On our blog this evening... Caroline and Tom's romantic and elegant country house wedding at Huntsham Court. Lit by beautiful candlelight and with a warm, rich colour palette, the wedding was a welcoming, relaxed celebration that took place over a wintery weekend in January.

We're all so in love with Caroline's incredible bespoke opera coat, made in house here at Miss Bush by Ben and Adrian from Nortier /  Nortier Shallow. Made from luxurious champagne silk, the coat features a flaming orange lining for a flash of colour.

Caroline wore her cape over her stunning, beautifully fitted Suzanne Neville Sapphire dress with a glamorous 60's inspired up-do dotted with stars; a bridal outfit fit for a queen!

Read on to find out more, in Caroline's own words...

Suzanne Neville Sapphire wedding dress with bespoke Nortier coat

The Suzanne Neville dress was much more traditional than I was expecting to go and made me feel like a super stylish classic bride. But, I wanted drama, fun, something original and Neville dresses are classically beautiful in a very wedding way. Emma and I got talking about Adele's Schiaparelli moment (a dress that had these gorgeous rose like details on an incredibly dramatic sleeve) and also the more practical aspects of keeping warm at a January wedding. The idea to get the boys at Nortier Shallow to create an opera coat in the Schiaparelli vein was born out of those chats. I cannot tell you how much I love that damn coat, it's this warm Champagne silk taffeta and lined in burnt orange silk which incidentally, was the colour we built the wedding around. Being January, flowers were limited and we wanted something that would glow and feel warm without feeling Christmassy. It's Grace Kelly wrapped in 60s glam, swathed in decadence. One of the bar staff said to my mum "Which one of them has the royal title?" which is probably hyperbole on their part but royal is how it felt.

I brought my mum with me to my first appt, fittings and final try on. I didn't want anyone else to know what the dress looked like before the day or have to deal with lots of different opinions and knew she'd be brutally honest even if I didn't want her to be. Thankfully, there were no dramas and we were both beyond thrilled with the final look. I tried on the dress I ending up choosing at our first appt. and she cried so I sort of knew then I'd found "the one". The coat took a little longer to conceive and pull together but full on gasp moment when we put together the final look.

Dress Shopping

I was really honest with Emma before I went for my first appt. and said I was dreading dress shopping. Shouldn't have worried, Miss Bush handle your insecurities with such grace and understanding.

The first appointment when I got to try on a handful of dresses and feel for the first time, after a horrible experience at a different boutique, like a bride was such a lovely feeling.

And secondly, the final try on with Jo and the boys from Nortier Shallow when we dimmed the lights to get a feel for how it would look on the day. That was pretty special.

Miss Bush are a total dream to work with, I CANNOT recommend them enough.

Problems or issues Miss Bush team helped with... I really didn't want to dress shop as I was super worried about being able to find anything that would work for me. Emma was brilliant guiding me through it all and convinced me to try on a dress I wasn't originally keen on. And surprise, surprise it was the one I chose.

When we were having the cape made we re-did the little rose details three times (sorry!) - very much a goldilocks situation, too big, too small, just right - and the guys at Nortier Shallow were so patient and hands on to make sure it was perfect.

Styling

Those dresses don't need styling - they are literally works of art.

But we did add some extras...

Emma and I discussed what we should do with my hair quite a lot and decided it should be big, Bardot vibes to show off the beautiful neckline of the coat and dress. I also bought some sparkly star pins from Miss Bush that we weaved in the back on the day to reflect the light.
Tom bought me some emerald earrings for Christmas that matched my engagement ring so I wore those with my watch and a vintage gold bangle my parents gave me for Christmas with our wedding date engraved on the inside.

I had a fun, pearl shimmer clutch made with "Mrs Davies" written on the front for my phone, lip balm and eyeliner in case I needed it and wore a beautiful pair of Camilla Elphick's with a statement buckle and low(ish) block heel. I really wanted a pair of shoes I'd wear again and didn't want pointy toes. I've already worn them again with jeans since!

My something old: Gold bangle
Something new: Wedding dress and coat
Something borrowed: One of my granny's small silk scarves
Something blue: Navy blue toenails!

A romantic candlelit country house wedding

We wanted the weekend to feel like a 1930's country house house party and with everyone staying in the house with us on the Saturday night it had that decadent, stay up until 6am feel. Very sore heads at breakfast the next day.

We went heavy on flowers draping them almost everywhere and used greens, whites and oranges to bring some colour to a wet January day. Rain wasn't on the menu but it actually made the day giving us some incredible light and a really romantic feel. We put on shots of whiskey and sloe gin when people got back to the house from the little church in the grounds to warm them up in a nod to the shooting parties I used to attend at the house when I was little.

Tom and I wanted it to feel as welcoming to everyone as possible so we did lots of candlelight and fires to bring that gorgeous warm light.

The Best Bits

I was expecting it to be the dancing or the dinner but actually walking into the little church for our blessing was my favourite bit. It's the first time everyone got to see me after being holed up all morning, the first time Tom and I got to see each other and the culmination of all our planning was finally happening (we got married in January and spent a horrible December worrying about whether it would go ahead because... Omicron.)

Close second was the drinks reception - compliment central!

Caroline's Advice

1. You're going to look glorious whatever you choose so don't sweat it if what you thought you'd choose isn't what you've ended up with.

2. Be open to additions, separates, opera coats...

3. Enjoy it, it goes so quickly try not to worry about the small stuff

4. Take a moment on the day itself just you and them to look around at all the brilliant people who are there to celebrate you

5. Finally - GO TO MISS BUSH FOR YOUR DRESS

Suppliers

Photography: Siobhan Beales Photography
Venue: Huntsham Court
Flowers: Earth Gallery Flowers
Shoes: Camilla Elphick
Dress: Suzanne Neville from Miss Bush, bespoke opera coat by Nortier / Nortier Shallow
Accessories: Miss Clemmie at Miss Bush
Hair: Hannah Lenanton
Makeup: Justine Olver
Catering: MilkShed catering
Cakes: Hat-a-Cakes
Band: The Sky Knights
Bridesmaid dress: Rewritten
Illustrator / calligrapher: Polly Crossman