Darren and Harriet’s Cotswolds wedding
For Darren and Harriet there was never any question that they would get married at Harriet’s family home in the Cotswolds, where she has lived her whole life. While there were elements of a traditional wedding that they wanted to nod to, they also wanted to question the norm and break the mould in order to make the day feel as true to them at every opportunity.
The day began with a traditional church service in the village church, which was decorated with silver birch trees and stacks of terracotta pots filled with ferns and ivy that trailed down from every windowsill. Family played a pivotal role in the day, Harriet and her dad arrived in the same 1970’s MGB that her parents had left their own wedding in 35 years before, to the day, and the couple’s one year old son Huckleberry was pulled down the aisle in a wooden apple cart by his cousin Maggie and fellow bridesmaid Amber. After the service the bride and groom led guests through the village, past a 6-piece brass swing band who took them down into the garden where they were first met by Marble’s Gin Tin horse truck, serving Brockman’s Gin & Tonics and 4 food stations that represented life at Acacia Cottage. The Potting Shed served up a botanical-inspired cocktail and canapé pairing menu; The Chicken Run, serving up three varieties of scotch eggs; The Herb Garden, with seasonal crudité; and finally, The Wood Shed, a wood-smoking station with oak smoked salmon and duck canapés.
The 170 guests were then led to a single 52 meter table running beside the stream at the bottom of the garden, decorated with moss, ferns and succulents. Harriet and Darren knew they didn’t want to do ‘wedding food’ so asked their friends at Patty & Bun do their take on a wedding feast. From their LA foodtruck they served four of their iconic burgers, rosemary fries and confit chicken wings to the table. Magnums of AIX Provence rosé filled the tables, while galvanised zinc bathtubs filled with bottles of Red Stripe were stationed alongside diners, with firepits and white-linen-covered hay bales for relaxing on after dinner. After dinner, everyone was led back up the meadow to the dance tent – a tree-house-like platform that overlooked the valley. It was filled with hanging wisteria, fruit trees and over 30 disco balls suspended from the ceiling with a custom-built raised DJ booth at one end, from where the Father of the Groom opened proceedings. A specially designed cocktail menu by Brockman’s was served from the 4 metre round wooden bar in the centre of the tent, until the early hours!
