Our wedding today is the classic, beautiful country house wedding of Laura and Joe, who were married in Spring at the stunning St Giles House, Dorset. The entire day took place at the exclusive venue, with the ceremony in the old dining room, followed by an elegantly styled wedding breakfast in the Library.
Laura wore a custom version of Suzanne Neville Gigi; an exquisite wedding dress covered from top to bottom in delicate 3d floral appliques. The dress features a fitted bodice with elegant square neckline. Laura chose to make the dress her own with custom sleeves, which were made in house by Miss Bush production manager, Jo. Laura styled her dress with romantic loose curls along with floral hair accessories from Vivi Embellish that went perfectly with her floral dress. To finish her look, Laura added a simple veil.
Read on to find out more about Laura's beautiful dress, and her wonderful wedding day to Joe.
Suzanne Neville Gigi wedding dress with custom sleeves
I chose Gigi by Suzanne Neville with a bespoke sleeve made by Jo at Miss Bush. It was one of the first dresses I tried on and despite trying on other lovely dresses, I just kept thinking back to Gigi. I loved the square neck line and the beautiful detail of the dress when I first tried it on. My flowers and stationery were inspired by the wildflowers on the estate of the venue and the floral detail of GiGi just matched perfectly. The bespoke sleeves made it more me - I love a sleeve - and they got so many compliments! The fit was exquisite, very flattering, and I felt so elegant in it on the day.
I brought my Mum with me the first time I tried it on and also one of my best friends when I tried it on a second time. My Mum cried when she saw me in it but I think they were nervous to give too much away before they knew what I thought! However, they said they could tell I loved it by the big smile on my face when I tried it on.
Dress Shopping
I was quite nervous to start dress shopping as I didn’t really know what I wanted or what would suit me. At my first appointment (also my first appointment at any boutique so I was very clueless) Rosie was so welcoming, calm and made the whole experience very relaxed and fun. She encouraged me to try on lots of different styles and helped me figure out what I did and didn’t like but with no pressure to commit to anything. What also made Miss Bush so special was the beautiful chapel, no other place compares! I always looked forward to visiting for fittings and felt sad when I collected my dress that I no longer had a reason to go back!
I also really enjoyed my fittings with Jo, she was so warm and friendly and made the whole experience so enjoyable.
I was fortunate that I did not have any issues on my wedding planning journey. I was quite certain however that I wanted a sleeve on my wedding dress. I went back to Rosie and explained how I loved GiGi but was torn because I knew I wanted a sleeve. She was so helpful and made the process of adding a sleeve so easy.
Styling
My style was quite classic. As the dress was very detailed I went for a plain veil which I got from Miss Bush. My shoes were a simple ivory court shoe from Emmy London, which were very comfortable and I wore all day. After I removed my veil I had a hair accessory from ViVi Embellish, which had little handmade flowers that complimented the flowers on the dress. My earrings were drop pearls which are my Mums, my something borrowed.
An elegant spring wedding at St Giles House in Dorset
St Giles House is beautiful and has been amazingly restored so I didn’t have to do much to style the house and gardens. They have a wildflower area by the house which inspired my flowers. We got married in the old dining room in front of these old double doors. My amazing florist created a stunning broken arch that looked like it had grown up the door. My bouquet and all the other flowers were seasonal blooms and styled to be wild and romantic in a palette of greens, white and pastel pink.
Joe is a former Captain in the Royal Marines so after the ceremony we had a guard of honour, which was very special and personal to us. It was also important to us that we had our dog, Bonnie, with us and she stole the show in the reception and the photos!
The best bits
Choosing my favourite part of the day feels impossible as the whole day was perfect from start to finish! It went by so quickly and the whole thing was magical. My brother read a reading by Dolly Alderton and Joe’s Mum read The Owl and Pussycat (his favourite childhood poem) during the ceremony, which were very special to us. My Dad, Joe and the best men all did amazing speeches which people still talk about and say they were the best speeches they’ve heard! All our suppliers were incredible but my favourite moment was walking down the aisle with my Dad and seeing Joe at the end waiting for me.
Laura's Advice
Be open minded when trying on dresses as my dress was not what I initially thought I would have. When they advise not to take photos of dresses you try on, take that advice as the photos never do the dresses justice when it is a sample size and not fitted to you. Be led by how you feel in the dress not a photo!
The day itself will go by so quickly, so if you can, take a moment at one point just to take it all in.
Suppliers
I cannot recommend these suppliers highly enough if anyone is getting married in Dorset! I have had so many compliments about the photos, our flowers were simply stunning and the food and cake were described as the best wedding food people had ever had! St Giles House is stunning and Lottie was a dream to work with, she was so organised and friendly. I was also fortunate enough to have Victoria and Sandra from VS Creative help with the planning who made “wedmin” stress free.
Sophie and Frances were my dream team and made me feel the very best version of myself with my hair and make up.
Photographer: Albert Palmer Photography
Venue: St Giles House
Planner: VS Creative
Florist: Martha and The Meadow
Caterer: Bread and Flowers
Cake: Cakey LuLus
Stationery: Rose and Beau
Make Up: Sophie Tilley
Hair: Frances Moore
Shoes: Emmy London
Hair accessory: Vivi Embellish
Bridesmaid dresses: Hope and Ivy