Our first real wedding of 2017 is absolutely stunning! Carla wore Sottero & Midgley Abrianna for her wedding to Daniel which took place in September last year at Dorney Court, a beautiful Tudor manor house in Windsor.
We’re so delighted to share the images from their day by photographer Jonny Barratt and second shooter Paul Summerfield with you today; the photographs are so beautiful and it looks like they had a lot of fun shooting them!
The Dress
Carla’s wedding dress choice was Sottero and Midgley Abrianna, a showstopping ballgown style wedding dress with plunging v neckline and back, romantic full tulle skirt and nipped in waist, encrusted in sparkling Swarovski crystals and intricate beaded lace.
Carla tells us more about finding her dress;
“I kept it simple when looking for dresses and would only take one person with me, either one of my sisters or my mum. When I found my dress I was with my mum, we both knew the dress was pretty special when I tried it on the first time, in fact it was one of the first dresses we both had picked out and one of the first ones I tried on. I like to feel like I have done a good sweep of all the options when I’m picking something so I tried on a whole bunch of dresses, but would always be comparing it to the Sottero and Midgley dress and none of them could come close.”
“When we went back to Miss Bush for the final time and made the final decision, I knew it was the right choice. When I came out of the fitting room with the dress on and swirled around in the mirrors it bought a tear to my mum’s eyes and throughout the run up to the wedding she would often tell me how beautiful it was and I couldn’t help but agree with her!”
“My favourite part of the dress shopping experience was discovering how much of an impact wearing a wedding dress can have on your mood. It can’t be a bad day when you’re wearing a wedding dress. It’s not often that you wear a dress that’s so well constructed, or has had so much thought go into how it should look, the fit and fabrics, so it feels incredibly special to be wearing a dress like that. It also taught me a lot about what sort of styles work for me and what doesn’t that I can relate back to my every day clothes. It’s amazing how one dress can look fantastic on the hanger, but when you put it on you can instantly tell it’s not the right dress for you but you’ll see someone else wearing it and they look fabulous!”
“Working with a dress shop like Miss Bush that understood how different dress shapes work with different figures was a breath of fresh air, having a shop full of dresses can be overwhelming so having an experienced hand to help guide you is a god send. I’m also not an overly gushy person and would cringe if someone would overly fuss over me or would tell me a dress looked great when I could clearly see it didn’t. I wanted an honest opinion and good solid advice which is exactly what you get at Miss Bush, their experience really shows, they know what they are talking about, from the dress recommendations, through to advice for the big day.”
“The seamstress who did my alterations was superb, and so skilled at what she does, you knew you (and your dress) were in very safe hands which took a lot of stress out of the process.”
“Being in an environment that’s all about celebrating such a happy event can rub off on you and I loved seeing other fittings taking place, the discussions brides and bridesmaids would have and the different types of dresses people would pick.”
Carla also gave us some details about how she accessorised her dress;
“It turns out I’m a bit of a magpie and I love sparkle, my dress has a lot of beading and sequins on it, so I need to make sure whatever accessories I had would work with the dress and not clash, but I still wanted to have just a bit more sparkle. I chose the Lotus tiara from Victoria Ferguson which worked well with the patterns within the dress as well as our weddings starry theme, but was a clean and elegant design that worked with the dress. I also had a matching pair of earrings and a necklace from Elizabeth and James which complemented the tiara.”
“I also wore a full length veil also from Miss Bush which I thoroughly enjoyed wearing (when else are you ever going to get to wear a veil??) We captured the most beautiful shots of the wind catching it which are some of my favourite from the day.”
About the Day
Carla and Daniel’s wedding was an old-school Hollywood glam inspired day, with a scattering of sparkle inspired by the moon and stars. Their styling was happy and colourful, packed with personal details and creative touches.
The vibrant floral arrangements and Carla’s breathtaking bouquet were created by the lovely Hannah Berry Flowers.
Their cake by The Foxy Cake Co is so fabulous and so creative, perfect for their starry themed day!
Carla tells us all about the inspiration behind their styling;
“There is a picture called ‘La Lune’ by Double Merrick we have hang up at home and we’ve taken a lot of inspiration from that and old Fred and Ginger movies. Stars and moons featured throughout, a lot of sparkle and old Hollywood glam. We wanted to try and make sure everyone was chilled out and had an awesome time, that what happens happens and we all had a blast along the way.”
“There there were two parts that I enjoyed the most. The process of getting ready was one of them. You have the whole day ahead of you and you’re spending your morning with your bridesmaids and my mum and dad, being fussed over.”
“The sense of anticipation was exciting and imagining how things would play out was fun. Then you get to put your dress on, up to that point you’ve only really spent a few minutes in it at any one time but seeing the whole outfit come together with the final piece being your dress feels fantastic.”
“The other was the walk down the aisle, it’s something that I thought I would find very scary but actually seeing my sisters and Daniel’s niece walk ahead of me I felt so proud of them. My dad helped to keep me calm as we stepped through the door and seeing everyone’s smiling faces and Daniel waiting for me at the top made it one of the most special feeling parts of the day.”
Final Words
Some words of wedding planning advice from our bride, Carla;
“It will all fall into place. Things have a magic way of working out without you having to stress about them. Take little moments throughout the day to take everything in, it’s true what they say it goes so quickly. Have a few people you trust assigned to make sure things happen so that you don’t have to think about them on the day itself and lastly, make the day before as simple and relaxing as you can, you’ll need your sleep to get through the big day itself, get as much of it as you can so you can last as long as possible the next day!”
“Don’t worry if you’re not having all the super duper wonderful excited ‘everything is wonderful’ feelings you read about on blog sites and in wedding magazines. Planning a wedding can be hard work, some of us aren’t super gushy people and sometimes everything isn’t just ‘darling’, it doesn’t mean I love my husband any less. Do you, don’t try to act a different way to how you normally would just because it’s what you’re supposed to do, or how you’re supposed to feel. Relax, breath, listen to your gut and do what makes you happy.”
“When shopping for a dress, find a shop you feel comfortable in and that will be honest with you and work with the people there, they’ve seen it all before, they’ll have a good idea of what will work for you and what will work against. You want the experience of going to an appointment or a fitting to be enjoyable and that’s what you find at Miss Bush, the setting is glorious and the team are experts in wedding dresses – it’s the perfect mix!”
Suppliers
Some of the suppliers that helped to make Carla and Daniel’s day so special;
Photographer: Jonny Barratt
Second Shooter: Paul Summerfield
Hair: Kasia Fortuna
Make-Up: Carolanne Armstrong
Venue: Dorney Court
Cake: The Foxy Cake Co
Flowers: Hannah Berry Flowers
The Dress: Sottero and Midgley at Miss Bush
Tiara: Victoria Ferguson
Thank you so much to Carla, Daniel and their photographer Jonny for sharing their wonderful images with us, and to Carla for taking the time to tell us all about their day!
Leah x
