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Alice & Matt - A custom AH dress for a beautiful Hampshire wedding

28/08/2024

Today we are sharing the beautiful wedding of Alice and Matt which took place at Plyewell Park. We had the absolute pleasure of working with Alice on her dress and Veil, we caught up with Alice to find out all about their special day!

Hey Alice! First of all, a HUGE congrats on your wedding day! You looked absolutely beautiful in your AH design. Tell us all about your special day?

My husband and I (still feels weird saying that, let alone writing it…) got married at the beautiful Pylewell Park, in Lymington, Hampshire. It’s a Grade II-listed, Georgian-style country house with incredible views overlooking the Solent. Think: Jane Austen meets Bridgeton.

We said our vows on the lawn with the sea as our backdrop, before celebrating with 100 or so of our friends and family. There were margaritas, a string quartet, giant slabs of pavlova, tear-jerking speeches and lots of questionable dancing.

It’s true what they say – your wedding day really is, quite simply, the best day of your life. It’s so surreal having all the people who love you, from all walks of your life, in the same space – to celebrate you!

It was such an honour to create your bespoke design, tell us more about finding THE ONE, how you made the decision and what details were important to you?

Finding ‘the one’ was the most anxiety-inducing element of the whole planning process. I tried over 40 different dresses, and each one left me feeling more confused and frustrated. I wanted something feminine but modern, delicate yet timeless, figure-hugging but also floaty…

When I stepped into Andrea Hawkes’s boutique in North London, I immediately felt like I was in safe hands. She was the only person (at any of the many bridal boutiques I visited) who asked me about ‘me’.

At that very first appointment, I remember Andrea asking me to describe my ‘style’. I told her that I basically had two very distinctive (and different) styles – or, rather, personalities. I said I’m either found head-to-toe in gym wear – usually Lululemon – with my hair scraped back into a high ponytail. Or, I’m wearing some sort of floaty (probably floral) midi dress – and despite a career in health and fitness, I’m actually pretty girlie.

Andrea listened intently and afterwards simply told me to go get changed. She didn’t let me browse the rail, so to speak. She already had a dress in mind after just talking to me.

That very first dress I tried was a sporty-meets-girly dress with a simple v-shaped neckline and dramatic open back. It was called ‘The Emily’ – sharing a name with two of my bridesmaids – and it felt like fate.

Lace was such an important element to your design through the back of your dress and veil. Did you always know you wanted lace to be a part of your dress design?

I can honestly say I had no idea what I wanted when it came to the dress. All the dresses I loved were so very different. Some were corsetted, most were A-line and a lot had some sort of lace element.

We’d love to hear more about your experience with our team, we had so much fun creating your made-to-measure design. Which elements of the process did you enjoy the most?

I loved that by opting for a Made to Measure service I could make a couple of small tweaks and adaptions to the original dress design. For example, we lowered the back and made the train of the dress much longer, so it felt more ‘me’. I also really loved being included in the conversation about which style of lace I liked and where I wanted it placed on my veil.

During your first appointment, did you have a clear idea of what you wanted? Was it helpful to try lots of different styles?

No idea! I was so confused and overwhelmed by the whole thing. I had wedding dress fatigue. One day I’d look through photos and convince myself I wanted a dress with off-the-shoulder straps and a soft A-line pleated tulle skirt with a splt. The next, I was sure I wanted something figure-hugging with a modern fit-to-flare silhouette and a cupped corseted bodice. I’ve never felt more confused!

As a health and fitness journalist and Nutrition Editor at Women’s Health magazine, did you do anything in the lead-up to your wedding to make yourself feel good? I know our brides find it hard to prioritise time for themselves amongst the wedding planning chaos, do you have any tips or advice?

There’s undoubtedly this huge pressure to look the absolute best you’ve ever looked on your wedding day. And I’d be lying if I said the temptation to slim down wasn’t there. But I made a vow to myself that I wouldn’t waste a single minute of this exciting and special time in the lead-up to my wedding worrying about shrinking my body. Instead, I focused on doing things that made me feel good. I ran a couple of times a week, went to the gym as regularly as I could, and ate a relatively balanced and healthy diet.

For any brides feeling stressed, I’d just say; remember to take time out for you to do non-wedding related things you love. Maybe that’s a daily lunch walk or a morning yoga class. Exercise – and endorphins – are crucial in helping you feel the best version of you.

What was your favourite part of your wedding day? Was there a moment that really stood out?

While all our guests were tucking into their desserts, my husband and I snuck off to the beach with our photographer for half an hour to take some sunset shots. We weren’t away from the party for long – in fact, some guests hadn’t even noticed we weren’t still sat at the dinner tables – but just taking time to be on our own and to soak it all up, felt really special. Plus, the pictures are insane!

We are so excited to offer our natural dyeing service to our brides. Do you have any plans to repurpose/wear your wedding dress again? Or will you be keeping it for sentimental reasons?

I haven’t quite decided what to do with my dress yet. It’s currently hanging up in my parents' house (dry-cleaned, of course). I love the idea of dyeing your wedding dress another colour so you can wear it again, but I’m not sure I’m brave enough!

Why did you choose AH to create your wedding dress? What did you like about our values etc

The main reason is how safe and heard I felt at that initial appointment with Andrea – nearly a year before my wedding day. The fact that the boutique is in London and easy to get to was also a real plus. And I loved that you could see the AH team working away on creating the dresses in real life – literally just in the back room. So much care and love was taken.

What is your one piece of advice for future brides to be?

Gosh, there’s so much I could say. But I think it’s helpful to hear that every bride and groom struggles with the guest list – so if you’re currently in the thick of working out whether you should invite some long-lost cousin once removed, or your friend's new boyfriend who you’ve never met, you’re not alone. Remember: it’s your day, there are no rules, it’s up to you who you invite.

And once you have made your decisions, know you can’t please everyone. Some people will kick off about plus ones and others will pull out at the last minute, even after stationary has been printed. We had one person who just decided not to turn up on the day, and sent a sorry text just hours before I walked down the aisle. There’s literally nothing you can do about any of this. You can’t control other people’s actions (or reactions), so there’s no point getting worked up about it.