Inside: An Idyllic Countryside Wedding In The Cotswolds

From a dream proposal in Positano to their Cotswolds wedding. Joanna Lightfoot Peach and James Lightfoot Brown give us an inside look at their idyllic countryside wedding in The Cotswolds.

The Story So Far

Our story began in the year 2007, when I was in year 7 and James was in year 9. My best friend and his best friend are brother and sister (both maid of honour and best man), so we’d always see each other when we were at the Williams household after school. We didn’t ever speak as I was younger (and therefore deemed uncool) but fast forward to 2014, we bumped into each other and the rest is history.

We got engaged in Positano, Italy in April 2023. We had a gorgeous Airbnb called The Artist House which overlooked the landscape and after a wonderful meal out, he proposed on our balcony. My engagement ring is my great great nan’s and I have always said that that’s what I wanted. The ring actually belonged to Hollywood film director, Mark Robson, who gifted it to my ggg nan. She was a fortune teller who he saw regularly and at the time changed his mind on proposing to his partner, so gave the ring to her (hopefully no bad omens there)! My wedding band is bespoke by Stow Jewellers and is contoured to the unique band shape at the top and bottom – so looks like a stack of 3 rings. I love it and it’s made the ring unique and more modern. A nice mix of old and new.

Venue

We got married at Hyde House in Stow On The Wold which was the perfect venue for us. James and I are originally from Twickenham but moved to Cheltenham in June 2023. We’d thought about having it in London but after living in the Cotswolds, decided that we better make the most of the beautiful surroundings. We looked at 4 other venues and always thought something was missing (too dated, no inside/outside options) and then when we looked at HH we loved that everything was in one place. A gorgeous barn for the ceremony, main house for family and bridal party to stay the night of, an amazing getting ready suite and a separate barn for the evening, with the most amazing outside area. I knew I would be doing a lot of DIYing and HH is a beautiful blank canvas.

The day before the wedding was James’ birthday, so we had the bridal party over to our house for stone baked pizzas. We sat in the garden and had some bubbly and beers before the boys left to go to their Airbnb. For our day 2 we hired an area at Maxi’s Tipi Lounge in Bourton on The Water.

Fashion

I got my dress at The White Room in Minchinhampton – a gorgeous shop with the loveliest staff. I went for an elegant Suzanne Neville dress and they custom made a hair bow for the evening. My talented bridesmaid Ruby made my veil and my bridesmaid Amber bought me my wedding shoes which were Amina Muaddi. My auntie got me a blue angel that hooked onto my bouquet – to represent my grandparents that are no longer with us.

James got his tuxedo from Suitsupply.

Jewellery

I kept it simple and only wore my Lily and Roo drop pearl earrings and wedding ring.

Bridal Party

We rented tux’s for the groomsmen and dads from Rathbones and the bridesmaid dresses were from Pretty Lavish and Six Stories.

Tablescape

My favourite touches were our limoncello cart, inspired by Positano, that doubled up as a seating chart and favours. I bought mini bottles and tied a label around the neck with name and table number. We had a ‘the love that came before us’ table, with pictures of our parents and grandparents on their wedding days and we had an old fashion phone as our guest book.

Food & Drinks

For food we went for mezze sharing platters for starters, chicken for main and chocolate fondant for desert. Then we had stone baked oven pizzas for evening food.

Entertainment

Our first dance song was Beyond, Leon Bridges – we’ve seen him live and have both always loved the song. We had a swing style band straight after and then a DJ till the end of the night. Oh and a sax during the drinks reception.

Advice

Don’t sweat the small stuff on the day. In years to come your guests will remember the love in the room and the fun they had – not what the weather was like or how you styled your hair.
Don’t follow trends too much. Think will this be timeless? Am I doing this because it’s cool right now or do I really like it?
Make a conscious effort to stay together as much as possible on the day. It’s so easy to be passing ships engaging with guests.