We’ve got a really cool wedding to share with you today! Bekki & Ewan were married in February this year at Hillside Brewery, in Gloucestershire, with a creative, contemporary day taking inspiration from their design backgrounds and love of music. The couple met at Cardiff university whilst studying illustration and run a design business together; Steele & Stovell.
The Dress
Bekki wore Maggie Sottero Londyn for her wedding day, which she wore over a blush slip. This sheath wedding down is made from the most exquisite floral lace and features a beautiful and unique scalloped lace neckline.
Bekki found her dress in our sample sale; her cool and creative wedding and contemporary styling of the gown are the perfect example of how incredible a sample sale dress can look on your big day!
Bekki tells us more;
“My mother-in-law was with me when I found my dress, and as soon as I put it on, we both knew it was ‘the one’. I was so excited when I found out that it was a sample dress, and it was for sale! We had planned the whole wedding on such a tight budget, this made it all possible.
Until this point, I had had a really miserable dress shopping experience. None of my local wedding shops had anything like I had imagined – everything was quite old-fashioned and not at all what I had in mind. I wanted to wear something I hadn’t seen before, and I was starting to feel really disheartened. I knew I wanted to wear a leather jacket with my dress in the evening, and when I mentioned this in other shops they looked appalled!! They were even more confused when I told them I was getting married in a brewery! “
“I knew Miss Bush was the place for me when they squealed with excitement when I told them about my wedding plans. They made me feel so welcome, and the chapel looked particularly beautiful when I visited (the entrance arch was decorated with huge tropical leaves and loads of other foliage). I explained that my budget wasn’t huge, and everyone was so accommodating. My dress was better than I ever could have imagined, and I was able to take it away with me the same day! It was the best experience, and I was so excited when I left the chapel!”
“I accessorised my dress with a soft, silk veil from Britten, with a subtle eyelash lace trim to match the neckline. I found the prettiest blush vine necklace in H&M (a bargain at £6.99!), and wore simple stud earrings. My gold bracelet was given to me by my Grandma for my 18th birthday, and we tucked some Eucalyptus leaves into the top of my veil to add some detail.
I wore a leather jacket with a fur collar (from ASOS) in the evening, and burgundy scalloped courts from Dune Shoes.”
About the Day
As you might already have gathered, Bekki and Ewan are a pretty cool pair, so a traditional cookie cutter wedding was never going to be on the books for them! Combining their creativity and love for arts and music, their day was a casual, fun and cool event packed with interesting details.
Bekki tells us all about it;
“Ewan and I are both really creative – we run a design business, and arts and music have been a huge part of our upbringing. We always knew that our wedding would be a little bit unconventional, and we wanted everything to centre around people having a good time. We didn’t want our guests having to stand around awkwardly with champagne in one hand and a fiddly canapé in another – we knew we wanted them to feel relaxed, comfortable, and full of good food and drink.
We both love Italian food, and the Italian wedding culture, so we took that as our starting point – sophisticated but relaxed. Music would play a big part – jazz, soul, and hip hop. And definitely food – pizza, antipasti, and burgers.”
“We booked an awesome venue in Gloucestershire, Hillside Brewery, where they had just built a brand new agricultural barn. It was MASSIVE, and a completely blank canvas. Just grey corrugated walls, concrete floors, and lots of awesome industrial details. This was the inspiration for the decor, which was very natural – tonnes of greenery, with just a few flowers, and a really limited colour palette. It took us three days to decorate the barn, and it was SO worth it!
My favourite part of the day was sitting down to the lunchtime meal, and soaking in everything around me. The ceremony had been beautiful, all of my friends and family were chatting and laughing and tucking into the food, and my husband (eek!) and daughter were giggling next to me. It was a really special moment, and I felt so proud of everything we had achieved.”
Final Words
Some wedding planning advice from our bride, Bekki;
“The biggest thing I learnt when planning the wedding was to stick to my gut feeling. I knew what I did and didn’t want, and there were plenty of times I could have given in because someone else didn’t agree. It was so important to us to stay true to what we wanted, and we both felt like it really paid off. Having said that, we didn’t have any diva moments (or at least I hope not!), and we always made sure every decision made both of us happy. Our day was really personal in every detail, and we didn’t do anything just because we were supposed to.
I’d highly recommend Miss Bush for any brides who haven’t yet found their dress – and if you’re not sure, follow them on Instagram for a few weeks and I’m sure you’ll be converted!!”
Suppliers
Bekki tells us all about the amazing team that helped make their day so special;
Our photographer was the amazingly talented Paula Gillespie, who just blew us away – she’s the nicest person, and so creative – and she flew over from Ireland to shoot our wedding! – http://paulagillespie.com
Our venue was Hillside Brewery – https://www.hillsidebrewery.com
Ewan’s suit was Moss Bros. ‘Tailor Me’ – https://www.moss.co.uk/tailor-me
Alex wore a dress and shoes from Monsoon – http://uk.monsoon.co.uk – and a Zara jacket, customised by Peaceful Progress (our awesome Graffiti Artist friend Bryce) – http://www.peacefulprogress.co.uk
The bridesmaids wore dresses from ASOS – http://www.asos.com
My hair, makeup, nails, and beauty was Natalie Powles (Ciao Belle) – https://www.facebook.com/ciaobellebeauty/
and the bridesmaids makeup was by Niamh Compton – https://www.facebook.com/nailsbyniamhc/
Food was by our talented friend Ellis Rutsch, with pizza by Ffwrnes – http://www.ffwrnes.co.uk, and burgers by The Beefy Boys – http://thebeefyboys.com
Flowers were from The Florist on The Corner – http://www.likesflorist.co.uk – and The Flower Monger – http://theflowermonger.co.uk
We hired accessories from Alternative Events – https://www.alternativeevents.net
Crockery was from Classic Crockery – http://www.classiccrockery.co.uk
We had music by the Remi Harris Duo – http://www.remiharris.com – and Jenny & Oli Frost – https://www.facebook.com/jennyfrostvocalcoach/
Friends and family helped us with desserts, decorations, and foliage.
Thank you so much to Bekki and Ewan for sharing their day with us, I LOVE this wedding!
Leah x
