Sarah and Paul's wedding is a wonderful example of a small but meaningful wedding day. Taking place at Chelsea Old Town Hall, the couple were married at an intimate ceremony with just their closest family and friends present, followed by a relaxed meal at their local Italian restaurant. Despite having to change their plans and scale down their guestlist, Sarah said it was the most amazing day, and they wouldn't have changed a thing.

Sarah wore a stunning bespoke Suzanne Neville wedding dress, combining design features from both Amerie and Darya together to create her final look.

Read on to see more, with gorgeous photography by Michelle Lindsell.

A Bespoke Suzanne Neville wedding dress

My dress was a combination of two Suzanne Neville designs – Amerie and Darya. I also got a Jesus Peiro bolero cardigan to provide an extra layer, as I do tend to feel the cold!

I loved everything about my dress – having it made to measure was definitely a huge draw for me, as anything in a standard size would have needed a fair amount of adjustment. I don’t think I’ve ever worn anything that fitted so well, or that I felt so completely comfortable in before. Plus the corsetry did wonders for my posture while being so comfortable I didn’t really notice wearing it! It was unlike anything I’d seen or pinned on my pinterest board, but as soon as I saw it I couldn’t imagine wearing anything else.

I bought my Mum and Sister-in-Law (who was also my Matron-of-Honour) with me when I visited Miss Bush– they both loved the dress too. My mum in particular thought it was far nicer than any others we’d seen elsewhere, although there was a discussion about the addition of sparkle (which is sort of ongoing thanks to COVID-19!).

Dress Shopping

My favourite part of the dress shopping experience was... Anything and everything to do with Miss Bush!!  From my first appointment with Emma, which was like having a personal shopper for my dress, to the Black Friday event held in February (through which I found our baker for the cake and my hairdresser) I couldn’t fault it. 

And when COVID-19 meant the closure of the shop and increased uncertainty, the emails and communication from the team were fantastic and reassuring.

Jo’s superb skills also meant that from the fitting of my toile to my final dress, the only adjustment needed was the length.

I’m just a bit sad that I don’t have any reason to go back to the Chapel now!

COVID-19 could be classed as one big problem! We decided fairly early on that if there was any way we could get married this year, even if we had to postpone bigger celebrations, we would.  While this meant an amount of change and flexibility the support from everyone at Miss Bush really helped.  From the bridal quizzes to emails explaining what was happening, it really helped to feel that at least some aspects of our day were within our control.

Styling

My shoes were very simple ones from Rainbow Club, with a nice small heel!

I chose some accessories from Miss Clemmie, having seen some at Miss Bush, in the form of earrings and hair pins from the starry sky collection.  I’m also eyeing up one of her belts for our postponed party next year.  My hair was styled in an up do with the pins and other than that I wore a bracelet my husband gave me last Christmas.

A romantic Chelsea Old Town Hall micro wedding

Our ceremony was at the Chelsea Old Town Hall in the Brydon Room – which is about the only thing we originally planned that went ahead.  The ceremony was perfect, and the staff were so welcoming and made us feel so comfortable  I don’t think either of us had realised how iconic it was coming out down the steps on to the Kings Road until others told us (having chosen the Town Hall for its proximity to the restaurant we were due to go to for our Wedding Breakfast, and the room because it had an aisle!).

After the ceremony, we went to an Italian restaurant local to us (Casa Nostra in Sutton) – our original plan of the River Café for lunch and Wetlands Centre for a party having been postponed to next year.  The restaurant was fantastic – we had a private room to ourselves and had an amazing afternoon.  While not the day we planned, it really couldn’t have been any more perfect.

The best bits

I don’t think I can pick out a favourite part.  The weeks running up to it were pretty stressful and I think the relief and joy at being able to go ahead meant that the whole day was amazing.  While I’m very much looking forward to our postponed lunch and party (not least because I get to wear my dress again) looking back I wouldn’t change a thing about our wedding day.

Sarah's Advice

In terms of your dress, you know your body and what works and doesn’t.  I knew I wanted to be able to wear a normal bra, yet in the first shop I went to (not Miss Bush!), I was encouraged into something strapless which was never going to be right for me.  While it looked nice, it was nowhere near as stunning as my Suzanne Neville and ultimately I wouldn’t have felt comfortable in it.  That said, do be willing to try things suggested for you – I would have ended up with something completely different, which wouldn’t have looked half as good, were it not for Emma at Miss Bush!!

The best bit of general advice I can give is something I was told by a friend when we got engaged – which is that wedding planning is relatively easy and stress free if you don’t change things once you’ve decided on them!  And I have to say that is true – unless you’re forced to change them through situations outside of your control!

We were very lucky that our day had some in-built flexibility as we were doing a small, family only ceremony at a registry office followed by a wedding breakfast for that group and then a big evening reception party.  We had to chop and change a fair amount (alternative plans included screening the ceremony at a local cinema when the guest numbers went down to 6 and a socially-distanced afternoon tea at a relative’s house when we could) but it was worth it.  It made us realised that being married was far and away the most important thing.

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