own with a few design tweaks - it really felt special and one of a kind.

It's true what they say about a Suzanne Neville dress making you feel like you've been given a big hug - I felt wonderful in it. All of my usual insecurities around my tummy/arms vanished once I was in that corset and I felt so elegant. The fact that our wedding was cancelled so many times and I still went back to (a version of) my dress over 3 years is testament to how classy and timeless Suzanne's dresses are. Even the priest commented that, having seen lots of wedding dresses in his line of work and considering himself quite the connoisseur, he recognised mine as being 'particularly lovely'!

I tried on in excess of 60 dresses during my search (the majority of which were awful!) and my mum was with me to see most of them. She's brutally honest (which is why I took her along!). Given that my dress didn't actually exist we didn't have a 'wow! tears' moment, but as soon as I got into a Suzanne Neville dress, mum said that I had to have one. Nothing else compared.

Dress Shopping

I really didn't enjoy dress shopping until I found Miss Bush - I'm very indecisive by nature and I thought it was all quite stressful. I also found early on that the dress I had imagined wearing (lace with full length sleeves) really didn't do it for me in real life so was a bit stuck from that point on. Everything changed when I visited Miss Bush, on the recommendation of a friend. Emma was a breath of fresh air - there was no hard sell and lots of straight-up honesty about what worked for me and what didn't. I felt totally at ease in her presence and could tell instantly that she was an expert in what she does. I had also found the process of having to try on dresses 2 or 3 sizes bigger than my usual size at other boutiques a bit deflating so I loved that Emma didn't even mention dress sizes at the appointment. The made to measure element of the service is worth every single penny - when my dress arrived it needed barely any alterations and it felt amazing to put something on that fitted perfectly, which, let's face it, is a rarity for most women who aren't supermodels. The Suzanne Neville designer day was also great fun and I'll treasure my sketch forever!

I fell in love with Orianna another Suzanne Neville dress back in 2019 but wasn't keen on the diamante detail. I also loved the pleats on Nouveau but the top didn't quite work for me. Emma suggested blending the two which is what I initially ordered. Our destination wedding in Croatia was cancelled so dress making was put on hold and by the time I got round to returning to Miss Bush in 2020, Suzanne had brought out Sapphire. I loved the top part of the dress but wanted a more fitted skirt. I went along to Suzanne's designer day and Emma and I talked her through our vision for a version of Sapphire with the Nouveau skirt, a slightly lower back and more symmetrical neckline. The sketch that Suzanne produced was exactly what I had envisaged and I was SO excited. Fast forward almost another 2 years (with a total venue change and a baby thrown into the mix!) and I'd decided a simpler skirt was more 'me'. Everyone on the team was amazingly patient and accommodating with these design changes - Rosie even squeezed me in for an additional try on after I had a bit of a wobble about whether the dress would still be right for me after having a baby. Jo was amazing during all of the fitting appointments - she'd done such a great job with the toile that the dress needed barely any alterations - and I really enjoyed chatting with her during my visits to the chapel. I honestly can't fault any step of the process with Miss Bush - they really do provide a luxury service.

Styling

I wanted the focus to be on the dress so kept the rest of the styling very simple. I wore my hair up in a bun to show off the beautiful neckline and lower back and chose a simple two-tier ribbon edged veil. I decided to wear the veil down over my face for full dramatic effect when walking down the aisle (why not?!) and my dad lifting my veil at the altar was a really lovely moment. I struggled a bit with earrings - typical bridal jewellery tends to be quite delicate and dainty and I'm more of a chunky gold hoop kind of girl - but I finally found some pearl and diamante hoops in Anthropologie which I know I'll wear again and again. My shoes were Chelsea by Freya Rose which I first set eyes on a few years ago when bridesmaid dress shopping for a friend. They were the perfect complement to my dress and far more comfortable than I thought they'd be - I managed to keep them on all day and night, avoiding the fate of the £1 toilet flipflops.

A chic and intimate city wedding in Cheltenham

After the stress of so many cancellations we wanted to keep things fairly relaxed and simple and had just 48 guests (much smaller than the 130 person wedding we had initially planned!) Kerry and Hannah from Margot & Lace arrived early to start hair & makeup and were such a wonderful calming presence for me on a day which got off to a bit of a rocky start with a poorly baby. We were married in a beautiful Catholic church with live classical music provided by the wonderful Emilie Parry-Williams. Our reception was at No 131, an iconic hotel in the heart of Cheltenham made up of 3 beautiful Georgian townhouses. My two sisters, Florence and Abigail, were my bridesmaids and wore sage green satin dresses from ASOS, with the groom and his best man in classic navy blue. Given the fairly neutral colour palette, I decided to add some pops of colour to the flowers which were so much more beautiful than I could have imagined - I was blown away by the arrangement that adorned the fireplace in the dining room. Dinner was a relaxed sharing platter feast and we drank Nyetimber sparkling wine and many many gins from the impressive gin bar at No. 131 (check it out - I've never seen a collection like it!). Our two-tier cake from the wonderful Jen at Storyteller Cakes included a coconut and passionfruit flavour tier, perfect for our summer celebrations. We had live music from Don't Stop Now who we found via Entertainment Nation - they played a great mix of old and new and had everyone dancing for hours. There were three littles at our wedding - our daughter, our niece and my friend's daughter (all under 1) - so we had childcare help from the lovely ladies at Safe & Sound who did an amazing job at ensuring that the babies were involved in our big day but didn't get too overwhelmed by everything going on. I was really worried about our little girl being so poorly on our big day but she was so well looked after in the moments when I was needed elsewhere. The staff at No. 131 were incredible and the day ran so smoothly - I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a venue for a smallish wedding. Jo, our photographer, and Ben, the videographer, were both wonderful to work with - they both captured the day so beautifully in their own unique ways - such talents!

The best bits

One particular highlight for me was the evening cocktail hour when we all danced to acoustic music on the terrace. Looking around to see all of our favourite people so relaxed and smiling was just magical. My daughter trying on her flower crown was also a real tear-jerker (although of course she didn't keep it on!)

Sophie's Advice

Forget about the dress you think you want and go with the one that makes you feel amazing. You'll know!
Get a videographer - I wasn't sure whether we needed one and didn't commit until the last minute but was lucky enough to find Ben from Foster Filming. Our highlights video captures the day so wonderfully and has allowed us to relive it through the eyes of our guests. We can't wait to show Eloise when she's a little older.
Nobody will care that you forgot to print individualized menu cards (woops!) so let it go. All your guests want is good food, (lots of) booze and to see you happy and smiling!

This entry was posted in Our Brides and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.