We are delighted to share Miss Bush bride Anna and her husband Tom’s beautiful wedding day with you on the blog today!
Anna and Tom got engaged over a romantic picnic in London in June 2014, and were married in March 2016 at Gate Street Barn in Bramley, Surrey.
The Dress
Anna chose to wear Jesus Peiro 6057, which was actually the second dress that she purchased from Miss Bush.
After not being completely happy with the first dress, Anna opted for this stunning simple long sleeved crepe gown, with unique, contemporary lace back and waist panel.
Anna says;
“The first dress I chose was also from Miss Bush but in hindsight, wasn’t the dress for me. I have a real thing about my arms, I don’t love them and therefore always knew I would go for a dress with sleeves. I also generally love long sleeves, I think they can give wedding dresses a very chic edge. I am also ALWAYS cold! After visiting a few dress shops and trying various options, I quickly realised wedding dresses with sleeves weren’t that easy to find. My first dress was actually a strapless dress with a lace sleeve top over it, I think I went with it initially as I felt I couldn’t find anything better if I wanted sleeves. Although it was beautiful it just wasn’t for me, there was too much going on, too much embellishment, too traditional, I had my heart set on simple and the original dress just wasn’t the one.”
“After a momentary wobble, Emma and Corrine were really understanding and invited me back to the shop to try on some different styles, it was then that I found the Jesus Peiro dress that I instantly fell in love with, I loved wearing it and I still love it now! Such a shame it can’t become part of my day to day wardrobe.”
“My mum and sister came with me for all of the dress shopping appointments, they both know me well enough to know what I like and don’t like plus I knew they would be brutally honest. I would of invited my three bridesmaids along too but too many conflicting opinions can make things confusing. Both my mum and sister liked the first dress but their reaction to the second one was totally different, we all just knew that this one was the one and instantly agreed I would swap the original one for the Jesus Peiro beauty! From then on, I couldn’t wait to wear my dress, in fact, I think I was the first bride to wear that particular style!”
In order to show off the striking lace back and waist of the gown, Anna decided against a veil and kept her accessories to a minimum, finishing her look with a beautiful Fern headpiece from Jenny Packham at Miss Bush and stunning Rosalind Crystal Sophia Webster shoes. Her hair looked stunning in a loose, pretty fishtail plait!
“I couldn’t resist choosing one of the fabulous Jenny Packham headpieces to wear with my dress. I decided that a veil wasn’t going to work as I didn’t want the beautiful lace back of my dress to be covered. I knew I wanted some kind of head wear and the simple style of the dress was perfect for the sparkly headpiece. I wore silver Rosalind Crystal Sophia Webster shoes, which in fact I have worn twice already since the big day. I kept the rest of the look very low key with just a pair of diamond studs and a fine sliver Tiffany bracelet and thin diamond ring on my right hand. I also went with red nails, ready to hit the beach in Thailand on our honeymoon. That was one of the many beauty treatments I had in the lead up to the big day, maybe that’s why I found the whole experience more relaxing than stressful :)”
“I can’t recommend Miss Bush any more highly, the chapel itself is enough to encourage any bride to want to visit, not to mention the amazing array of designers that Emma and the team stock. Emma has the most amazing dresses and certainly caters for a more fashion forward bride.I enjoyed all of my appointments, as you can imagine, I became quite a regular at the shop. I loved the fact that you had the shop to yourself, the feel and vibe of the appointments were relaxed and overall a really enjoyable and fun experience. I never once felt uncomfortable even when trying on dresses I felt I look hideous in. It was really helpful to be encouraged to try dresses that you wouldn’t naturally choose, it’s helpful in deciding which bits suit you or don’t suit you or discovering details you didn’t even know were possible.”
About the Day
Anna and Tom wanted a day with a relaxed vibe in a casual pretty venue, and as Anna works in London she wanted to avoid the city where she spends most of her time working!
“As soon as we found Gate Street Barn, we knew it was perfect, plus we didn’t know of anyone else who had married there, I have since met a handful of people within the beauty industry who held their weddings there. The venue and its surroundings are already so beautiful, which meant it didn’t need much dressing which I was pleased of. I always said I didn’t want the wedding to take over my life (which is busy enough already) as I didn’t want to miss it once it was over – which I don’t, I am so happy being married and looking back at the photos and the fond memories.”
“The day was amazing, its’s hard to pick a moment, I loved it all. Apart from the tail of my fishtail plait seemed to have a mind of its own in EVERY photo! I think my favourite part was seeing all of my friends and family after the ceremony, I had relaxed totally by then and just felt excited. It was lovely celebrating with everyone, its an amazing feeling knowing that everyone is there for you. I was pleased to see everyone having a good time and enjoying our bespoke gin cocktails, annoyingly I never got round to trying one.”
“The speeches were also a favourite part, both my dad’s and Toms were brilliant, very touching. I found my dad’s bullet points the night before the wedding but couldn’t work any of them out, they listed things like ‘1986 budget draft’ and something about red wine and gambling. Now I know what each point meant, I have framed that piece of paper! Andy, Tom’s best man’s was hilarious too but also embarrassing at times as we have both known him since school, he had some funny stories to tell!”
Final Words
Some final words of wisdom from our bride Anna;
“It might be easy for me to say, because I do a lot of events with my job but don’t let the planning consume you, enjoy it, it doesn’t have to be stressful. The only slightly stressful moment for me was when I decided I wanted to change the dress, as soon as I told Emma though, all of that stress disappeared. Be open minded on the dress, try on a wide variety of styles, its often the ones you think wont suit you that do. I never thought I would go for something so fitted, I really surprised myself. Leave yourself plenty of time to find the dress but don’t purchase it too early and find that you have gone off it by the time the wedding comes round.”
“Don’t stress over the small things, it’s only you that notices the finer details, not your guests. I asked some of my friends if the fairy lights in the trees outside ever got switched on, none of them were able to tell me either way!”
Suppliers
Make-up Artist: Bare Minerals International make-up artist Sarah-Jane Froom
Hair Stylist: Ester Wallington
Photographer: Esme Ducker
Florist: Gill Pike
Bespoke Gin Cocktails: The Travelling Gin Co
Pizza Van: Born & Raised Pizza
Band 1: Twice Acoustic
Band 2: Kicks Band
Personalised Meringues: Meringue Girls
Wedding Cake: Lisa Carpenter
Stationery: Glyn West
Catering: Tandem Catering
Thank you so much to Anna and Tom for sharing their beautiful day with us!
Leah x
Digital Media Manager at Miss Bush
Miss Bush is Surrey’s leading designer bridal shop
