There was a collective sigh of delight from the The Chapel office when Sophie and Jonathan's wedding dropped into our inbox. Taking place in early April, the wedding was held at The Connaught, a magnificent 5 star Hotel in Mayfair, with an evening reception at 10-11 Carlton House Terrace. With the cherry blossom in full bloom, the location made for some stunning portraits of the newlyweds, captured by the wonderful Emily Rose Photography.

Sophie wore Jesus Peiro's breathtaking Paniculata (style 170) dress and cape combo. The outfit starts with a simple fitted gown as its base, which features cut out panels to the side and an elegant open back. The dress is then topped with a statement cape, made from a light, delicate tulle covered in tiny sparkling embellished polka dots. Sophie kept her styling simple and elegant to allow the dress to shine, which it did beautifully in the evening sunlight and the romantic candlelight atmosphere of the evening reception.

Find out more about Sophie and Jonathan's day in our feature below...

Jesus Peiro 170 dress and cape

I loved the simplicity of the design and the fabric that changed depending on the lighting. I was keen not to have a sleeveless dress, but I also did not want full-length sleeves, so the cape was perfect! When I first tried the dress, I instantly felt comfortable but it was like nothing I had ever worn before.

Miss Bush was the first and only dress shop I visited. I brought my mum with me and it was in the midst of the pandemic so we had spent some time pre-selecting designs that I would try on the day. My mum had actually suggested I try the 170 Jesus Peiro dress, it hadn't been on my original list! The dress is so unique that when I tried it on, my mum loved it.

Dress Shopping

I think my favourite part of the experience was all of the different stages that you can look forward to. I had quite a gap between ordering my dress and my first fitting, so much so that I couldn't really picture myself in the dress ahead of my first fitting. So, being able to wear the dress again at the first fitting and knowing that I still really loved it was a real highlight. It meant I could start planning the other elements like shoes, hair etc.

The team at Miss Bush were really understanding when we decided to postpone our wedding by six months and I was really grateful that I could store my dress with them until closer to the wedding day. Willow was so lovely and really made me feel at ease - having the same member of the Miss Bush team at all of my fittings made the experience feel all the more personable. It was Willow who suggested a try a veil so I am very thankful for her suggestion!

Styling

As the dress was a statement in itself, I made sure that the rest of my look was quite natural and understated. I wore some simple small hoop earrings from Oliver Bonas (a present that one of my bridesmaids had got me a couple of years ago!). I spent quite a while searching for shoes, originally thinking that I wanted a pop of colour. but not finding what I was after. This led me to choose my shoes from Charlotte Mills - a block heel and with a slight sparkle to complement the dress. I opted to add fluffy pom-poms as well just because! For my hair and makeup, I wanted to avoid looking too bridal or 'princessy' so opted for a French twist with a bit of texture so my hair wasn't too 'done'. In terms of makeup, I just wanted glowy fresh skin, with a bit of colour.

A chic London wedding at The Connaught Hotel

We opted for a London black-tie wedding and had that as the basis for the styling of the day. We kept the colour palette fairly simple - mainly white flowers and greenery. Our florist did such an amazing job; she really understood what we were after and exceeded our expectations. We started with a small ceremony, drinks reception and lunch at the Connaught with 24 guests. Having a small start to our day had not been the original plan, but actually, we loved it! We got to spend quality time with everyone and meant we could add personal touches to that part of the day. After lunch we headed to 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, for the evening celebrations with approximately 70 guests. The evening was really relaxed and a lovely way to end the day.

Sophie's Advice

When planning, do what you want to do and don't feel like you should do things a certain way because it's tradition. Just have fun!! We had to re-plan part of our wedding with two months to go, whilst it was pretty stressful, we somehow found to keep finding the funny side of it all.

Suppliers

Photography: Emily Rose Photography
Makeup: Panda Make Up
Hair: Love Hair by Lou
Shoes: Charlotte Mills
Bridesmaid dresses: Topshop
Venue: The Connaught and 10-11 Carlton House Terrace
Florist: Augusta Florals
Caterers: The Connaught and Searcys
Transport: London Black Cab Transfers
Wedding cake: Cutter and Squidge