Our wedding today features not one but two beautiful Jesus Peiro wedding dresses! Taking place at the picturesque Château de Saint-Martory in France, Kristin and Greg's wedding was a joyful, chic celebration filled with beautiful flowers, personal touches and special moments.
Kristin chose two Jesus Peiro wedding dresses for her wedding day, starting with the elegant, simple 2517 for the ceremony and reception. The dress features a stylish square neckline and simple shoulder straps, with an A-line skirt with side pleats and pockets. Kristin chose to have it created in crisp, classic satin for an elegant finish, with detachable chiffon sleeves which she removed after the ceremony. To style her look, Kristin kept things simple, with a playful high ponytail, Manolo Blahnik Hangisi heels in white and a subtle hint of glitter from her Nortier veil.
For the evening reception, Kristin changed into the 2555 lace mini dress, which she customised with lace flutter sleeves, worn with a pair of block heels from Reformation - perfect for celebrating on the dancefloor!
Read on for more details about the day and Kristin's dress shopping journey, with images by Ross Hurley Photography.
Jesus Peiro 2517 & 2555 wedding dresses
I wore the 2517 in satin for the ceremony, cocktail hour & dinner with added sleeves that I took off after the ceremony. Also the Nortier glitter veil. I fell in love with this dress because of the straight neckline and beautiful skirt. It felt grand but was super comfortable to move around in which was important to me. I loved the option of having sleeves for the ceremony, adding some softness to the dress, and then taking them off for the cocktail hour as a mini outfit change.
I knew I wanted to wear something else & short for the party and I wanted something special. 2555 with added sleeves absolutely delivered. I tried on 2555 (as is) at my measurement appointment for 2517 and loved it but felt like something was missing for me as I never wear anything without sleeves. Ben suggested to add the ruffles of the coat as sleeves and I fully trusted his vision. It’s the coolest piece of clothing I have ever worn, it felt very special.
I brought my mum who lives in Germany and we were really lucky timings worked out for this appointment and two of my bridesmaids. Lots of tears! Even from my mum who is usually more on the reserved side, it was a really special moment.
Dress Shopping at Miss Bush
Miss Bush was the first boutique I went to and as soon as I walked into the beautiful chapel I knew this would be the place for me to find my dress. I had no clue what kind of dress I would want and Emma and Rosie were super patient with me, giving lots of suggestions and advice and making me feel really comfortable. I am not the most creative person and the suggestions of sleeves from Rosie for dress 1 and Ben for dress 2 made both dresses super special to me. Very grateful for their suggestions! The appointment was really special and I felt so beautiful.
Styling
I wanted to keep accessories and my hair to a minimum and let the dresses do the talking.
I wore dress 2517 with white Manolo Hangisis (I had no idea what dress I wanted but always knew I wanted these as my wedding shoes)
And then changed into ‘Noey’ heels by Reformation for 2555.
In terms of jewellery I only wore some peacock style ruby diamond earrings from Gordon Marks in Cobham, matching my engagement ring.
About the Day
We got married in France at Chateau Saint Martory. A breathtaking castle near the Pyrenees on beautiful grounds surrounded by nature. We looked at 200ish venues online, narrowed it down to see 5 in person and new SM was the one as soon as we drove down the path to the castle. We loved the ‘grandness’ of the building but especially that the grounds around it are kept in a ‘natural’ way.
We also chose this venue as we were able to stay for 4 nights with all close relatives and bridal party. Saturday (wedding day) was incredibly special but so were the more relaxed moments throughout the weekend with family and friends.
The colour scheme was developed from my engagement ring (ruby) into red/ orange colours which also worked really well with some of the foliage around the castle.
From when we first saw the venue approx 2 years ago we knew we wanted the ceremony under the beautiful walnut tree surrounded by greenery. We booked a string quartet for our ceremony with ‘bittersweet symphony’ as my entrance song. A song that both Greg and I love and listened to over and over on our road trip in New Zealand (where we got engaged). Neither of us could keep a dry eye when the song started playing.
The cocktail hour was just outside of the castle which was a really cool backdrop.
On the castle grounds is a barn area which is where we had the dinner in open air and later on dancing in the half open barn. I absolutely loved the dinner setup the team at the castle put together, absolutely stunning. The drone shots from Ross of this are some of my favourite photos.
We had three long tables named after our 3 rescue cats - Neva, Rae & Ray - with a handful of photos of them on the tables which was one of my favourite little extras.
For the party we booked a band ‘the sabres’ and this part was both of our favourite part of the evening. Our first dance song was ‘8 days a week by the Beatles’ a song very close to my heart from a young age. The dance floor was full all night and we had the best time.
The best bits
Getting ready with my bridesmaids, mum, mum in law and niece. It was a really relaxed morning, such a happy occasion and we were even ready 45 min early (I am German after all)
Greg and I had written our own vows and not shown them to each other before. It was a really special part of the ceremony and we were both very emotional. Not that it is super surprising but what made it extra special is that both our vows were quite similar referencing things that are important to us both like Greg being my personal chef and me being Greg’s personal diary.
The party - we had dance lessons for our first dance and I don’t tend to brag but we did nail it! And the rest of the party was so fun, all generations on the dance floor for several hours, it was amazing.
And finally, we had a pool party on Sunday and most guests came (approx 85 people). It was a lovely sunny day, really relaxed atmosphere, a great bbq organised by the chateau chef Octavio and lovely to chat to people in a more relaxed setting. A special moment for me was sitting round the pool with my 5 closest friends from primary school who live in Germany so we don’t see each other a lot - just happy and chatting and a very special moment to me.
Kristin's Advice
Dream dress - trust your gut instinct and be true to yourself. Easier said than done but don’t let other peoples opinion sway you.
Wedding planning - as above 🙂 but I also found this quite helpful: ‘everyone here (the wedding) wants the best for you and for you to have the best day’. I found this a quite helpful reminder when stressing about various things.
Suppliers
Photographer: Ross Hurley Photography @rosshurleyphoto
Venue: Chateau Saint Martory @chateausaintmartory
HMUA: Alesia Solo @alesiasolo.co
Florist: Le pouvoir des fleurs by Aurélie @lepouvoir_desfleurs_by_aurelie
Caterer & Cake: Cooking4U @cooking4u.fr
Brides Shoes: Manolo Blahnik @manoloblahnik
Bridesmaids dresses: Azazie @azaziebridal
Suits: Countryhouse Beaconsfield
Quartet: Firebyrd Quartet
Band: The Sabres @sabresbandtoulouse
Celebrant: Mary-Jo Spanswick @maryjospanswick
Beer Supplier: Aurignac Ale @aurignacale