I had to go to The Chapel today, it is calm, fragrant and still. It’s hushed. The peals of laughter, happy tears, the anxious, breathless questions mixed with the hum of the sewing machines and the ping of the inbox that are the soundtrack to my life are gone.
It looks like a grand summer palace waiting for the social season. Shafts of spring sunlight filter through the stained glass and illuminate our preserved dresses. Zipped away, stowed safely waiting for the storm to pass.
In the stockroom hang rows and rows of beautiful dresses. Bagged, named, labels showing wedding dates now postponed, yet still to happen.
This is not the Marie Celeste, mysteriously abandoned. It is not Mary Lennox, deserted in the time of cholera. Miss Bush is not Miss Havisham, stopping the clock and refusing to move on.
My wonderful, capable Bush family have preserved The Chapel, mothballing it for happier times to come. It is safe, alarmed and watched over by our tenant/housekeeper who lives on site. It sits, like the big house of an historic novel, swathed and draped in dust sheets waiting for the party to begin again.
In the meantime, while I do everything to support our brides through their postponements, I also have to look after my families, both work and biological, and I also want to show support, care and passion for the wider wedding community.
To this end, Miss Bush digital marketing manager Leah and I will be revisiting our archives, asking for more of our brides real-life wedding stories and switching our channels to be morale-boosting, community-strengthening beams of Bush yellow sunshine.
As soon as I know it is safe and sensible to re-open our physical space, I will. The virtual Miss Bush space has always been incredibly welcoming too thanks to Leah’s unique vision. It will remain open. Then there is the ‘amateur’ aspect of my Insta stories - as long as I have a phone in my hand they won’t stop.
Words have failed the most erudite writers and broadcasters to describe the enormity of a single catastrophic world event and the millions of, comparatively, tiny tragedies experienced by all. There are dashed hopes, dreams, events, careers and businesses in the lives of everyone I know. I can’t find words for everyone. I will try and find them for our Miss Bush family and continue our celebration of love, strength and sisterhood.
Emma x
Images by Solstock for Getty Images