Sun and romance shine at our joint open day with beautiful Barff House

Well we couldn’t have wished for better weather as Spring sprung for our open day at this idyllic wedding venue in Brandesburton, in rural East Yorkshire.

We arranged the event, on Sunday March 24, to provide a rare insight into this magical place for which we supply marquees. We also wanted to offer some much-needed inspiration for couples looking for that perfect place to tie the knot, as well as creative wedding ideas in general.

It proved a busy day, with dozens of guests popping along for the chance to view the Georgian farmhouse site.

Our ‘Secret Garden’ theme featured both a classic lined marquee and a clear-roof marquee, and visitors had the opportunity to take a full look around Barff House, its barn, and idyllic grounds including woodland glade. We also had on display one of the latest trends for marquee weddings – our stunning light and foliage boxes – as well as greenery-based floristry provided by Village Farm Events Foliage Styling, which is also proving a popular choice for celebrations being booked this year.

Also on-hand to view was the house’s accommodation including The Cart Shed, a converted stable which sleeps up to six people, and its romantic Woodland Hut, which is reserved for the bride and groom on the night of their wedding.

A number of popular suppliers also came along to showcase their wares, including magician Dan Voakes, the Blues Wedding and Events Catering, Aurora Cake Studio and Bloom and Bridal florists, Beyond the Frame photography, Blueberry Sprinkles ice cream, Nicky Owen pianist, Toodoloo toilet hire, Cherry Williams Party Hire for event styling, Black Event Furniture and Kate Hall Designs wedding stationery.

Choosing finishing touches

Visitors were wowed by all our event had to offer, including Daniella Bromley and Nick Willats, who have already decided to wed at Barff House this September but took the opportunity to come along and select some of the finishing touches for their special day.

“We first booked Barff House in 2018,” said Daniella. “We had a very clear idea of what we wanted, which was an autumnal rustic wedding with a bonfire and fireworks, but we couldn’t find the right place until a friend of ours spotted something about Barff House on Facebook and let us know.

“We loved it at first visit and it just has everything we were looking for in one place – the woodland, the foliage, the indoor and outdoor spaces, barn, marquees and accommodation, which is a really rare combination to find in a venue.

“Both VFM and Barff House have really handheld us through the entire process, including introducing us to some outstanding suppliers, and this made it easy and stress-free to plan our day.”

The couple – Craig, an IT consultant, and Daniella, a housewife – are planning a 70s funk band for their evening ‘do’ and barbecue sharing platters for their wedding breakfast, and will be accompanied by their three daughters, aged 12, four and two, as flower girls.

Meanwhile, Alice Lunn and her fiancé Jack Wilson have just booked Barff House for their ceremony in July 2021.

Alice, who is a childminder and also has her own events business, said: “I fell in love with it after looking online and then came to have a look and felt it had everything we wanted in one place, including the barn, the fairylit archway, the marquee and the wedding night accommodation, all in a lovely setting, so we came back again with our parents and decided to book!

“We’ve been picking up lots of inspiration today for the details and I think we’re going to go for a relaxed but modern look, rustic with a twist.”

Featuring some of the region’s best suppliers

Florists Jenny Nelson and Joanne Bradshaw, of Hull-based Bloom and Bridal, were delighted to provide the gorgeous, dramatically unfussy floral displays for the event, and described where they get their inspiration.

“We’re absolutely passionate about flowers and love nothing more than visiting growers and choosing blooms for ourselves. Our industry is constantly changing and there are always new varieties and designs coming along, so it’s always fresh and interesting,” said Jenny.

“We both used to work as shop-based florists in the past but we moved into event flower arrangements because of the creative freedom this gives us,” added Joanne.

“I would say we try to achieve a relaxed, modern, uncontrived look, and source as many of our blooms as possible, seasonally and from local suppliers.”

Also wowing our guests was Village Farm Events Foliage Styling, run by Lisa, sister of Tony Newman, co-director of our very own VFM! An experienced florist, Lisa has recently moved from London to East Yorkshire and is specialising in foliage-based designs, which look stunning in a rustic venue like Barff House, as well as more modern venues.

Among the displays Lisa had on show were the bespoke foliage backdrop she has developed with Tony, the statement hanging lighting box adorned with foliage, table decorations and freestanding displays.

She said: “Over the years, I’ve developed a particular passion for foliage because it is so simple, structural and modern-looking, yet provides a high degree of interest with the different shapes and shades of green it incorporates.

“It makes a beautiful show-stealer and perfectly complements carefully selected flowers too.”

Chrysta Newman, Village Farm Marquees Co-director, said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came to join us for our open day.

“It’s our great pleasure to work with this intimate, family-run venue nestled in unspoilt countryside and it was wonderful to showcase everything we have to offer in this way.

“All Barff House weddings feature one of our marquees, exclusive use of the gardens including magical private woodland with lanterns, straw bale seating and fire pit, and also a beautifully renovated party barn which has plenty of room for guests to dance the night away.”

To enquire about Barff House or one of our marquees, call us on (01262) 468160 or email info@villagefarmmarquees.co.uk