It's always a special day when we see images from our brides wearing our very own Miss Bush Jesus Peiro creation. The Pearl Anniversary dress was created especially for us, to celebrate the 30th birthday of the Miss Bush brand, and you can't find it anywhere else in the world. It has everything we love in a Jesus Peiro wedding dress; the romantic silhouette, structured ballgown skirt with pockets, full length sleeves and of course those delicate pearl embellishments.
Our wedding today is even more special, as it features one of our very rare 2020 brides. After changing their wedding date 4 times, Isobel and George managed to fit their wedding of 30 guests in before the restrictions were changed back to 15, resulting in an intimate, memorable wedding day. With romantic ceremony at St John's Church Hyde Park, the couple celebrate with friends and family with a delicious sit down meal at The Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall.
Read on for more images of the day, and some words about the planning process and dress shopping in Isobel's own words.
Jesus Peiro pearl anniversary wedding dress
I chose the Jesus Peiro Pearl Anniversary dress. I have always dreamed of having a wedding dress with long sleeves and I was unwilling to look at anything other than a long-sleeved dress!
The Pearl Anniversary dress was the first dress I saw hanging up when I walked into Miss Bush, and initially upon seeing it on the hanger I wasn't 100% convinced by it. I thought I wanted a Kate Middleton style lace top and worried the pearls looked a bit fussy. Emma suggested I tried it on first as a starting point, and I knew immediately that I had found my dress. I loved every single detail: the low back, the boatneck neckline, the train, and most importantly the pearl sleeves (I can't believe I was ever unsure about them!).
I brought my twin sister who was my maid of honour, to my first appointment, and my mum to the fitting. As soon as I walked out in the Jesus Peiro Pearl Dress my mum cried which I had never expected but I took to be a good sign! We were all in complete agreement.
Dress Shopping
I was quite nervous when I first arrived at Miss Bush as it was my first wedding dress shopping experience and I felt overwhelmed by the pressure to find the perfect dress. Emma very quickly put me at ease, and before long I was absolutely loving life - I never wanted the experience to end! Emma was so in-tune with my taste in dresses, I cancelled all my other dress appointments as soon as I stepped out of the chapel; Miss Bush was the only shop for me!
Jo was also completely incredible when it came to all my dress alterations, and it could not have been more of a perfect fit. I loved coming in for every fitting and seeing the dress take shape. The fittings were a particular source of comfort over lockdown as they served as a reminder that the wedding would one day still happen!
Styling
I really wanted a timeless and elegant bridal look that looked effortless and simple. I therefore went for an unfussy up-do which I felt would best show off the back of the dress. My hairdresser Simona at Michael Van Clarke has been doing my hair for a few years now so knew the exact look I was trying to achieve.
My overall look was quite pearl-heavy which was completely unintentional! I paired the dress with a gorgeous matching pearl veil from Jesus Peiro, which really tied the whole look together and George bought me a lovely pair of pearl earrings from Tiffany as a wedding present. My something old and borrowed was a gold bracelet from my mum, which was made from the chain of my great grandfather's pocket watch.
I spent a very long time thinking about wedding shoes and found it incredibly difficult to find something that wouldn't cost an absolute fortune or weren't too high. In the end, I decided that comfort was the number one priority and went for a pair of simple white Freya Rose court shoes which were so comfortable I didn't give my feet a second thought on the day.
A relaxed Royal Automobile Club wedding
George and I were quite relaxed about the styling of the day, and the overall look stemmed from conversations with each of our suppliers and trusting them to create something beautiful. That being said, I did have quite a clear idea of the things I liked and disliked, so when George declared he wanted to incorporate some orange into our lovely ivory and pale blush floral theme he was quickly banned from further conversations with the florist!
I always like weddings which feel like they really represent the couple, so we were keen to use personal touches where possible. I designed all our wedding stationary which was a good way of introducing a subtle theme to the day, and my dad drove me to the church in his classic car which is his absolute pride and joy. Following the day, he has apparently only shown people wedding photos of his car and not a single photo of George and me!
After the ceremony, we took a red routemaster bus across to the RAC and sat down to a delicious dinner of our favourite dishes including beef wellington and tiramisu. At 10pm the curfew was enforced and the celebrations were cut short, but nothing could dampen our spirits after such a special day.
The best bits
The church service was definitely my favourite part of the day. After everything, finally being able to walk down the aisle with my father by my side was so special and I'll never forget it. I was christened and confirmed at St John's so there was something really meaningful about getting married there. Not to mention, our vicar Dan was completely wonderful and worked so hard to make the service really special. We'd been through so much with Dan to get to that point, the whole thing felt like a real team effort. I am also very fortunate that my brother is an incredible opera singer, so when we were forced to cancel the choir and string-quartet, he stepped in and saved the day!
Isobel's Advice
We ended up moving our wedding four times and I can safely say it has been one of the most stressful and miserable experiences of my life, and I got to the stage where I longed for the whole thing to be over! George and I were adamant that we did not want to push our wedding to 2021 but this did involve a fair amount of juggling dates in line with constantly changing government updates! When a week before the wedding, the government announced that wedding receptions were being cut from 30 guests to 15; we decided we couldn't make any more sacrifices to our day, so we called all our guests and suppliers and brought the whole thing forward by a week.
Despite everything, I can wholeheartedly say that we ended up having the best day ever and we would not change our wedding day for the world. There was something so intimate about only having 30 guests and everyone felt pure happiness and relief that we'd finally managed to get married! I really do think our day was so much more special as a result of everything we'd been through to get there, which is something I never thought I would say!
If there was any advice I could pass on to other poor brides going through this situation:
1) Try not to spend time worrying about things you have absolutely no control over! I aged about 10 years over the last six months worrying about whether the wedding would ever happen and whether any guests would be allowed. Your day will come and the most important thing is that you're marrying someone you love.
2) Don't let the size of your wedding day dictate the size of your wedding dress. Covid or no Covid - you're only a bride once so make the most of it!
3) Have a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C that you can roll out depending on restrictions. It really does add to the wed-min, but we had a waiting list of guests, extra singers and musicians pencilled in, just in case!
4) A good cry is really very cathartic, but remember to try and not take everything out on your new husband-to-be!
5) Value your suppliers. It is very easy to think that with a smaller wedding that you can cut corners and try and get everything done yourself but with our last minute date change our wedding suppliers really did step-up and save our day. Wedding suppliers are having such a difficult time at the moment they need our support!
Suppliers
I feel quite emotional when I think about just how incredible all our wedding suppliers were in shaping our dream wedding day. They absolutely went above and beyond for us; from Michael Van Clarke rescheduling an entire morning of bookings so that Simona could be there to do my hair, to Joanne Truby who created a completely stunning array of flowers with only three days notice, we are eternally grateful to them all:
Photographer: Maja Tsolo
Hair: Simona at Micheal Van Clarke
Make-up: Stacey Lincoln
Florist: Joanne Truby Floral Design
Bridesmaids Dresses: Whistles
Stationery: Paper Maven
Venue: The Royal Automobile Club
Bus Hire: Red Bus Events redbusevents.com