Natasha Kaursland, 30, married Jack Harcourt, 31, on 3rd December 2022 at Tythe Barn. She wore the Lara dress by Rime Arodaky (from The Mews Bridal) and a silk jumpsuit from Dandelions & Pearls.
This is part 3 in a series of 6 articles that ask brides who married at this beautiful Oxfordshire wedding venue to reflect on their wedding day fashion choices – with insights that will benefit all readers on the hunt for their wedding dress or wedding day attire. You’ll find the other brides here.
I always imagined I’d have a beautiful summer garden wedding, perhaps at home, with a marquee or a cliff top in Italy
But that’s not what happened. Jack is very traditional, and I don’t particularly like to do things the way other people do. I’m not religious, I was never christened. Jack on the other hand was, he’s in the military and has a very traditional outlook on life
He wanted to marry in a church, provide for his family, have the 2.5 kids – we’re opposites. I had to think about how the dress could bridge our different approaches to the day.
www.thetythebarn.co.uk
I always imagined I’d have a beautiful summer garden wedding, perhaps at home, with a marquee or a cliff top in Italy
But that’s not what happened. Jack is very traditional, and I don’t particularly like to do things the way other people do. I’m not religious, I was never christened. Jack on the other hand was, he’s in the military and has a very traditional outlook on life.
He wanted to marry in a church, provide for his family, have the 2.5 kids – we’re opposites. I had to think about how the dress could bridge our different approaches to the day.
I managed my first dance in it, but it was completely impractical for any movement
I had this vision that I needed a jump suit because I’m a big dancer and I knew I’d be on people’s shoulders. I went to the Un-Wedding Show and found Dandelions & Pearls the jumpsuit of all jumpsuits.
It was made with a silk crepe, slightly v-neck at the front but then hugely plunging at the back and long-sleeved with beautiful buttons on the cuffs. The fact she made that jumpsuit for me is amazing. I wore it with white Doctor Martens so I could stomp around. I would love to dye it another colour so I can wear it for the rest of my life.
I went onto the Tythe website and by the opening screen I knew it was where we would get married . . .
It’s the most beautiful place in the world. I loved the authenticity of the barn, I just fell in love. It feels almost like a church in its vastness and beauty without being one.
You still have what feels like a natural aisle but without having to be religious. They had also just opened the family farmhouse to guests – in fact it was still being designed during our first visit – and I knew it couldn’t be any more perfect. The stars aligned and it was obvious there was no point even looking anywhere else.
www.thetythebarn.co.uk
The image that told me I got it just right
Is one where I am next to the window in the farmhouse, just outside the bridal suite. It’s taken from behind and you can see the veil touching my naked back and the train. It’s just stunning.
The lighting for our couple shots outside was also just perfect. It was a winter’s day, bloody freezing, but the sun had just come out and to have that on 3rd Dec when it would have been lashing down with rain or cloudy was really magic.
I’m still so obsessed with the dress
And my advice to anyone would be to trust your gut feel and instinct. But also, don’t rush because there’s no need to. If you’re not 100% sure, go to some other places, enjoy the process of looking. You can always come back to the first one like I did. If I have any regret, it’s that I didn’t go to ten boutiques.
Not because I regret the dress I chose but I would have loved more of that experience with my mum and sister, drinking champagne together and trying on the sorts of dresses that I will never wear again. So just keep going until you don’t have any time left.
Take advice from your family but it’s not the be all and end all. I’m lucky because my mum is cool but if she had been very traditional, she may have questioned the dress and swayed me another way.’
www.thetythebarn.co.uk
