Real Bride: Hayley

Hayley wore the classic ‘Cezanne’ by Suzanne Neville. A beautifully crafted lace bodice teamed with a full organza skirt.

Hayley said ‘My dress was so comfortable to wear and that was really important to me as you’re wearing it for such a long time. The dress lent itself to the addition of a belt which complimented the dress perfectly and accentuated my figure.

The lace body and organza skirt was so elegant and I loved doing twirls on the dance floor, I felt like a princess!’

Choosing the ‘One’ is often the biggest decision to make when planning a wedding, and can for some be very tough.  We asked Hayley how she knew ‘Cezanne’ was the one.

‘The Bride Boutique was the first shop I had visited to try on dresses. I felt quite overwhelmed at the whole process and didn’t know what to expect. I took my mum, Nan and sister. Kate was so lovely and gathered lots of silhouette dresses that fit my brief that I had initially given her as these were the styles I was drawn to online. In reality, I didn’t like them on me and neither did my entourage. For a split second it dawned on me that finding a dress perhaps wasn’t going to be easy. Then Kate suggested I try on a few dresses outside of my brief. After trying on a few and still not having any joy, Kate bought in the Cezanne by Suzanne Neville and I almost couldn’t stop laughing thinking it was a joke that she wanted me to even consider trying it on. It was the total opposite of my brief. Although it was A line, the skirt was so full and it had a reasonable train! I didn’t look in the mirror until the last button was done up but when I opened my eyes, it just blew me away. I didn’t say anything to my mum, Nan and sister who were sat on the other side of the curtain. When Kate pulled back the curtains, all four of us burst into tears. And that was the moment I knew it was my dress. I continued to shop around after as I didn’t expect to find my dress in the first shop but every dress after that just didn’t compare’

‘Everyone said I looked like a princess. We had a buggy that took us around the landscaped gardens to have photos and we met so many families enjoying what Stowe had to offer, many of the families with little girls kept saying, “she said she wants to see the princess!”

Hayley chose to accessorize the dress with shoes and clutch bag by Rainbow Club @ John Lewis, bought for as a gift from her sister.  She also added a beautiful lace sparkle belt by Suzanne Neville, which really accentuate her waist.

Hayley’s hair was styled by the fabulous Vicky Brown, in a loose half up half down, and she added beautiful dew drop hair pins by Hermione Harbutt and a simple Italian tulle veil by Joyce Jackson

To finish off her bridal look perfectly, as a wedding gift from Alex which Hayley opened the morning of, was a beautiful 9 carat white gold channel set diamond bangle from Atkinsons the Jeweller.

As you can see Hayley looked ever inch the perfect bride, all elements of her look complemented her dress so well.

We asked Hayley to write a few words about her overall experience with us here at The Bride.  She said

‘Each of my friends who have married before me had visited The Bride and always recommend it for their high standard of customer service and such a personal experience. Now, I can say the same!

‘I was also very lucky to meet my hair and make up artist at The Bride Boutique. I attended a Styling Evening at The Bride Boutique for advice as to how I could style my dress. Vicky Brown was styling hair that evening for soon to be brides. I wasn’t really sure how I wanted my hair but she created a perfect half up, half down look and I was able to have a veil neatly pinned underneath and hair pins on top to complete the look. At this point, I hadn’t organised a hair and make up artist because I didn’t really know where to start and was putting it off if the truth be told. Luckily Vicky had availability for my date! Vicky was the most calming person on the morning the wedding which was exactly what I needed. She did my hair and make up as well as my mums. She also did my three bridesmaids make up. It was very natural make up and even though I had pins in my hair, it was comfortable’

Hayley wedding was centred around pure romance, and you can see this in the colours that she used to dress the venue.  Here she explains her inspiration behind the day.

‘I was inspired by the romance of it all. As it was a summer wedding, the colours naturally leaned towards soft pastel hues of pink and mint greens. Alex and I have been guests at many weddings and it was important to us that our guests have fun. I’m an avid equestrian so the favours for the ladies were gold painted horseshoes, each worn by my two horses which I started to collect when we got engaged and then hand painted them myself. Horseshoes are a symbol of good luck so to tie in with that theme, we gave the men scratch cards in little envelopes in hope that some couples in the room would win! Alex instructed the scratching of the cards in his speech and it was lovely to hear the room come alive with cheers from the winners! The top table and our closest family table were named after my horses, “Wervelwind” and “My Deer Park Miss”. The remaining tables were named after famous horses such as “Black Caviar”, “Sefton” and the iconic painting by George Stubbs; “Whistlejacket”

My favourite moment was seeing Alex wearing his jacket with tails, stood at the top of the aisle. I was so nervous the morning of the wedding, I just wanted to see him to know that he was ok as I knew that he was nervous too. I walked down the aisle with my Dad while the string quartet were playing Kissing you by Des’ree. Once I was stood up next to him, I saw the huge flower urns created by Simon Nickell, each side of the window in front of us and I was totally blown away, they were towering over us. When I looked back at Alex, he had tears rolling down his cheeks and he lent in and whispered in my ear, “You look beautiful”.

We loved every minute of our wedding breakfast provided by The Wild Fork. Our breakfast was set in the Marble Hall and the tablescapes provided by Duchess & Butler looked phenomenal. We went for five courses as we’re foodies and we wanted to it to be just that little bit more special. It was lovely to look around the room and see all your nearest and dearest in one room, all chatting and laughing and enjoying the day.

Finally, we asked Hayley for her advice for brides just starting their dress journey – she said

Go with your instinct but be open to try other dresses. Dresses will look incredibly different on the peg and on other brides as compared to what they will look like on you. Enjoy the experience! As it was our first wedding dress appointment ever, we booked a lovely afternoon tea for after at Sopwell House and I’m so glad we did as we chatted for ages about all the details of the dresses I had just tried on.