The fashion designer Savannah Miller and her husband, James Whewell, whose family estate is Wyresdale Park in the Forest of Bowland, are building an empire in the wedding industry. Since 2016, Savannah, sister to actress Sienna Miller, has been at the helm of her eponymous bridal brand, dressing fashion-forward brides such as content creator Ambar Driscoll and model Danielle Copperman in her timeless designs, while her husband has spent the last six months overseeing a "massive renovation" on his family home, transforming it into the wedding venue of dreams. It’s this beautiful venue that is playing host to our exclusive shoot. "We just love love, it's ludicrous!" Savannah, 46, says of the serendipity of both she and her husband being immersed in the world of weddings. "It's so funny that we're both in weddings, it's unusual."
The family home
Savannah and James split their time between their family home in Stroud Valley, Gloucestershire – shared with her teenage children Moses, Lyra and Bali, from her marriage to Nick Skinner – and Wyresdale Park in Lancashire. "In the last couple of years I've slowly been getting more and more involved in Wyresdale Park. My life brings me up here to be with James. He's done a complete overhaul of the venue, building an amazing outdoor ceremony garden which has elevated the property into a whole new category."
Alongside overhauling the farm buildings, Savannah and James's "dream home" in the Cotswolds has also needed years of attention since they moved in in 2023. "We've been wrestling with renovations for a long time," Savannah says of their sprawling property, situated in an area of natural beauty. "It’s been a wild ride… Taking on an old mill with a dodgy heating system in the middle of a financial crash, at the same time as launching a new business, was an interesting choice," Savannah says.
"I've lived in the Stroud area for 20 years – my kids go to school in Cheltenham – so we bought our place so we could have our home there. In the week, James goes up north to work and I either go with him or stay in the Cotswolds, depending on what the kids are doing. We chose the mill because it's very remote, in the bottom of a valley. It has a beautiful garden with a stream running through it. It's paradise, but it truly doesn’t function like a normal property. It's basically elevated camping in that our hot-water system is very temperamental, but it's extremely inspiring, peaceful and the antithesis of London. I find it really nourishing being there."
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