Our bride today, the lovely Antonia, was one of our many postponers from the past few years, who ended up staying with us for an extended Miss Bush journey! After rescheduling their wedding by a year, it is so lovely to see Antonia and Rob finally tie the knot at a beautiful ceremony at St Mary's and All Saints Church in Ellingham, Dorset followed by an elegant reception at St Giles House in Wimborne.

Antonia wore a Jesus Peiro classic, Style 200. This dress is one of the brand's most iconic looks, featuring a sharp high collared neckline, crisp modern fabric and a chic structured silhouette, nipped in at the waist with a wide belt. The dress is finished with Jesus Peiro's signature pockets for an effortless, relaxed look. 

Read on to find out more about Antonia's dress shopping experience and her 'formal but fun' country house wedding to Rob.

Jesus Peiro 200 wedding dress

I loved the high neckline, the full skirt, the buttons down the back. The way the dress was structured - feminine but with an edge to it. And the belt just finished it off so beautifully.

When I was trying dresses on people asked how I felt and I would say pretty. But I was 31, not 20. When I put my dress on I felt beautiful. I never thought I could feel like I did in my wedding dress. It was stunning, it was fun, simple, modern. And I had zero doubts about how I looked and I couldn't believe that I looked like that. And most importantly, I just felt like me.

The first time I went to Miss Bush, I went with my mum, one of my best friends and my sister in law and it was a really fun appointment.

The second time, I went with just my mum. It was really special because my mum and I are so close. I was quite confused with all the options but my mum knew me, and with Emma and Corrine's help I knew I made the right choice.

Every appointment after that I just took my mum and each time she would say "it's just so you" and every time I felt so lucky not just to have the dress that I did but also to have that time with her.

Dress Shopping

My favourite part of dress shopping was my first fitting. When we had tried on the 200 we had put a small petit coat on and my mum and I weren't convinced we felt it wasn't necessary. When we went to the first fitting, Emma was there and asked "are we doing the petticoat". We said probably not it didn't really make a difference. She looked up at us and said "I'm talking about a full Dior moment!" and the team appeared with this huge petticoat.

What was already a beautiful dress turned into something completely indescribable and that's when my mum and I went from being happy with the dress to knowing it was absolutely perfect. Spinning and walking around the chapel in that moment is something I will never forget. I felt like a princess, a bride and a runway model all in one.

I had originally picked the 211 with some customisation but a few months after I had found the dress, my psoriasis flared. I worried for weeks about the fact it would be on show with the back of the dress, and eventually burst into tears to my mum. She told me to calm down and contact Miss Bush asap - we would get it sorted! She was right. I emailed Rosie and she immediately replied and got me back in the chapel a week later. Luckily Jesus Peiro hadn't started making my dress yet but I had one week until they really needed to start.

My mum drove a couple of hours on a Friday afternoon to meet me at the Chapel where Corrine welcomed us in, told me it would all be ok and got to work showing me alternative dresses. I tried the Jesus Peiro 200 but it was totally different to the floaty dress I had tried before and we thought it might have been too formal.

We had got through quite a few and I was standing in a long sleeve lace gown when Emma had finished an appointment and saw me in the mirror. She immediately stopped and said "that dress does nothing for you".

She talked about the importance of framing your face and focusing on that and not getting lost in a dress. I got back into the 200 and Emma immediately came up with other styling ideas for hair, shoes and make up. I looked at my mum and we agreed it was definitely the one! We really appreciated her honesty.

A few months later I went back for my first fitting and I was Miss Bush's first bride since lockdown had begun. The team were absolutely brilliant as none of us knew what to expect. What I loved about the appointment was not once did I feel like a 'covid bride'. It was a beautifully sunny day in the chapel, and my mum waited outside while the team popped me in my dress. They then walked me to a marker in the middle of the room and said I could take my mask off making sure everyone was at a very safe distance. They did that so when my mum walked in and saw me in my dress for the first time she would be able to see my face and not just a mask. Every detail of the emotional side of the experience had been considered as well as the practical.

The next challenge was the postponement. To our disappointment we had to move by an entire year. I was devastated to have got so close and for it not to be going ahead. Rosie was amazing though and when I contacted her she immediately reassured me and stored my dress. The bonus was I had another year of chapel visits!

Styling

I wanted to keep it simple and importantly modern. I tried various hairstyles but my mum was right (again) and in the end I went for a simple loose bun. My hair stylist (who has the patience of a saint) had seen some Zara grips and suggested those for a more contemporary take on bridal hair accessories and they worked perfectly. I really appreciated that she took the time to look at my dress and the feel I wanted and make suggestions rather than purely asking for pictures. She also did my mum's hair which was so elegant.

I had a simple pair of earrings, and plain gold bracelets from Mejuri and Monica Vinader, one of which was a 30th birthday present from my mum.

When it came to the veil, we tried on a few but settled on a two tier extra long cut edge veil. It just melted into the train and complimented the structure of the dress without taking away from it or making it too fussy.

For my shoes I had a pair of gold Gucci Marmont mid-heel sandals. They were so comfortable and after the postponement Rob said I deserved them!

A 'formal but fun' country house wedding

We wanted our wedding to reflect us - a bit of formality with lots of fun which is why both venues were perfect. We decided to get married at the church where my Grandma and Pampa were married. Our vicar was female (which I loved) and she was just brilliant - there was no suggestion of giving away or obeying and she really took the time to get to know us. The ladies who did the flowers in the church were also just lovely and they made two beautiful flower arches. It felt like there was a real community behind our wedding.

The reception venue was 20 minutes from the church. There was some incredible accommodation on site so we could make a weekend of it with our family and bridal party so we could spend time with them all, some we hadn't seen for two years. The house itself for the day had the formal setting upstairs with a beautiful library for the meal and a NYC inspired bar and club in the basement. We kept the basement a secret until we unveiled it after the first dance which was great and surprised everyone!

I knew I wanted blue bridesmaid dresses because I love the colour blue, but when I talked to our florist/stylist Maddie and told her about my ideas for tables and flowers she very kindly told me it sounded a bit boring. We talked about how I wanted long tables instead of round and that I wanted lots of texture in flowers and from there she made suggestions about tablecloths, flowers, style of arrangements, candles, runners and cutlery. After she'd given me inspiration I went back to my pinterest boards and updated them and she was really great as I drip fed bouquets and flowers through to her.

I wanted to do a speech at the wedding. So much of the day is focused on the bride I wanted to say something about Rob and our relationship from myself not just have men speaking for me. In addition to the usual speeches, I also asked my brother to do a speech who was amazing.

We thought about the things that were important to us a lot of which was thinking about how the people who had travelled all that way to be with us would also experience the day. We wanted to maintain momentum - no waiting around, food and drink always in hand, music playing. We love trying different foods and we had a lot of variety in canapés to try a bit of everything and they were incredible. People kept running up to me with mushroom arancini telling me they were the best thing they had ever eaten. Also - we didn't bother with a cake because we've never been to a wedding where anyone actually eats it - give me a meringue with fresh fruit any day. Since the wedding we've been told we got the balance of formal and relaxed perfectly.

The best bits

Strangely it was the first dance. Rob and I HATE being centre of attention and Rob cannot stand dancing or being forced to dance. We picked Conversations in the Dark as our song and after 10 seconds of dancing I signalled to my brother with a scratch of my head and he joined in with my sister in law. All of a sudden we looked around and the whole room was full of people dancing. The room had so much energy and I know we both felt incredibly special to have the people we're closest to surrounding us in that moment.

Antonia's Advice

For me our wedding was so much more than one day. It was also all those other moments that we got in the run up together, as well as with our family and friends. A wedding is a rare occasion that brings all the people you love and care about in the world to one moment in time. Absorb and enjoy every minute of the planning and the day because those are memories you will treasure forever.

Suppliers

Photographer: Laura Dean Photography
Hair: Grace Bailey
Make up: Tara Sanger
Flowers and styling: Oh Flora
Catering: Red Herring
Venue: St Giles House
Bridesmaid dresses: Rewritten
Suit hire: Neal and Palmer
DJ: Luv Wed