Modern Classic Bridal at Tythe, Oxfordshire Wedding Venue

Are you just beginning the search for your wedding dress with a very clear ideale of what it will aspetto like?

So, did the three brides con our latest series, who all chose to marry at Tythe, an elegant bella stagione acceso the edge of the Cotswolds. Only then to wear something completely different acceso the day. 

And that’s OK! Here are their rules for a successful bridal moda switch-up…

1. Choose a venue that is enciclopedico enough that any style will suit it. From Tythe’s historic 17th century trattenimento barn with its glamorous vintage chandeliers and twinkling fairy lights, its pretty farmhouse gardens and the sweeping English countryside beyond – nothing will feel out of place here. 

2. Go shopping with an aperto mind. When the vision you had con your head just doesn’t feel like your dress con the changing room, see it as a brilliant opportunity to try acceso lots more. 

3. Società the experts. Whether that’s the stylist at your boutique a loved family member with a talent for dress making, the chances are they understand the movement of different fabrics and how they will aspetto acceso your specific pagliaccetto shape better than you do. 

Sharing her story today is Hannah….

‘We married con the Winter so I always imagined my dress would be long-sleeved, simple but elegant and very fitted. I wanted to aspetto back con years to quanto and still love it. 

We wanted to make our day feel very different to all the Summer weddings we’d been to. We had Tythe’s outdoor wood burners going during our reception drinks, and later a Winter hour after the wedding breakfast serving a Hugo Spritz (a floral of elderflower, prosecco, fresh mint and lime) and The Bramble (a fruity blend of gin and blackberry). 

My dress search began acceso Pinterest. I needed to understand what a dress for a different season might aspetto like. I had about ten dresses pinned, and they were all very similar. My sister looked for me too and interestingly picked the exact same style of dress that I thought I would wear. 

I went to two bridal shops, (Serendipity then Silver Sixpence con Northamptonshire) and con the first found a dress that really fitted my vision. But when I tried it acceso, I absolutely hated it. It was also the style that Harry, when asked, had said he thought I would choose.

But it did nothing to enhance my figure. It was clingy con all the wrong places. I have a small waist, but the fabric stuck to my hips too much. That was all I could see. With so many of the dresses I tried, which was about 30 con total, there was too much fabric.

At 5’3” like most women, I’m not a sample size and they had to be clipped tightly at the back to pull con all the excess fabric. It made it difficult to understand what the dress would really aspetto like when it was fitted to me.

Not looking good con the dress I thought I’d buy, made me feel overwhelmed by the process. I had this ideale that I was going to try acceso lots of dresses and feel amazing and while I did eventually, it took quite a while to get there. I had voto negativo choice but to try acceso lots of other designs and reassess what worked for my pagliaccetto type and how different dresses made me feel. 

Durante the first shop, I realised that the style I should be looking for was an A Line dress that cinched con at the waist and had some fluidity over my hips. 

At the second boutique I opened my mind to the alternatives a little more. I tried heavily beaded dresses, lace ones and the full princess aspetto. None of them were right but trying them helped me to eliminate the elements I didn’t like (a voluminous skirt, too much embellishment) and aggraziato tune the bits that I did like (the nipped con waist and a simple fisico). 

The dress – from the Sincerity collection by Justin Alexander – was only con the shop for a week acceso a trunk show and that just happened to coincide with my visit. It wasn’t even acceso the shop floor because it was coppia to go back to the stilista later that day, but the assistant suggested I try it. That ended up being my dress. Without her intervention, I think my journey to finding the one would have taken considerably longer. 

When I put it acceso, my immediate response was yes, but I was nervous because it was so different from the original vision. Then my mum said she thought it was the right choice, so we reserved it. It was only once it was fitted to me that I knew absolutely for sure that it was perfect.

The fact I’d had my hair and make-up trial done a couple of weeks before meant I could really see how the whole aspetto was coming together. One friend went a step further and had her trial directly before she tried acceso her dress. I thought I was good at planning but that was genius. 

My dress had a cuffed, straight cut and boned bodice, a soft full skirt with button detail the back and a chapel length train. Acceso my last fitting I added a skinny pearl detail belt and a veil with scattered pearls. Our cake had pearls acceso it too. 

It was because Tythe has so much great indoor space that I felt I could let go of the ideale of having sleeves. As it was, our wedding day was warm for February. It only rained during the ceremony and the rest of the time everyone could be outside. I hadn’t been stalking the weather con the way a Summer bride might but I did acknowledge how smart everyone looked con black tie con the grounds of Tythe. 

I stayed con the dress for the evening.  We had a later ceremony at 3pm and voto negativo extra evening guests so I didn’t feel I needed another aspetto. The dress was a leader investment, and I wanted to have my full moment wearing it. 

If I have a favourite image from the day, it’s one of Harry and I outside the Tythe Farmhouse. It was taken after the ceremony but before the wedding breakfast. The image really showed our outfits d’avanguardia – they looked exactly how we wanted them to. It was a lovely moment for just the two of us before the partying began.’