We're going back to February this year, for a wistful look back at one of our brides who was able to marry before the pandemic hit. Christa and Todd's wedding took place in the beautiful city of Helsinki; it was a drizzly February day, and with the addition of tons of flickering candles, the rain just added to the romantic, cosy feel of the day.
Christa was a super stylish bride, opting to combine two stunning pieces from our top designers, Suzanne Neville and Jesus Peiro. The dress was Pandora by Suzanne Neville, a sleek, comfortable gown with an elegant v back, which Christa accessorised with one of our incredible showstopping Jesus Peiro capes. This allowed our bride to create two very different looks, wearing the dress alone with a striking lace edged veil for a more traditional bridal feeling during the ceremony, adding the cape later on for the reception.
Find out more about this wonderful day below, with images by Miss Bush brides favourite Benjamin Wheeler.
Suzanne Neville Pandora wedding dress with a Jesus Peiro cape
As soon as I put the Pandora dress on, I started picturing the wedding day and immediately felt really excited - I could suddenly imagine myself walking into the church, chatting with family, dancing and drinking. That's how I knew it was the one. It just felt the most natural, I felt completely myself in it, and it was the sleek, modern style that I wanted. I knew finding a cape would be much harder (but was definitely necessary with a Finnish winter wedding), and when I casually mentioned it during one of my early fittings and I was told there was one cape I might like, I had no hope of it being what I had in mind. But as soon as I tried on the super long, crisp white Jesus Peiro cape, I had to have it - it was exactly what I had been picturing, and added some drama to my otherwise fairly lowkey look. I ended up wearing it for most of the wedding day.
I was with my mum, my maid of honour Hannah and her mum at my first appointment. The dress was a unanimous favourite, and everyone agreed that I looked the happiest and most relaxed in it.
Dress Shopping
I love shopping in general so trying on wedding dresses was probably my favourite part of wedding planning. The lovely girls at Miss Bush were so warm and friendly and really made the experience a joy.
I didn't really have any major issues or problems. Helping me find the cape was amazing, I really thought I'd have to look far and wide for it.
Styling
I didn't have many accessories and no jewellery at all. I wanted to keep the overall look quite simple, in-keeping with the dress. The little details like the lace panel on the dress and the lace border around my veil were enough detail and I didn't want to take attention away from those details by adding lots of other things. My shoes were gold block heels from H&M - I always thought I'd splash out on my wedding shoes, but the reality of a Finnish winter wedding meant that I knew whatever shoes I had would get totally ruined, so I ended up going super cheap and feeling quite relieved about it. I didn't have to worry about them on the day and they were so comfortable.
A romantic winter wedding in Helskini, Finland
We got married in the same church that my parents got married in, in central Helsinki, and on the same date as them too (22nd February). So the date and church had a lot of meaning behind it and was really special. My dad said it was quite incredible walking down the same aisle on the exact same date, 35 years after his own wedding. The reception was at an old orangery and farm half an hour outside Helsinki in the countryside. It's a white washed, minimalist building, with big rickety windows and paint peeling off the walls - exactly the rustic blank canvas we were after. Our wedding stylist, Nord and Mae, described the style as "withered country house with a broken, wild romance" which I think summed it up quite well. All the flowers, table linens etc were in natural, earthy, muted tones. I wanted to embrace the Scandinavian love for simplicity and nature, so we had lots of grasses, branches and twigs inside, rather than lots of perfectly polished flowers. Our stylists did an amazing job transforming the dinner space into a candlelit oasis! We had what can only be described as biblical weather, it was storming all day with torrential rain and high winds. It made for the best atmosphere inside with candles flickering in the dark, and really got the party going too.
The best bits
Two moments really stand out for me. The first was walking into the church and seeing Todd at the altar, seeing the smiling faces of all my favourite people in the world. It was just the best feeling of "this is it". The other was when me and Todd were watching our guests fight their way through the 30mph wind and rain as they walked up the path from the bus into the orangery, where we were waiting with the welcome drinks. It was a real moment of calm as we were watching them all coming over the hill, and then they all came bursting and tumbling into the orangery with huge smiles on their faces, laughing and hugging, despite the crazy weather. It was such a wonderful energy, and felt electric.
Christa's Advice
For the dress, go with the one that makes you immediately start imagining the day, the one that makes you feel comfortable, the one that makes you feel excited about the day. Wedding planning can get all consuming, but focus on the big things and keep reminding yourself that a good wedding is made by the people, not by the colour of the napkins or the number of flowers on each table. And finally, as someone who spent ages fretting about the weather and then getting the worst possible weather: it genuinely makes no difference to your day whether it pours or shines, and I ended up loving the storms on our wedding day - it actually brought quite a unique atmosphere to it, and some of my favourite pictures and memories are of us running through the rain, and when the doors flung open during Todd's speech because it was howling outside. So I really wish I hadn't spent so much time worrying about it, because I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Suppliers
Photographer: Benjamin Wheeler
Stylist/planner, florist and stationery: Nord and Mae
Caterer: Soup
Venue: Oitbacka Gard