Jo in custom Jesus Peiro 2243 for an autumnal Davenport House wedding

Jo and Sam's beautiful Autumnal wedding took place in October, with a ceremony at St. Nicholas Church in Codsall, South Staffordshire. This was followed by an elegant reception at Davenport House, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, styled with rustic floral displays and personal details. They day was made extra special with the addition of gorgeous personalised stationery, made by graphic designer bride, Jo.

Jo wore a customised version of Jesus Peiro's 2243 wedding dress, which she made her own with the closed neckline from Style 121 and adjusted train length. This was all made from textured grand pique fabric, making it perfect for Jo's October wedding day. The bride styled her look with simple gold jewellery and co-ordinating pointed toe gold heels from Russel and Bromley, along with a romantic pearl studded veil. For the evening, Jo swapped her hoops for statement earrings from Monica Vinader, and changed the veil for a bold headband. To finish the look, Jo added the iconic Pearl Antonia bag by Shrimps.

Jo shared all of the details about her wedding to Sam and her dress shopping experience - read on to find out more.

A Jesus Peiro wedding dress

When I first came to Miss Bush I wasn't really sure what I wanted. I tried on a few Jesus Peiro dresses, but didn't feel like I'd found exactly the right one. I remember Emma showing me a picture of Jesus Peiro 2243 on her phone, a new dress they hadn't had in yet and said I should come back and try it on. I remember not being convinced by the photo, but I trusted Emma and I'm so glad I did! When I tried it on I knew that was it! It felt amazing and the grand pique fabric was just dreamy! I ended up combining a few things from 3 Jesus Peiro dresses in the end and it was so amazing working with Emma to design the dress that was just absolutely perfect. Being a designer myself, it felt so special being able to create and design something so personal and unique for our wedding.

Dress Shopping

We were still under covid restrictions when my dress hunt began, so just my Mum came with me. I can always tell by her face if she likes something or not, so she was definitely a good person to have along! I did also have my bridesmaids on zoom, but it was so special to share in the moment of choosing my dress with my Mum. When I walked out in 2243, I could just tell by her face that she loved it! We both fell in love with the fabric instantly and agreed that it just felt like 'me'.

Emma instantly put me at ease when I was first trying on dresses. She took the pressure off finding the 'perfect dress' and it just became such an enjoyable experience of trying on different things and seeing how they felt. I then had my fit sessions with Ben which were just a joy! He was amazing at making sure I felt comfortable in the dress, you really felt like you were in very safe hands! Being in the incredible setting of the Chapel as well, made the whole experience feel even more special.

As I combined a few details from a few dresses, I had my dress made to measure. I came in for my first try on of my dress when it was first made, but due to a few things it didn't fit! However, Emma, Ben and the team were just absolutely amazing and it just wasn't a problem. They knew exactly what needed to be done were amazing at being reassuring and they all got it solved very quickly and I soon had my dress back fitting like a glove!

Styling

I kept my jewellery simple with some small gold hoops and ended up choosing some gold metallic pointed toe sling-backs from Russel and Bromley that neatly peeped out from under my dress. I knew I wanted a bit of a train at the back, but I didn't want it to hinder me on the dance floor later! My dress had a 'puddle train', so I chose a Cathedral length veil that had scattered mother of pearl discs from a small business called 'Blue Meadow Bridal'. I wanted to change things up a bit in the evening, but I knew I didn't want a second dress, so I ended up swapping over my accessories instead! I swapped out my veil for a plain silk headband from Jesus Peiro and paired it with some statement pearl earrings from Monica Vinader and then had a pearl Shrimps bag too.

About the Day

I'm a designer/illustrator, so I created the stationery for the day, like the welcome signs, menus, table plan and place names, which felt so special to do. Our venue, Davenport House was a country house, so it didn't really need much else in it in terms of decoration as it had some lovely original features. As it was an autumn wedding we wanted the colours to have a sense of autumn, but not feel too heavy, so we opted for olive green silk bridesmaid dresses and navy suits, all paired with beautiful flowers by Edwina from Dusky Blooms that complemented the whole décor amazingly.

The best bits

Our day was so personal to us, it was really special. Sam's Dad is a Vicar and officiated the service for us, my brother played the organ in the Church and my cousin drove us in his vintage Mini as our wedding car. Also, during the Signing of the Registers we had a choir that was made up of all of our family and friends singing 'Here Comes the Sun' by the Beatles, which my dad conducted. It felt so lovely to have all these personal moments scattered throughout our day and it definitely made it memorable.