Wedding DJ at Cowley Manor
Wedding DJ Alistair Rutherford, a resident DJ at Soho Farmhouse
Midweek, and still dancing at midnight
My Cowley Manor wedding was a midweek one in June 2025. Midweek guests can hold back. These didn't. The floor stayed busy right up to the midnight finish, and afterwards the couple wrote to say thanks for keeping everyone dancing.
A manor that doesn't play it straight
Cowley Manor, now trading as Cowley Manor Experimental, is a manor house set in 55 acres of hills, gardens and a lake, about 20 minutes south of Cheltenham. Hire it privately and you get all 36 bedrooms plus the bar, lounge, restaurant and games room. The restaurant seats up to 84, or 100 with the Marble table; the Garden Room suits up to 30, looking out over the lake and St Mary's church.
From cowleymanorexperimental.com, private events and access & contact, checked 20 Oct 2026.
Personal, then properly mixed
Bold interiors deserve a soundtrack that isn't lifted from a standard wedding playlist. We start with what you love and what's off limits. Through the day it stays easy; after the first dance it becomes a real DJ set, from soul and disco to garage, house and 90s favourites.
The planning portal lets you start with one song, give guests a QR code or link for requests, and pick which ones make it in.
What each package covers
| Eveningfrom £1,150 | All dayfrom £1,750 | |
|---|---|---|
| Music consultation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Planning portal for songs and guest requests | ✓ | ✓ |
| Evening set until midnight (1am late finish where licensed, for an added fee) | ✓ | ✓ |
| DJ booth, sound, programmed lighting | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ceremony, drinks and dinner music | – | ✓ |
| Speech microphone, 10 uplighters | – | ✓ |
Live sax and other extras are priced for your date. Travel is quoted for your venue and dates.
Couples from nearby venues
Two Google reviews from couples at other Cotswolds venues, quoted exactly as they wrote them. Rated 5.0 across over 120 reviews.
★★★★★
We couldn’t recommend Alistair highly enough. He delivered the perfect soundtrack to our wedding day and night. His track selection was bang on, keeping the energy on the dancefloor from start to finish 🙌
Top guy and absolutely superb DJ 👏
Thank you!
James Elsom · Old Gore Barn
★★★★★
Alistair DJ’d our wedding and was phenomenal! Communication before hand was great and the form we filled in left us feeling confident that the music would be to ours and our guests taste. 10/10 thank you!!!
Amber Gamble · Old Gore Barn
Cowley Manor, answered
Can we take over the whole manor?
Yes: all 36 bedrooms plus the bar, lounge, restaurant and games room.
How do guests get there?
Cowley is about 20 minutes from Cheltenham Spa station.
Do you cover Cowley Manor?
Yes. Cowley Manor Experimental is in Cowley, just outside Cheltenham. Travel is quoted for your venue and dates. I can send my public liability insurance and PAT certificates to any venue that asks, and I agree timings and access before the day, so everything is sorted before I arrive.
How can our guests ask for songs?
Through my online planning portal. You add your own must-plays there, then share a QR code or link with guests so they can suggest tracks. Nothing goes straight onto the playlist: you decide which guest requests to accept, so the evening still sounds like the two of you.
How far ahead do you get booked?
My peak Saturdays often book up well in advance, so it's worth asking early about your Cowley Manor date. I've been DJing for more than ten years and I'm a resident DJ at Soho Farmhouse. Evening packages start at £1,150 for up to five hours. All my packages finish at midnight. If the hotel's licence runs to 1am on your date, we can extend to then for an added late-finish fee, quoted on request.
More in the general FAQ.
Is your Cowley Manor date free?
Send the date and venue and I'll reply with availability and a quote.
or Hello@ARDJ.co.uk · Cotswolds wedding DJ · Lower Slaughter Manor · Elmore Court