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

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

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

1. Choose a venue that is versatile enough that any style will suit it. From Tythe’s historic 17th century party 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 open mind. When the vision you had in your head just doesn’t feel like your dress in the changing room, see it as a brilliant opportunity to try on lots more. 

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

Sharing her story today is Hannah….

‘We married in the Winter so I always imagined my dress would be long-sleeved, simple but elegant and very fitted. I wanted to look back in years to come 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 cocktail hour after the wedding breakfast serving a Hugo Spritz (a floral mix of elderflower, prosecco, fresh mint and lime) and The Bramble (a fruity blend of gin and blackberry). 

My dress search began on Pinterest. I needed to understand what a dress for a different season might look 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 in Northamptonshire) and in the first found a dress that really fitted my vision. But when I tried it on, 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 in 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 in 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 in all the excess fabric. It made it difficult to understand what the dress would really look like when it was fitted to me.

Not looking good in the dress I thought I’d buy, made me feel overwhelmed by the process. I had this idea that I was going to try on lots of dresses and feel amazing and while I did eventually, it took quite a while to get there. I had no choice but to try on lots of other designs and reassess what worked for my body type and how different dresses made me feel. 

In the first shop, I realised that the style I should be looking for was an A Line dress that cinched in 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 look. 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 fine tune the bits that I did like (the nipped in waist and a simple silhouette). 

The dress – from the Sincerity collection by Justin Alexander – was only in the shop for a week on a trunk show and that just happened to coincide with my visit. It wasn’t even on the shop floor because it was due to go back to the designer 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 on, 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 look was coming together. One friend went a step further and had her trial directly before she tried on 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 down the back and a chapel length train. On my last fitting I added a skinny pearl detail belt and a veil with scattered pearls. Our cake had pearls on it too. 

It was because Tythe has so much great indoor space that I felt I could let go of the idea 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 in the way a Summer bride might but I did acknowledge how smart everyone looked in black tie in the grounds of Tythe. 

I stayed in the dress for the evening.  We had a later ceremony at 3pm and no extra evening guests so I didn’t feel I needed another look. The dress was a big 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 off – they looked exactly how we wanted them to. It was a lovely moment for just the two of us before the partying began.’