Our feature today is a chic, contemporary London wedding, with Miss Bush bride Lisa marrying husband Phil wearing Jesus Peiro 6000. The wedding took place at a seriously cool venue; the RSA House, an historic Georgian building filled with contemporary art, iconic design and unique features that made the perfect setting for our stylish, elegant couple to wed.
This was a bit of a tough wedding to blog as there were so many amazing images to choose from by photographer Alex Dimos – I would have included all 400 of them if I could! Everything about this day was just perfect, and I just love Lisa and Phil’s laid back, effortlessly cool style.
The Dress
Lisa chose to wear Jesus Peiro 6000, a wedding dress which is well on its way to iconic status! This dress has to be our dress of the year this year, with a number of our brides choosing to wear the minimalist, structured gown for their weddings.
With a crisp, clean silhouette made from taffeta mikado the dress features a flattering halterneck, deep v neckline and full structured skirt, finished with a big beautiful bow at the waist.
Lisa tells us more about finding her dress;
“As I’m always cold and don’t like my arms I searched high and low for a wedding dress with sleeves. But any long-sleeved wedding dresses were lace and when I tried them on they just looked too fussy and I felt like an actor in a period drama.
I had tried Jesus Piero dresses on prior to the day at The Chapel after someone suggested that as a Spanish designer they might suit the more ‘covered up’ look that I wanted. I had tried ‘my dress’ on too but it had been altered from the design – with the bow removed!!”
“I didn’t tell Emma which particular JP dress I liked, but when I came into the Chapel, she picked exactly the same one I had in mind (although saved it to the end of all the dresses I tried on that day.) She was absolutely right to say that I HAD to have the bow on it, that was the dress itself!
I couldn’t understand why I was choosing that dress as it was halterneck and showed all of my arms, which I said I wanted covered up. The Miss Bush team suggested that it was probably because the dress cut across my shoulders and round my neck, so therefore breaking up the profile of my square shoulders and skinny arms that I had wanted ‘sleeves’ to cover. This made sense to me, as I just felt so comfortable in the dress.
I loved the fact it had pockets, the moment I put my hands in them I just felt so relaxed and me!”
“My Mum and I went to all the dress shops together as I trust her implicitly as she knows me so well and what I like. My son came to many fittings too – out of practicality but in fact he did say ‘Ooohh you look nice Mama’ which felt like a seal of approval!
My Mum cried when I put ‘my dress’ on. She totally agreed with Emma that I HAD to have the bow and kindly paid for the dress then as she wanted to buy my dress for me. I had worried that I would regret it if I didn’t buy a long sleeved dress so understanding why my search was over with a sleeveless one was important! (This was my favourite part- – not wanting to take the dress off in the Chapel as I felt so comfortable and LOVED it so much, particularly the pockets as I didn’t feel awkward with my hands.)”
“As soon as I got home and told Phil I had found my dress and that it was a bit ‘different’ I suggested making it a black tie wedding. I thought that black and white would work well with my dark hair and dark nails and dark flowers. Phil wears a suit to work every day so I wanted him to have that special feeling too.
He went up to London and got a bespoke suit made which was also a secret from me. I think he really stood out as a Groom that day, and even though all the men at the wedding were wearing black tie, because Phil’s suit was like a wedding dress – made to measure- it meant he looked amazing. I have always said it’s all about the cut with clothes and that’s what our wedding dress and suit were. (Well and the material and style too of course!)”
“My biggest style dilemma was that the dress looks better with my hair up as it shows off the halterneck but I didn’t want to wear my hair up, (again I wanted to look like the best version of me not a bridal look necessarily.) I’m so glad I stuck with my decision. Although it wasn’t until the morning that I decided against wearing a tiara (after purchasing about 3 or 4 including one bespoke one.) Alex the photographer also convinced me that I didn’t need it. This pleased Phil as he had always said that I didn’t need one!”
About the Day
Lisa and Phil wanted to plan a wedding that was really personal to them; a relaxed party atmosphere with all of their closest friends and family having a great time!
They chose to keep the venue styling to a minimum, letting the interior design and artwork on display throughout RSA House do the talking. Their table settings featured simple white stationery and classic pillar candles, with the soft candlelight and warm exposed brick in the vaults creating a romantic, intimate atmosphere.
Lisa tells us more about the inspiration behind their day;
“There were a number of things that we decided we wanted before we booked anything for our day. Firstly, we wanted to feel like we were having dinner with our close friends and family rather than a traditional wedding breakfast. Ideally we wanted to have a complimentary bar in the evening or at least buy our guests most of their drinks so that our day didn’t cost them a fortune to drink at. We didn’t want to just “do” things that people did at weddings ‘just because.'”
“This was something we kept asking ourselves through every step of the planning process. It’s what struck a chord when I came into Miss Bush as Emma really encouraged me to be ‘myself’ as a bride and this is exactly what Phil and I promised ourselves and each other. For example, I had dark nails when I tried my dress on at The Chapel and Emma commented on how well it went with my dress… I usually have my nails dark – it’s very me, so it meant that Emma immediately “got” my style and what I wanted to look like. (No veil, wear my Cartier watch which is very sentimental to me from my brother and have dark flowers not girly ones! So when my florist suggested the dark lilies rather than the ‘girly’ peonies I was swaying towards, she too was another key person to understand us and how we wanted our day!)”
“Secondly we wanted the evening to be a party rather than a ‘disco’ type thing with the sort of music we enjoy (without it turning into a ‘club’ night.) Easier said than done!! Until we finally found Jonny Ross!”
“Thirdly, the actual venue needed to be somewhere we both loved and probably in London. The moment we saw the Vaults at RSA there was no point in looking anywhere else! We wanted to get married towards the end of the day, evening ideally – although to fit everything in that proved harder than we first thought! Finally we agreed that we only wanted our very closest friends and family there… No ‘friends from work who the other hadn’t met’.. everyone there had to know us both really well.”
“I clearly remember being so excited to walk down the aisle and when there was a delay (something technical) I just wanted to hurry up and see Phil. I didn’t feel nervous at all. I absolutely loved our actual ceremony as it was so intimate and as we looked round and could make eye contact with all of our friends and family. (We only had 50 guests so it was very small.) It was lovely to laugh with them at little things like how serious Phil sounded when he said his vows and how I corrected my name as I said my vows as the registrar used my married rather than maiden name.”
“There were a few moments just after we were married it was just the two of us and it felt very intimate which was lovely like when Phil kissed my shoulder as we sat at our wedding breakfast, or when we walked down the The Strand and people asked if we were shooting a magazine and we shouted back “No we really did get married!!” But particularly when our son Raife, Phil and I had some moments together as our little family right after the ceremony.”
“We were truly happy (as the photos show!) These were really vivid memories and what was amazing was that when we looked through our wedding photographs our photographer had managed to capture them all. (Another thing we’d agreed on, that we didn’t want an intrusive photographer calling the shots or taking hours posing group shots.
Alex was just perfect for what we wanted and captured our day as it happened. Although funnily enough one of the other ‘things we decided’ was to not have the posed photographs together away from the rest of our friends and family. Alex convinced us that this would not just be about taking snaps but that it would be time together just us. We compromised by agreeing that we would see how the day went and as long as we weren’t missing out we would go. In fact. Alex was spot on.”
“We sneaked out when everyone else was eating and they didn’t notice. We really relished that time away as walking through the city of London made it almost more ‘real’ and it was time for us to take in our day and pause for a moment before it passed too quickly. Seeing most of the people who we love and mean so much to us in one place, some meeting for the first time, was really special too.”
“Lastly I wanted to honour my brother and one of my best friends, who are both no longer with us. I designed a cocktail menu that reflected them both and their personality. It was a really special way to ensure that everyone thought of them as they stood at the bar – and the drinks were effectively ‘on them!'”
Final Words
“Before you start planning make a list of things that you think you want together. When you look for suppliers, venues and all of the other parts that make up your day try to find people who ‘get’ what you are looking for (As Emma, Alex the Photographer, Nikki at RSA, Henry our DJ and Hannah our florist all did.) It is so easy to over-spend and get carried away with the whole wedding industry. But stick to what you wanted originally to make it a day about you two, and who you are as a couple, remembering it is the first day of your marriage, not just a ‘wedding event.’ Once we had picked people who ‘got it’ – what we wanted, we were able to trust their advice as professionals in their fields.”
“Finally make sure that you ‘step away’ from the day at some point to have a few moments the two of you. All that planning – when it all comes together on the day you need to take a moment to relish it all coming together as it is the first and last time it will!!”
Suppliers
The dress: Jesus Peiro 6000 at Miss Bush
Photographer: Alex Dimos Photography
Flowers : Hannah Martin Flowers
Entertainment: Jonny Ross Music
Wedding Planner & Venue – Nikki at RSA
Hotel: St.Martin’s Lane
Phil’s suit: Gieves and Hawkes Savile Row
Thank you so much to Lisa and Phil for sharing their day with us, and to Lisa for taking the time to share all of the details and giving us an insight into the planning that went into creating such a special and beautiful event!
Leah x
