by Olivia • January 14, 2024 • Wedding Planning Guides
Are you looking for a perfect farm venue that you can transform into a dream wedding barn for your big day? A place where you can bring rustic charm to life, embrace the magic of the countryside and infuse your wedding with all the style of a rural barn wedding?
You’ve come to the right place.
At Heaton House Farm, we’ve been one of the most popular wedding barn venues in Cheshire for over twenty years, and it’s safe to say we know a thing or two about transforming a farm into a picture-perfect wedding spot.
So we’ve put together the ultimate guide to finding a farm and turning it into your dream wedding venue. It’s got everything you need to know about creating that magical, unforgettable rustic wedding, including:
Rustic charm is one of the most popular styles of weddings because it gives couples freedom, flexibility and beauty.
Alongside the gorgeous views that often come hand in hand with a rural venue that oozes rustic charm, a farm or barn wedding can feel very intimate, very authentic and very romantic.
More and more couples are choosing rustic charm for their wedding style and feel because of the benefits it brings including:
And of course, most importantly, rustic weddings deliver a truly memorable experience, whether that’s a unique dance floor in the middle of your wedding barn, haybales instead of chairs, or cocktails in the farmyard!
If you’ve always dreamt of having a farm wedding, or you and your partner have pictured yourselves tying the knot in a rustic building, standing underneath rugged oak beams and surrounded by old stonework, then a wedding barn could be exactly what you’re looking for.
Barn wedding venues are becoming more and more popular across the UK, and it’s easy to see why.
Barns are a quintessential part of rural, countryside life. They’re usually set against stunning rural backdrops, on working farms, surrounded by incredible views and a wonderful natural environment – particularly those wedding barns in Cheshire.
In short, tying the knot on a farm, with a wedding barn to host all your celebrations – is the perfect venue for that rustic charm wedding you’ve been dreaming of.
So how do you find that perfect farm that can double as your wedding venue?
This is your perfect day – so any old farm or barn won’t do.
And in fact, you’ll want to take great care in choosing the perfect farm for your wedding, because not all farms will be suitable.
The majority of working farms simply won’t be able to host your dream wedding because they’re just that – working farms. Barns will be used, farmyards will be busy with tractors, trucks and other equipment, and it probably won’t be the most picturesque of venues.
You’ll need to look for farms that have both the potential and the capability to transform into a wedding venue and bring all your ideas to life. Somewhere that has:
Finding the perfect rural location for you and all your guests, with a wedding barn that has everything you need for a seamless, sensational celebration of your love, will take some time and effort.
But Heaton House Farm has all of this covered already. We’ve spent years transforming our working farm into the most idyllic of venues, with wedding barns seamlessly converted from our old farm buildings to deliver all the luxury and comfort you could possibly imagine without compromising on that rustic rural charm.
Pop us on your shortlist, and as you’re looking around for your perfect venue, use our handy checklist to help you find a farm you love and turn it into your dream wedding venue.
Freedom, flexibility, functionality… and flushes…. Those are just four of the key areas you’ll want to focus on when looking for a farm and wedding barn for your big day.
Whether you’re looking for farm wedding ideas or a step-by-step guide to finding the perfect wedding barn venue, our checklist will help!
Barns and farms are typically located in rural areas, and you’ll be looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and enjoy the tranquillity of nature.
Visit farm wedding venues that embrace a rustic, rural approach to ceremonies, but make sure you have all the freedom you want to make your day your own. Prioritise those breathtaking views and picturesque farmland settings that will make your day so charming and so special – like those you’ll find at Heaton House Farm.
Remember working farms might have strict rules on what you can and can’t do, and areas you can and can’t go, so be sure to double-check if you have any specific requests or ideas.
A barn wedding in a rural, isolated area might sound like a great idea on paper until you start thinking about how you and your guests will get there, where you’ll park and where you’ll stay.
When looking at farm wedding venues, be sure to think about transportation and accommodation. Is it easy to find? Is it accessible (whatever the weather)? Will you need to put on coaches or make specific travel arrangements?
Always visit venues to see for yourself. You might find at some places – like Heaton House Farm – that all your accessibility needs are taken care of. We’ve combined our rural setting with easy access for every single guest – ample parking, paved paths around all our venues, and on-site accommodation.
It means you don’t have to worry about muddy shoes and difficult journeys, but still get all the benefits of a barn wedding!
As with access, when you’re looking at any barn wedding venue you’ll need to think about all the key logistics for your big day. If your dream barn is out in the middle of a field and cut off from supplies, how will you give your caterers, DJs and guests the services they need?
Many rural barns aren’t suitable for a wedding, with unstable structures, no facilities, and leaky roofs that don’t mix well with wedding guests.
Ask yourself some key questions like:
Or, focus on finding a wedding barn that’s fully equipped with all the modern amenities you need, so you have one (or several) less things to worry about.
With a converted barn like Heaton House Farm, you get all the finer details and the special little touches you want to make your wedding as perfect as you’ve imagined: a beautiful carpet, power and lighting, comfortable seating, and award-winning toilets – all included, arranged and ready to use.
Keeping with the logistics theme, your food and drink plans should feature highly on your barn wedding checklist since catering to hundreds of guests in a rural location needs a lot of forward planning and organisation.
You could spend hours checking all your vendors have all the supplies they need and organising what’s missing, or you could opt for a barn wedding venue like Heaton House Farm.
Our in-house catering company – Stable Yard Catering – has everything they need on-site to deliver whatever mouth-watering dishes take your fancy. They don’t need to think twice about serving 5-course dinners or scrumptious street food in a barn.
Traditional barns aren’t usually the warmest of places. In gorgeous summer weather, they are truly stunning, but we’re in England, so always plan for rain.
And what about if you’d like an early spring, majestic autumn or blissful winter wedding? Does that rule out a barn wedding?
Not if you factor in heating to your search. You could bring your own, or you could find a farm wedding venue like Heaton House Farm, where our barns are fully insulated with underfloor heating. Add our romantic lighting and gorgeous drapes, and you’ve got the perfect plan for a barn wedding on even the coldest of days.
If you’re getting married on a farm you’ll want to make the most of those rural vistas (weather permitting!). Look for places where you and your guests can gather outdoors to take in those sweeping views and experience those rustic, rural vibes.
Maybe you could set up an outdoor patio or seating area, with views across farm fields. Or perhaps there’s a field you could use for some magical group shots or somewhere to play garden games, pop-up bouncy castles or host any other entertainment ideas you have?
Take the time to wander around your farm with your photographer to locate those barn doors, iconic trees or fence posts with jaw-dropping backdrops which will frame the most memorable of moments.
Bring your wedding barn to life with some stylish, rustic lighting, shining a light on all the natural features and illuminating all your gorgeous décor inside.
Go traditionally rustic, with fairy lights wrapped around beams, down pillars and perhaps even across the ceiling. Or cluster them in mason jars to line your aisle.
Of course, if your wedding barn is fully equipped with lighting and electricity, you’ll have complete freedom to create any mood you want. Perhaps big globe bulb lights or hanging pendants are the vintage, rustic theme you’re looking for? Or maybe you fancy chandeliers hanging from beams, or coloured uplighting casting warming glows on the rustic barn walls?
Finally, when you’re choosing that perfect barn to hire for your wedding, you’ll want to focus on how you can bring your desired themes to life. How will you get creative with your décor, vendors and entertainment?
If you’re opting for a rustic charm theme to match your rustic wedding barn (you don’t have to!), slowly start bringing that style to life with rustic, natural materials, pastel colours and complementary flowers.
You might think a typical barn wedding involves rustic decorations and hay bales dotted around. Not at Heaton House Farm.
You can of course have a beautifully simple wedding with just the stunning oak beams illuminated by our fairy lights. Or you can ditch the traditional and get married in our other barn, elegantly transformed to re-create the amazing night sky – complete with twinkling stars.
You choose exactly how you’d like to get married in our barns, and when you can bring your own suppliers, you can create any theme you want – from beach parties to winter wonderlands, we’ve seen it all…and whatever you choose, it’s sure to look incredible.
Once you’ve factored in the unique features, facilities and flexibility you need to consider with barn weddings, the rest of your checklist will follow that of any other wedding.
Get organised and start planning as soon as you can – our guide to planning a wedding in less than 12 months can help.
And the first step is always to view your favourite venues – those incredibly picturesque wedding barns – in person.
So why not explore the barns at Heaton House Farm, and see how we can help bring your dream barn wedding to life?
