Intimate Wedding Venue in The Cotswolds - A Three-day Destination Wedding from the USA
Written by Hannah Grayson (Bride, June 2026)
Hannah, one of our US brides who was married at Pauntley Court this June, has written about her wedding story and about bringing her closest family and friends over from the US for her destination wedding in The Cotswolds.
Discovering Pauntley Court
My fiancé, Jack and I always knew we wanted a small wedding - something that felt like a staycation with a wedding in the middle. As I started researching venues, Pauntley Court immediately stood out. The pink house, the intimate size, the English countryside setting. It truly felt perfect.
After a virtual tour with Melissa, my fiancé Jack and I flew over from the United States to visit on a warm, rainy day in September and I absolutely fell in love with Pauntley.
Starting with the exteriors: the gardens are stunning. They are so colorful, with so many different types of flowers that make for the most incredible photo backdrops. Inside, it's cozy and gorgeous in a way that's hard to capture in photos. Everything about that initial tour exceeded my expectations.
What also stood out was how many options Pauntley offers. From wedding day vendors to the variety of spaces for different events (night-before dinner, the ceremony, the wedding breakfast), there's a lot of flexibility to make your stay and your wedding weekend feel uniquely yours.
Getting There
In mid-May, our families flew out from Boston to London, where we spent a few days before heading to Gloucestershire. We took the train from London Paddington to Gloucester, then a taxi to Pauntley.
I ordered groceries, wine, and a few other things from Waitrose (a grocery delivery service) ahead of time so we'd have breakfasts, snacks, and drinks sorted for the stay.
The Stay
We were there Tuesday to Friday, which gave us time to really settle in and enjoy the place rather than just rushing through a wedding day. The bedrooms are all stunning and so spacious, and most have their own bathroom, which makes such a difference when you have a full house of guests.
Tuesday evening, we all arrived, explored the gardens, and had pizza from Taste the Good Life for dinner. It was the perfect night before the wedding. It was amazing having everyone together, wandering around the beautiful property.
During our time at Pauntley Rachel, the Housekeeper, made our stay that much more special. She was so helpful and made us feel right at home from the moment we arrived.
The Wedding
Wednesday morning, the day of the wedding, Rachel prepared breakfast and we all ate together in the kitchen. It was such a cozy, relaxing way to start the day. Then, the ladies then headed up to the Elinor Fettiplace bridal suite to get ready.
The wedding was absolutely stunning. We had our ceremony under the quince trees, which was everything I'd imagined. Cocktail hour started outside until it started to rain a bit and we moved inside to The Panelled Room. We'd originally planned to have the wedding breakfast under the hornbeams, but the wind had other ideas, so we moved into The Ballroom. After dinner, everyone ended up in The Flower Room playing pool and just hanging out, which felt like such a fitting end to the night.
Our Vendors
Our wonderful vendors made the week truly magical. I highly recommend them all!
- Night Before Dinner: Taste the Good Life
- Photography: Katrina Bartlam
- Wedding Breakfast: Queen & Whippet
- Florals: Far Hill Flowers
- Cake: Home Farm Kitchen
Final Thoughts
Pauntley Court was truly the perfect spot for our small wedding and I really cannot recommend it enough. If you're dreaming of a small, intimate wedding that feels like a proper weekend away with the people you love most, this is the place.
< Previous blog Next blog >
Long story short - if you are making a wedding venue decision, look no further.
I waited 6 months before leaving a review to make sure im not just riding on high emotions after the wedding. But truthfully, all the high emotions are still there because this place was so perfect. We fell in love with Pauntley Court at first sight even though we visited during a gloomy rainy afternoon in December. Not even for a second at any point it felt like a commercial “venue”, it has a soul that you can feel as soon as you step on the grounds.
Our guests travelled from all over the world and Pauntley Court was so perfect to show them the English experience. Everyone was so impressed by the house, rooms and the beautiful gardens.
Melissa was so incredibly kind in every way since the moment we met her the first time. Absolutely nothing felt like too much to ask for neither during preparation nor on the day.
We had the wedding day exactly the way we wanted, absolutely everything could be done like we imagined - from choosing the ceremony space among multiple options to arranging dinner the night before. The most magical time however happened after the wedding when guests staying in the house gathered in the kitchen having tea and leftover cake, you can’t create a core memory like this in most of other wedding venues.
Another highlight was the amazing Rachel. At first I didn’t fully believe the reviews about how great she was, and I admittedly was quite skeptical if one person would be able to manage everything we wanted. And how wrong I was to ever doubt! Rachel ran the show so seamlessly and impeccable as if there was a team of 10. Our guests loved her as much as we did.
We can’t wait to go back to Pauntley for our anniversary. Thank you Melissa and all the team for making memories of a lifetime for us!