We're delighted to share Rachel and Todd's idyllic Summer wedding with you today, which took place in the gorgeous Kent countryside. The day began with a traditional ceremony at Chiddingstone Church, followed by a relaxed, beautiful celebration at Broxham Manor, filled with stunning florals and thoughtful, personal details to make the day extra special.

Rachel wore a customised version of Suzanne Neville's chic, elegant Katikies wedding dress, which she made her own with a series of tweaks to the design resulting in her dream dress! Whilst Katikies usually has a ruched front, Rachel chose to have hers created completely smooth, along with a simple round neckline, halter style back and button detailing. We loved Rachel's simple, minimalist styling, particularly her fabulous mules from Amina Muaddi which added a chic, contemporary feel to Rachel's bridal loo; the perfect choice for the Katikies' fabulous side split skirt!

Read on to find out more about Rachel and Todd's day in Rachel's own words, with gorgeous images by Lily Bungay and Co.

Custom Suzanne Neville Katikies wedding dress

I always knew the exact style I wanted for my wedding dress, the three s's; sleek, simple and silky… but it was a case of finding the perfect one, or the near perfect one.

At Miss Bush I loved both Suzanne Neville and Jesus Peiro as designers, both had dresses in the style that I liked, but I opted for a British designer, close to home, who also agreed and understood my vision.

The dress that I chose was the Suzanne Neville Katikies, but the dress I wore on my day couldn’t have looked more different due to the brilliant team and Suzanne herself agreeing to use the dress as a template but to totally change the style. When I mean totally change the style, I mean it! We tried the Katikies on inside out as I wanted a sleek, smooth front, whereas the Katikies had a ruffled front, I changed the neckline and back of the dress completely and added buttons for subtle detail where there were none.

I am so thankful for Miss Bush for helping me create my own unique dream dress and for Suzanne for agreeing to all my changes.

My mum made the 4 hour journey with me from her home in Norfolk to Miss Bush for every single appointment and fitting, there was no way she was missing out on her daughter picking her perfect wedding dress.

My mum also knew the style which I had always liked, so even though she would have preferred for me to have something with, in her words, ‘a bit more detail’, she knew that wasn’t my thing. She did manage to get her own way with having a veil as part of my look, which I was reluctant to have. It did actually bring the outfit together perfectly but lasted for only the wedding service itself due to high winds we encountered outside the church for our first set of pictures… then the veil was no more.

Dress Shopping

Miss Bush were perfect. I knew what I wanted from the off, but it was making something they already had from one of their designers work for me.

It was looking at the dress and really making it my own, they could see things I couldn’t and brought my vision to life in. The entire process was seamless and hassle free thanks to all the team. For me the best part was finally seeing the finished dress and it fitting like a dream.

Styling

My style was super simplistic. As the neck was the halter neck it meant I had to have my hair up to show off the little details I had which was perfect. We had a garden marquee wedding and I actually spoke to a stylist earlier on in the year who suggested the best shoes for an outdoor wedding were Amina Muaddi, and she was right! I opted for the white Lupita Slipper; my wedding day was the first time I wore the shoes, I didn’t even have time to ‘break them in’ and they were so comfortable, I could have worn them all day and I would recommend them to any bride.

A relaxed countryside wedding in Kent

Our wedding took place in the Kent countryside, right on the doorstep of our home, where we moved 2 years ago. My husband Todd grew up just down the road and always knew he wanted to get married at his parents house in Kent and I decided that it would be nice to add a bit of tradition to a home wedding by getting married in our now local church and where Todd got Christened and has spent many a midnight mass.

We wanted our wedding to be totally personal to us and I think we achieved that in so many aspects. My mums cousin took the church service which added the most personal touch to the service which all our guests thought was perfect. For the reception, Todd and I helped with lots of the florals, I grew some of the flowers myself in my garden for the bud vases, which I didn’t really need to do as Caroline our florist was incredible, but it was lovely for me to do anyway. We also spent the morning before our wedding cutting down sapling trees at silly o’clock in the morning to use to decorate the marquee.

My mum is super artistic so designed lots of drinks menus and signs for inside the marquee as well as drawing a picture of the house for all the invites which added a really special touch. On the table, each of our guests received a pot of our own home grown honey, we keep bees and extracted the honey just a few days before the wedding, potted it up and stuck on our own handmade labels, the honey went down a treat.

I grew up in Norfolk and as the wedding was in Kent, wanted a ‘nod to Norfolk’ so we picked sparkling wine from the Burn Valley vineyard in Norfolk for our reception. The last homemade touch was our outside BBQ, our menu was lamb and Todd made the BBQ so that it became a centre piece for people to gather around and talk to our chef Alex whilst cooking, it turned into a bit of show cooking which was very special.

The best bits

How can you even choose your favourite moments, when the entire day was the most special ever?

It sounds like a cliche but just having everyone you love in one space for an entire day is special, it is probably the one time in your life when that happens, so soak it up and enjoy it. Todd and I did both enjoy our marquee entrance, coming in separately to the TikTok song of 2024, Man in Finance, which our guests found hilarious and we only decided to do it 5 minutes before… A bit of spontaneity!

Rachel's Advice

Don’t be afraid to let Miss Bush think outside the box a bit if you find a dress you like but it isn’t quite right - they completely reinvented the Katikies and made it bespoke for me.

If you are also not 100% on what you look like in it at Miss Bush, don’t worry, on your wedding day you will look the best you have ever looked and the dress will be stunning. Trust Miss Bush and the process and you’ll get your dream dress.

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

Comments are closed.