Leanne and Alex knew of each other from a young age when Alex played cricket with Leanne’s brother. It wasn’t until 2018 though that Leanne received an Instagram follow request from Alex, which is when the pair started messaging and meeting up. In July 2021, and by now a couple for three years, they booked a UK glamping trip as overseas holidays weren’t easy at the time. As Leanne had organised it, the last thing she’d expected was a proposal. They arrived in Merriwood, Devon, and unpacked before discovering their wood-fired outdoor bath and decided to jump in for a soak right away. It took a while to heat but there was a complimentary bottle of bubbly to enjoy while they waited. It wasn’t long though before Alex started pacing, eager for his moment to arrive. No sooner had Leanne sat down in the tub and taken a sip of wine, than Alex was there at her side, down on one knee. “After crying and nearly choking, I eventually managed to say, ‘yes,’” Leanne remembers. Owning a floristry shop means Leanne gets to see a lot of wedding venues week in week out. “I wanted one that stood out to me and also somewhere that I hadn’t attended for friends’ or family weddings,” she explains. Although she’d worked on a small amount of weddings at Brookfield Barn, she fell in love with it right away. “The outside lake ceremony area is to die for,” she says. Alex comments, “I didn’t know much about venues when I went with Leanne to view Brookfield Barn, but her smile said it all so I knew at that point that’s where we were getting married.” Decision made, the date was set for 10th June, 2023. Join us, as Leanne tells us more... SETTING THE SCENE Given Leanne’s career, it was only natural that flowers should form the heart of the venue styling. “My team at The Village Florist, Lancing, helped bring our floral vision to life,” she tells us. “We had flowers pretty much everywhere but managed to repurpose many of the arrangements from the ceremony for the barn reception afterwards.” There was an impressive 1.6m statement floral chandelier hanging in the barn, and the top table was adorned in a 5ft-long arrangement. Large black urns framed the couple as they said their “I dos,” before being moved to a photo area in the barn. Meanwhile, Amanda at Hire Your Day provided support in the shape of blossom trees, chair sashes and ethereal white draping for the ceremony pergola. The wedding’s welcome sign and table plan were made by the bride. Each panel in the white door represented a table, which were all named after significant plants in the couple’s garden. With Leanne being a florist and Alex a landscape gardener, flowers and plants are understandably significant to both. FOOD FOR THOUGHT The big-day bake and sweet-treat favours were made by The Painter’s Pantry. The couple opted for four tiers with fruit at the bottom, then chocolate, then coconut and lime, all topped with a layer of billionaires flavour. Cake-maker Sarah helped to include the couple’s fur children in the day, by hand-painting both cats on the back of the bake. Favours were plain shortbread biscuits personalised with Mr & Mrs Maynard. Sarah also hand-painted these, this time to complement the theme. Leanne and Alex also decided to bring a personal touch to their welcome cocktails. They chose passion fruit Martini to represent their ginger cat, Eddie, and named it The Ginger Pig. A further option was an espresso Martini in honour of their black and white cat Billy, called The Billy Bob. As you can imagine, these created quite the talking point. All assembled dined well on chicken Caesar salad to start, chicken and ham pie for main, and sticky toffee pudding to finish. Leanne says, “I can safely say, I’ve never been to a wedding where I’ve felt stuffed after the meal, but at my own I felt comfortably full, and many of our guests told me the same.” 33 REAL WEDDING
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