Inside: A Colourful Garden Wedding in the Cotswolds

Jack works in the wine industry in London while Joanna runs a wedding stationery and artwork business. Jack and Joanna were set up on a blind in 2012 by mutual friends. Jack proposed over Christmas 2018 in the south of France, with a Georgian diamond cluster ring previously owned by Jack’s grandmother. The two tied the knot in a colourful garden wedding in the Cotswolds.

The best part of our day was….

After the pandemic made our wedding our fifth attempt in 2 years, we left the church after the ceremony and took 5 minutes together to ourselves before greeting any guests. The most euphoric feeling after all that time!

We choose to get married at…

Amazingly we were both on the same wavelength for the style of wedding we wanted, and we were lucky enough to get married in the garden of Jack’s sister Rachel’s house in the heart of the Cotswolds. We were married in the village church, before walking with our guests through the village up the hill to the house. Having spent a lot of time there throughout our relationship, and even more during lockdown, the location was sentimental to both of us and felt like the perfect spot to tie the knot and host an English country garden wedding party. Rachel is also an amazing garden designer and her husband a sculptor, which helped set the scene!

wedding tablescape — Photographer: Ben Minaar

village church — Photographer: Ben Minaar

garden wedding inspiration — Photographer: Ben Minaar

I knew I found ‘The One’ when…

I found my dress at The Mews in Notting Hill – It was one of the few that I felt like myself in, I took my mum with me for my first appointment with them and she started crying when I walked out in my dress which is how I knew. I chose a very simple dress, and an embellished top to wear with it as an option throughout the day.

The dress is from The Mews in Notting Hill — Photographer: Ben Minaar

The most enjoyable moments of planning were…

We were so excited to get all our friends and family together in one place now that all the restrictions had been lifted, so we both found the planning of the party the most fun part. A few weeks before, Jack’s sister Tilly helped us make countless bottles of flavoured vodka for the tables, for place settings I illustrated each guest above their name, my parents drove two full sized silver birch trees across the country in a horse trailer to stand inside the marquee to help bring the outside in, and we found the amazing Fake Tan Band who completed the evening! For decoration, we went for bold colours (oranges, purples, pinks) and worked around things which could be found in the surrounding gardens, only buying extra of things we could find locally. We wanted to bring the outside in as much as possible, and wanted the marquee to feel like a continuation of the scenery.

A colourful garden wedding in the cotswolds — Photographer: Ben Minaar

The hardest part of planning was…

Having to plan, re-plan and plan again throughout the pandemic was the most challenging part, most especially having to reevaluate guest numbers. We overcame if by trying to keep each other focussed on the bigger picture. Even when our final date was set and things were looking encouraging with the pandemic, we didn’t allow ourselves to believe that we were finally going to be able to go ahead until the week of!

The best accounts to follow on Instagram for big-day inspo are…

For flower inspiration @willowcrossleycreates and for choosing a style for the day @junebugweddings. As for beauty and hair, I loved following @ulyana.aster.