Monthly Archives: January 2012

As an advertiser in You and Your Wedding it is my dubious privilege to receive an early copy of the magazine. As befits my geek status I like to, then, scrutinise every page for credits, mentions, new labels, who’s in, notable exclusions and most importantly where my ad is (LH page facing fashion editorial – just so you know.) In the past I have used Rosa Clara images predominently. Their images are strong but alas their customer service does not match. The new March/April issue of You and Your Wedding will be on the newstands soon and for the first time ever I have featured a shot from a collaborative shoot.

The shoot was organised by Stacey-Marie Chalk from Cherrytopped Wedding Planners and photographer Juliet Mckee. The brief, the vision, the styling was all theirs – Miss Bush was simply ‘wardrobe’. When asked to get involved with collaborative shoots (read – nobody gets paid!!!) I am very circumspect. I see lots of styled shoots fail by using badly fitting dresses and however beautiful the table arrangements look the fashion can badly fail the images. The great aspect of being asked to be involved as wardrobe is that Miss Bush can concentrate om what they do best. Selecting and fitting dresses and providing on site wardrobe services.

The end result is that I have a collaborative shoot that has been featured by Love My Dress and Rock My Wedding amongst other blogs and is soon to be featured in Wedding Magazine. It continues to circulate and be featured nearly six months after the shoot. For me this was worth all my time, that of my production manager Janet, the custom made pieces, the custom dyed shoes, the money I paid Gemma and the day on location for Janet and myself.

As a huge and amazing bonus it was my first introduction to Janet Mohapi Banks, a couture wedding cake designer, and Steph – chief designer at Fairynuff florists. I have subsequently worked with both these remarkable women and thank Stacey Marie and Juliet for asking Miss Bush to be involved.

Here are four shots of Miss Bush house model Gemma in a stunning Jesus Peiro dress, one of which can now be seen gracing the pages of You and Your Wedding.

I’d like to get Jenna’s DNA replicated on the basis of her being an ideal customer.

I’d like to replicate the can-do philosophy of Jesus Peiro across all bridal suppliers.

Jenna looks like an ideal bride – petite, fabulous cheekbones, sparkling eyes and a well honed sense of style. Her choice of Jesus Peiro and one of their signature, crisp Mikado gowns makes my heart very glad indeed.

What makes Jenna so ideal, for me, and Jesus Peiro so fabulous, for all brides, is their dedication to making bridalwear fresh and exciting whilst maintaining the dignity and appropriateness of style for a church wedding dress. Jesus Peiro don’t throw designer hissy fits, their answer is generally ‘yes’ to any requests, they really do make their dresses in Barcelona and they are very happy to mix and match their styles and details creating, for my brides, truly unique dresses

Jenna’s dress is a hybrid design of two styles the dress is style 1011 and the majestic detachable train is from style 165. Both styles come with a belt but Jenna and I decided to eschew these options for a bespoke, cummerbund-style sash waist. The choice of platinum slipper satin was a perfect foil for Jenna’s peacock bridesmaids dresses. During a styling appointment I wrapped the slip layer of Jenny Packham’s platinum Eden round Jenna’s waist to create the effect and then I sourced the perfect match from Bennett’s Silks! Always good to wrap a £2.5 k dress into a belt! The belt was then made at Miss Bush by Elizabeth who also sourced tiny beaded buttons for a couture level of detail.

The effect is one of icy glamour and drama, topped with Eve one of my favourite Polly Edwards headpieces.

Just to add to Jenna’s all round Olympic standard fabulousness she has also directed many friends to me to buy frocks and gave me her photos on a memory stick – allowing my junior IT skills scope to add them easily to my libraries and Blog.

Many thanks to Jenna and Simon, the new Mr and Mrs Hewitt, for sharing some of their lovely photos – I am so delighted to be able to feature them.