Dr Dawn Harper’s wedding to Jack Harries was a thoroughly Cotswold affair
Dr Dawn Harper and her best friend, Jack Harries, were married on April 30 in Duntisbourne Abbots church. They have been together for eight years and have both spent most of their lives in the Cotswolds; Dawn is originally from Bath, and Jack grew up in Cheltenham. They currently live in the countryside on the edge of a picturesque Cotswolds village near Cirencester, with their beloved Jack Russell dogs. The couple immerse themselves in Cotswold living, regularly cycling around Cirencester and the surrounding areas, enjoying the stunning local countryside and the gastronomy on offer in the many award-winning eateries. One of their favourite places to go is The Barn Theatre in Cirencester, where they regularly enjoy the award-winning performances the theatre puts on.
Dawn and Jack are both also based in the Cotswolds for business. Dawn has been a practicing NHS GP in the area for over 27 years, and both have their own dedicated home offices, from which they run their businesses. Outside of her surgery, Dawn is very busy with international conference work and also does a lot of work for charity, including for the National Star College.
The couple’s wedding was very much a Cotswolds affair. Jack proposed to Dawn whilst on a walk in the countryside as they were crossing a wooden stile. A week after the proposal, Dawn set about making litres of homemade sloe gin for her wedding favours, and both the engagement and wedding rings were bought from Beards in Cheltenham, their favourite jeweller for many years. The wedding was held in Duntisbourne Abbots Church as, when they were first together, Dawn and Jack rented their first cottage together in the Duntisbournes, and still go to the church every Sunday they can.
The couple held their wedding reception at Cirencester Park Polo Club, in the heart of the Bathurst Estate as both the park and the club hold a strong place in their hearts. Jack introduced Dawn to polo soon after they first met, taking her to The Beaufort Polo Club. A passionate horsewoman, Dawn has spent her life riding in most disciplines, including eventing, hunting and dressage, but had never seen polo before. Today, the couple spend many a weekend enjoying the polo at Cirencester, often bringing their dogs with them for the day.
The wedding was organised by Cirencester-based The Cotswold Wedding Planners, Jo Welch and Ashlee Millard. Jo and Ashlee sourced as much as possible from the local area to maintain the strong Cotswold links. When styling the polo clubhouse for the wedding breakfast, bespoke wood rounds were sourced from the Bathurst Estate’s forestry team to place the mouth-watering sharing platters created by the club’s award-winning head chef Ethan Rodgers. On the menu was a feast of canapés and live food stations to start with, including Ibérico ham and Lambton & Jackson smoked salmon with caviar blinis, followed by sharing mains of Middle Duntisbourne Farm beef and a dessert of fresh berry pavlova, finishing off with a selection of British cheeses and pickles.
The day itself was ‘utterly perfect’, said Dr Dawn. The service in the picturesque church was full of joy, surprises and music, with the newlyweds dancing down the aisle out of the church to This Will Be by Natalie Cole. They were driven away from the church to Cecily Hill in Cirencester, where, unbeknownst to the guests, they rode through Cirencester Park in a horse and carriage up to the reception at the polo club, thanks to kind permission of The Earl and Countess Bathurst. With Dawn’s lifetime love of horses and the stunning spectacle of the park in springtime, this was a very special part of their day. In keeping with Dawn’s charitable work, Jo and Ashlee sourced the horse and carriage from KC Horse Drawn Carriages, an incredible horse rescue business that raises money through the many equestrian services it offers. The event went without hitch, with the sun beaming down on the wedding party all day. After the speeches, guests were treated to live music by Alex James Ellison, a talented actor, musician and writer who Jack and Dawn discovered on one of their trips to The Barn Theatre.
When the party came to a close, the happy couple were whisked away by helicopter to spend their wedding night at Thyme in Southrop in one of their heavenly botanically-inspired suites. Five months on, Dawn and Jack still delight in their memories of the day, watching the wonderful video put together by Shot from the Hip video productions. Guests, too, are still reminded by the special day as the invitations were printed on seeded paper with summer flowers, so that they could be planted after the event.
- Wedding planners: Jo Welch and Ashlee Millard, The Cotswold Wedding Planners, thecotswoldweddingplanner.com
- Photographer: Tom Aizenberg, tomaizenberg.com
- Venue: Cirencester Park Polo Club, cirencesterpolo.co.uk
- Bride’s dress designers: Kolchagov Barba, kolchagovbarba.com
- Florist: Emma Matthews, The Flower Girls, the-flower-girls.co.uk
- Catering: Chef Ethan Rodgers, Executive Head Chef at Cirencester Park Polo Club, ivylodgebrasserie.co.uk
- Honeymoon: beachcomber-hotels.com
