Willow Marsh Farm sits where Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire meet, a few minutes from East Leake and about 10 from Loughborough station. It was the family’s own home before it was anything else, and that shows in every decision: the restoration has the particular care of people choosing materials for a house they mean to keep, with timber and stone drawn from the land itself and a palette of natural tones that never tips into rustic pastiche. The farm opened for weddings in 2018 and deliberately holds itself to around 70 events a year, which is why it feels less like a venue running a schedule and more like a private estate lent to you for the weekend.
The setting does a great deal of the work. There are 160 acres of marsh, meadow and water, a lake that catches the evening light, and paths that turn the walk between one part of the day and the next into part of the celebration. You can marry on the lawn with the marshes behind you, in the shade down by the water, in the restored stables with their glazed archways, or inside the Barn itself, a converted machinery building with a long skylight and views straight out across the marsh. A south-facing stone terrace follows the sun around the Barn, with a cast-iron pergola and chandeliers overhead, and two antique bars move about the site so that the drinks come to you rather than the other way round.
The Barn seats up to 130 for the wedding breakfast at hand-made tables, with a further 80 joining for the evening. Catering comes from a small group of partner companies who cook on site, and you take the whole place exclusively for three days, which changes the rhythm entirely — an unhurried set-up, and a proper morning after. Six double bedrooms are split between the Parlour, a former milking parlour standing out over the water with a bridal preparation room and lakeside balconies, and the Cottage, once the estate workers’ house, with a snug, a wood-burner and a stone fire pit looking back at the lake.
Where the band plays
The Barn is the natural home for live music, and its proportions flatter a band: a generous single space with a hard floor, real height above it and a skylight that stops it feeling cave-like early in the evening. Once the tables clear, the room turns over into a dancefloor without much fuss. Access is straightforward farm access, so vehicles can get close and there are no awkward staircases, though it is worth asking exactly where the band should park and unload — on a working farm the sensible route is not always the obvious one.
How the evening runs
Days here are unhurried by design, with drinks on the terrace or by the stables, dinner in the Barn, and evening guests arriving to find the room already warm. Celebrations run on towards midnight, with the bars and the outdoor lounges taking the weight as the night goes on. The farm sets its own finish time and it can land a little earlier than you might assume, so confirm the hour when you book and build the band’s sets around it — two sets ending on a high note beat one that has to be rushed.
Bands available in Leicestershire and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Leicestershire.
- Leicestershire Wedding Bands
- Leicestershire Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Leicestershire
- Wedding DJs in Leicestershire
- Corporate Entertainment in Leicestershire
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.