All of our brides are special, and we are delighted and excited to share all of their weddings on our blog. Every so often though, we get to share an extra special wedding - when we get to dress one of our own! Today's feature is the wedding of wonderful wedding photographer, Sophie Duckworth, who has been a Team Bush regular for the past few years. It was an immense pleasure to create a stunning bespoke Jesus Peiro gown for Sophie!
For her wedding to Wes, Sophie chose a whole host of our absolute favourite suppliers to work on her wedding day, including Team Bush legends Carolanne Armstrong and Sharon Roberts, as well as catering by Two Many Cooks. The celebration took place at a Surrey wedding venue which will always hold will always hold a special place in our hearts; Fetcham Park in Leatherhead. Hannah Berry Flowers has flowered many a Miss Bush bride's wedding in the past, and we loved the stunning floral arrangements she created for Sophie and Wes.
It's always interesting to see which photographer a wedding photographer will choose the capture their own day, and we can see why Sophie opted for Voyteck Photo; the images are just wonderful.
Read on to see the gallery, and the read all about the day and Sophie's dress shopping experience in her own words...
A bespoke Jesus Peiro wedding dress
I had a Jesus Peiro bespoke wedding dresss made, designed by Emma! With massive bows!
I loved the fact that I had something specially designed. I pretty much would have worn ANY Jesus Peiro dresses, but I felt very lucky to have had something so unusual yet simple and also so befitting my venue to wear. I am so glad I asked to add the giant bow on the back, I had so many comments from my guests. My Uncle even said 'it's like Dior, or Royalty!'
It was so comfy, despite the petticoat which I worried would feel too restrictive. It was swishy and I managed to dance in it, with and without my heels on! I never wanted to take it off.
Dress Shopping
Wedding dress shopping was hands down my favourite part of the planning. The food tasting came in a close second 😉 Of course knowing the team at Bush was so lovely, as I felt relaxed immediately but they were still professional and made me feel as good as any other bride who walks in their doors. I honestly feel incredibly fortunate to be in the industry and be able to choose such a shop to have bought my dress from.
I brought my Mum to my appointments a couple of times, although I knew I wanted to do the majority of shopping alone. I think it's too easy to get caught up in other's opinions and make you doubt yourself, especially with so much excellent choice. I am SO glad I chose to shop this way, because once I had 'my' dress on, I knew my Mum would love it, and she did. She absolutely loved it!
Styling
I knew the dress would carry 90% of the styling! It was too pretty and different to need much else. I am not a huge fan of veils so I chose to keep my hair up but textured/pulled out, with a few choice flowers added. I bought some nude Jimmy Choos in the sale (got lucky there!) and my husband bought me a pair of very beautiful pearl Paloma Picasso for Tiffany earrings which I wore on the day. Other than that I only had my two rings on!
A beautifully lit wedding at Fetcham Park
My biggest concern was that my venue had pretty light. Being a photographer light is all I care about, and being lucky enough to get married at Fetcham Park meant I didn't want to add much more in terms of styling. I knew I wanted Hannah Berry as my florist because her work is just so gorgeous. I love natural flowers/texture and colour, and I wanted to imagine that from the house's origins they would have used local British meadow type flowers for their tables and decor, which is exactly what we chose to have.
The best bits
My favourite part was the reception, coming out the front doors to beautiful evening sunshine and confetti with a small number of guests (my second favourite part) and being able to enjoy that time before the meal, was so important to me. Of course we had photographs taken but I felt like I had so much time to chat to everyone, because we only had 37 guests. It was lovely to catch up in the sunshine after a very rainy week! And also lovely to spend 20 mins or so with Wes to have our quiet time and our couples session in the grounds of the house.
Advice from Sophie
Try to stick to what matters most to you. Don't get sucked in by everyone else's ideas and all the many options thrown at you. I truly believe because we had a stripped back day we just cared about a few key things, and focused on those, which meant we really appreciated them and felt so grateful. You just have to try and stay in the moment as much as you can and be thankful for the day, and not worry about the 'small stuff' that can cloud your mood when really it should just be about the two of you.
Suppliers
I had the very best team of people who agreed to be a part of our day, and I will be FOREVER thankful to those involved.
Photographer: Wojtek Chrapek, Voyteck Photo
Venue: Fetcham Park (via Laura Drake)
Caterer: Two Many Cooks
Hair styling: Sharon Roberts
Make up, for the bride and MOB: Carolanne Armstrong
Florist: Hannah Paine, Hannah Berry Flowers
Flower-girl dresses: Tinker and Belle, with shoes & socks from M&S
Page Boys: suits from Next, bow-ties from Amazon
Groom's suit & tie: Paul Smith, shoes from Dune, via Fenwick
Bride's shoes: Jimmy Choo
All stationery: Designed by Wes Mitchell