It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve shared a real Miss Bush bride on the blog with you, and it has been well worth the wait – we’re back with a wonderful wedding that was made possible by the most incredible team of talented suppliers!
Tamsin and Alex were married in October last year, and we’re delighted to share their relaxed and stylish London wedding day with you today, featuring stunning photography by Chloe from Caught the Light, and beautiful autumnal floral design by Miss Bush favourite Gayle from Bloomingayles.
Their ceremony took place at The Richmond Room in Islington Town Hall, followed by a meal at 34 in Grovsenor Square and a fabulous evening celebration at The Running Horse pub in Mayfair.
The Dress
Tamsin chose to wear Jesus Peiro 7016, a striking, minimalist wedding gown in soft crepe with pretty cap sleeves and an elegant deep v neckline. The back is finished with a low cut square back, fastened with delicate buttons.
Over to Tamsin to tell us more about the vision behind her look and finding her dress at Miss Bush;
“The dress I went for was a Jesus Peiro Crepe wedding dress with a bias cut and plunging neckline at the front and back. I had a very specific idea of what I wanted in mind and the dress was almost exactly as it was in my mind’s eye; Classic, subtle and yet striking in all the right amounts.
The crepe meant the dress hung heavy and sleek (perfect for a conservative Town Hall), but the plunging neck and back lifted it to give it a more contemporary and interesting look.”
Dedicated Miss Bush followers may recognise Tamsin’s maid of honour as a previous Miss Bush bride, Marina, whose wedding we also shared on the blog in 2013, also featuring the brilliant work of Chloe and Gayle. You can see it here.
“I brought my sister to Miss Bush with me to find the dress, just as I’d been to The Chapel with her back in 2013. We’d had such a wonderful experience with Emma all that time ago that we knew we had to try it again for my wedding.
The dress was actually only the third one I’d tried on and I’d loved the first two as well, so we were having a great experience already. But when I walked out from the dressing room in the Jesus Peiro, my sister immediately welled up. She was heavily pregnant at the time so the hormones were definitely working in my favour, but she said she could just immediately see how happy I was by how I was walking and the look on my face. I knew we were onto a winner because it so clearly felt like “me” and truly made me comfortable in my own skin.”
“For me, Emma was a huge part of my positive experience that day. I got a flutter of excitement when she starting pulling down all the dresses she thought would match what I was looking for; There were so many options! Emma is a real high fashion expert and I immediately felt like I was in the presence of someone with an eye for art and design, not a salesperson.
She also made me feel so comfortable about my figure and what suited me, and she complimented me in a way that really put me at ease. It was as if she knew my figure better than I did myself and that was an incredibly reassuring and safe feeling that I was not prepared for.
Overall, I think the whole experience of trying on such beautiful (and some really elaborate) gowns was what I loved most. I’m not a particularly girly girl, and dressing up hasn’t ever brought me much excitement before so I had a slightly negative preconception of what it would feel like. But every single dress I tried on that day honestly looked incredible and made me feel so special. Even though I found the one so quickly, it was glorious fun to keep trying different styles on and swishing and twirling like I was a supermodel. Unbeatable.”
“I ended up pairing the dress with a pair of burgundy suede-effect heels from Office. I knew I wanted a pop of colour to add interest to the dress and I also felt that it was important to me to wear a pair of shoes that I would be likely to wear again. They didn’t spend too much time on display as it was a long gown, but they definitely got a compliment or two during the day.
In terms of jewellery I kept it extremely simple and wore a pair of pearl drop earrings with filigree detailing. They were a favour given to me as Maid of Honour at a friend’s wedding and they matched the style of the Edwardian ring and the dress perfectly.
In my hair I wore two handmade, feather-shaped diamonte slides that I found on Etsy as they had an Art Deco feel that I was going for. They were quite heavy and unfortunately slipped unevenly a little during the day but they made me feel like a starlet, nonetheless.”
About the day
Tamsin and Alex’s day was relaxed and intimate with a feel of understated elegance and touches of pretty autumnal spirit.
In Tamsin’s own words;
“Autumn is my favourite season, and when the leaves turn colour every year and hot cider and toffee apples start appearing, I get very excited. So certainly we wanted Autumn / harvest to be a theme. When we got engaged it was late Summer and we thought, we don’t want something huge and extravagant, why wait a whole year to do this and why not do it in a few months’ time?
The ideal day for us was to really focus on the marriage and the joining of two families over a fantastic meal, rather than creating a big “event” that might overshadow the importance of the commitment we were making. We decided to keep the wedding small and intimate by going with a “town hall / family meal / pub” combo, but by picking really wonderful, classic venues.”
“We live in a Victorian house with dark wood floors, brass switches and fittings, and we have a chequerboard pathway leading to a stained glass front door which we designed. I guess our style is classic London meets a hint of Art Deco gentleman’s club and this is something we wanted to come across on our wedding day. All the venues perfectly complemented this era and style, so I think this really came across in the end.”
“There were so many highlights for me! I definitely loved taking our fleet of black cabs from the ceremony to lunch and seeing all the London passers-by pointing and waving at us with big smiles on their faces.
I also loved doing a speech in the evening to all our friends and family. I had felt strongly about wanting to break tradition by giving The Bride a voice, but more than anything I had wanted the opportunity to share with Alex how I felt about him, in a public way. It’s not only a really liberating and thrilling experience in terms of the act of public speaking, but it’s also so personally rewarding to be able to address the people that you love and care about most in the world and have an opportunity thank them all for being a part of your journey. I’m not sure I’ll have that experience again and it was one that really resounded with me.
But I think more than anything, the best part of the day for me was actually the ceremony itself and our vows. I wasn’t prepared to feel quite so emotional and so intensely connected to Alex at that moment. It’s like the world stopped around us and all I was aware of was the importance of the words we were saying and the commitment we were making. So special.”
Final words
Some words of wedding planning advice from our bride, Tamsin;
“I guess the main thing I would suggest would be to just do exactly what makes you happy and what suits your style rather than what is traditional or expected of you. Entertainment and favours were not at all priorities of ours so we made do with a Spotify playlist, and everyone was more than happy with lunch and an open bar! Conversely, beautiful flowers and photographs were especially important for us to invest in, and looking back they are really cherished.
To us, the most important thing was to choose the venues and styles we actively liked and suited us as a couple rather than what we felt was “weddingy”. This really helped shaped the whole day, and meant that our personalities and tastes came across in a way that everyone said they recognised and loved.
Lastly, we were able to plan and hold our dream wedding day within exactly 3 months so I would say don’t feel that you have to choose a day way ahead in the future in order to get it right. The short turnaround time for us meant that we were able to make the right decisions easily and without getting swept away by too many options, or stacking up costly bells and whistles. We prioritised what was important to us, and when we look back there’s nothing that was lost on people or a wasted effort; Every detail was exactly what we wanted.”
Suppliers
The brilliant team who helped make Tamsin and Alex’s day so special;
The Dress: Jesus Peiro 7016 at Miss Bush
Photography: Chloe Browne at Caught the Light
Flowers: Gayle at Bloomingayle’s
Cake: Lily Vanilli
Hair and makeup: Laurence at Beauty Call
Invitations and Name cards: made by Tamsin
Kids activity packs: made by Tamsin
Thank you so much to Tamsin and Alex for sharing their day with us, and for Tamsin for taking the time to tell us all about the planning process. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about this lovely wedding as much as we did!
Leah x
