Wealthy Americans are flocking to the Cotswolds for ‘picture perfect’ weddings after being inspired by hit Netflix shows like Bridgerton and The Crown.
Wedding planners say that US brides are looking for a quintessential British wedding, which they have seen in the popular costume dramas.
The grand manor houses, big castle staircases and pristine landscaped gardens showcased in the popular shows have created such an allure to those across the pond that some wedding planners have begun solely focusing on clients based in America.
‘I think many Americans see Bridgerton and want that quintessentially English experience,’ Lauren Goodman, of Bluebird Creative Events, an upmarket wedding planner, told the Times.
She claimed that 90 per cent of her clients are now American and that often it’s the bride who is American and the groom is British.
Venues in the Cotswolds that Ms Goodman has worked with include the Euridge estate, in Wiltshire, and Chavenage House, an Elizabethan manor near Tetbury.
While Blenheim Palace, Estelle Manor, Oxford University and the Savoy are also high on the American wedding wish list.
Ms Goodman said: ‘It’s either a really iconic London wedding with a heritage building or a quintessentially British country garden wedding. Americans are realising that England is actually a destination to get married and that it doesn’t have to be Italy or France.’
Wedding planners say that US brides are looking for a quintessential British wedding, which they have seen in the popular costume dramas such as Bridgerton (pictured) and The Crown
Wedding venues in the Cotswolds popular with Americans include the Euridge estate, in Wiltshire, and Chavenage House (pictured), an Elizabethan manor near Tetbury
While Blenheim Palace (pictured), Estelle Manor, Oxford University and the Savoy are also high on the American wedding wish list.
In London, Ms Goodman worked on American weddings at Claridge’s and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, which can host up to 250 guests in its ballroom and dining room as well as its own chapel, has also seen a rise in American couples using the venue for their big day, after being featured on The Crown.
Harvey Proctor, the former Tory MP who is now private secretary to the Duke of Rutland at Belvoir Castle, claims ‘Americans see the castle on TV, think it’s magical and they inquire about using it’.
Among Americans flocking to the UK is Morgan Schondelmeier, a 31-year-old from Connecticut, who swapped a US ceremony for a lavish celebration in west London.
She married her British partner at the grand Chiswick House, an 18th-century showpiece, after jetting in 50 guests from the States for the occasion.
‘I think Downton Abbey had a huge impact on people wanting that kind of experience. It made them want that old English style for their wedding. And then Bridgerton, as well,’ she said.
She added that another reason behind the rise in Americans getting married in the UK is that English weddings can ‘easily be 20 per cent cheaper’.
Wedding planner Lavinia Stewart-Brown says the trend has surged since the pandemic, as couples look to make delayed celebrations bigger, bolder and more memorable.
Belvoir Castle, which doubled as Windsor Castle in scenes for the hit TV show, is known as one of the finest examples of Regency architecture in the country
Grade I-listed Belvoir, home to the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, wasthe stand-in for scenes in Windsor Castle for the first three seasons of The Crown. Pictured in 2021
She added that Britain offers romance and practicality, from historic universities to rolling countryside and grand stately homes, pointing to the ‘heritage of Oxford and Cambridge’ and ‘the romance of the Cotswolds’.
Ms Goodman also revealed that American weddings are rarely small and that budgets begin at £50,000 and soar into the hundreds of thousands.
However, for all the glamour, there is one thing money can’t guarantee. The English weather.
She tells clients that if they want the wedding outside, they must ‘always have a plan B’.
The trend has even attracted high-profile names, as last summer, Eve Jobs, daughter of Apple founder Steve Jobs, married British Olympic showjumper Harry Charles in a star-studded Cotswolds four-day wedding reportedly costing £5 million.
The wedding party took place at the stunning Estelle Manor country hotel set at Eynsham Hall, where rooms start at £795.
The Manor is renowned internationally as a venue for huge weddings as its copious grounds can accommodate hundreds of guests – while some guests were believed to be staying at the celebrity-famous Soho Farmhouse nearby.
Soho Farmhouse is a glamorous private members club beloved by A-list celebrities – even hosting Meghan Markle’s hen do in 2018 – as the place to go for private events for the social elite, all with the background of Britain’s finest countryside.
