Alex and Oliver’s Autumn Wonderland Wedding

All photos by Camera Hannah 

We love sharing stories about the happy couples who chose to host their wedding at Lineham Farm. Each couple’s wedding is a unique celebration of their love, complete with personalised décor, music and entertainment. As a blank canvas wedding venue, we love seeing how couples put their own twist on the space to make it their own.

Today we’re sharing the wedding story of Alex and Oliver, who exchanged vows in the stunning woodland clearing at Lineham Farm last autumn. With their wedding taking place in late September, Alex and Oliver envisioned an autumn wonderland for their dream day, complete with dried flowers, rich autumnal tones and pumpkins.

We spoke to Alex to find out how the couple brought their vision to life, as well as why Lineham Farm offered the perfect backdrop for their big day.

What made you decide to hold your wedding at Lineham Farm? Was there anything that stood out when you visited the venue?

For us, flexibility was really important. We didn’t want a venue where we had to use a specific caterer or couldn’t include some of the quirkier aspects we’d thought about, like our own beer pong table, photobooth etc. Lineham Farm were amazing in that we had the venue the night before through to the Sunday, which helped immensely with set up – as well as the accommodation for dozens of our guests on-site.

It was also really important for us for our venue to have character, and Lineham Farm has that in abundance. We knew we wanted to get married in the autumn and the grounds, forest and wedding clearing was the perfect autumnal back drop for our ceremony.

All the profits from venue hire support the work of Leeds Children’s Charity at Lineham Farm, helping disadvantaged and vulnerable children in Leeds. Did this factor into your decision to hold your wedding at Lineham Farm?  

Yes, this was a major decision. We’d viewed a lot of venues which were expensive and restrictive – for example, we were going to be paying a lot of money for the venue to dictate which caterers we had to use, corkage and lots of hidden extra costs that ultimately equate profit for the venue. With Lineham Farm, the fact that the venue hire supports Leeds Children’s Charity was a real sway for us – we were getting our dream wedding venue and helping an incredible cause at the same time.

How long did you spend planning your wedding? Did you run into any issues?

We got engaged in February 2022 and began planning pretty much straight away. We spent much of the 19 months between our engagement and wedding planning – which actually was more of an enjoyable experience than stressful! Our only issue faced was some unconsciously biased discrimination at some wedding fayres as two grooms. Another reason we wanted to choose Lineham Farm was their warm, accepting and inclusive attitude towards us as a same sex couple.

At Lineham Farm we provide a blank canvas for couples to decorate how they choose. How did you go about decorating the venue? 

This was probably the most exciting part of the whole process! Our wedding date was September 30, so we always knew we wanted an autumnal theme with muted colours that fit with the character of the building. We used a fantastic florist that specialises dried flowers to create floral displays for inside and paired with lots of muted greens and oranges with gold and wood accents. We also used real pumpkins, squashes and fabrics to add additional focal points around the venue and our ceremony clearing.

Can you tell us about the catering you used on your big day? How did you decide on the food and drink?

We went with Baba Ganoush who had come highly recommended to us – and we definitely didn’t regret it. Their service was impeccable for our canape reception and our wedding breakfast. We knew we wanted to just have two courses and do a dessert table ourselves, so went with their canapes, starter and pie menu – then used a fabulous local baker, Slice of Yorkshire, for our wedding cake and desserts. In the evening we then used Duke’s Pizza who filled our guests with unlimited pizza for two hours (which was needed by that point!).

What was your family and friends’ reaction to the venue?

I think the first was… “you want to get married outside, in September?!” but I’ve lost count of how many people have told us it was one of the most magical weddings, and settings they’ve ever seen. The wedding clearing was perfect with the trees for our ceremony – and in a miracle, the weather was perfect and clear for our autumn ceremony outside. Our family and friends loved how much they could recognise mine and Oliver’s style in our wedding decorations as we were able to decorate Lineham Farm and add to its character, rather than be restricted by what the venue would allow us to do.

What was your vision for your wedding, and did you manage to capture it?

100% – we wanted it to feel like an autumn wonderland and I think we really did it justice. The character of the building meant that we were really easily able to add our own personal touches to everything.

Can you share your favourite memory from your wedding?

There are TOO many… But I suppose they would be:

• Walking down the aisle into the woodland clearing and just seeing how strikingly beautiful the set-up was with the wedding arch
• Playing beer pong with our guests during our drinks reception in the court yard
• Our first dance with all our family dancing around us
• Staying up (far too late) after our DJ had left, catching up with old friends (Lineham Farm’s relaxed curfews were also a major deciding factor for us)

In terms of entertainment, did you have any special activities or features that made your wedding day even more memorable for you and your guests?

We had beer pong and karaoke which were incredible additions. The karaoke at our wedding reception really ensured the party atmosphere all evening which is exactly what we wanted!

Finally, do you have any advice or tips for couples planning a wedding at Lineham Farm?

View it as much as you need! Jenny, Natalie and the team were so accommodating when we needed to nip back to measure or scope out how we wanted to decorate specific rooms which helped so, so much with our planning. I would also definitely consider an outdoor ceremony – even if you’re not getting married in the summer months. The British weather is unpredictable, and when I told our guests the ceremony would be outside on the last day of September we got a few raised eyebrows – but it was perfect and magical and the weather was fabulous.

We hope you’ve been inspired reading about Alex and Oliver’s gorgeous autumnal wedding. If you’re planning your own love story and you’re looking for a blank canvas wedding venue to make your own, look no further.

Lineham Farm is a beautiful 17th century farmhouse set on 120 acres of land in North Leeds.  Download our free wedding brochure to explore the possibilities. If you’d like to experience the beauty of Lineham Farm first-hand, we’d love to welcome you for a tour. Contact our team at 0113 3783939 or weddings@linehamfarm.co.uk to arrange a visit.