What nobody tells you on the tour.
I have photographed weddings in these rooms and fields for years. These are the things I wish every couple knew in month one instead of month nine.
Nobody selling you a venue is going to mention the parking, the septic, or the rentals line.
That is not dishonesty, it is just how the business works: a venue sells the room, and everything around the room is somebody else's problem. I am on the other side of that, standing in the field at five o'clock when the plan either works or does not. These guides are what I have learned from being there, written for couples who have not booked anything yet.

Iowa State Park Lodges
Two hundred guests for $175 on a Saturday is a real number, and there are twenty eight more like it.
Read the guide →Choosing an Iowa Wedding Venue
Decide your guest count and your rain plan before you tour anything.
Read the guide →
Galena Wedding Weekends
You are not booking a venue here. You are booking a weekend, and the lodging is the harder problem.
Read the guide →
Iowa Winery Weddings
Ask which direction the vineyard rows run before you sign anything.
Read the guide →
Iowa Family Farm Weddings
A venue is a hundred invisible decisions somebody already made for you. On a farm you make every one.
Read the guide →
Iowa Barn Weddings
The barn fee is not the wedding cost. It is usually about a fifth of it.
Read the guide →Read the guide for your room
Capacities, real costs, rain plans and where the light lands, one page per venue.
- NewBo City MarketCedar Rapids, Iowa
- Modern Woodmen ParkDavenport, Iowa
- Greater Des Moines Botanical GardenDes Moines, Iowa
- Temple for Performing ArtsDes Moines, Iowa
- Cedar Rapids Museum of ArtCedar Rapids, Iowa
- Veterans Memorial BuildingCedar Rapids, Iowa
- Living History FarmsUrbandale, Iowa
- Iowa State FairgroundsDes Moines, Iowa
- Four Mounds EstateDubuque, Iowa
- World Food Prize Hall of LaureatesDes Moines, Iowa
- Eagle Point ParkDubuque, Iowa
- Iowa Memorial UnionIowa City, Iowa
- Iowa State Memorial UnionAmes, Iowa
- Backbone State Park AuditoriumDundee, Iowa
- Palisades-Kepler State Park LodgeMount Vernon, Iowa
- Celebration BelleMoline, Illinois
- Waterloo Center for the ArtsWaterloo, Iowa
- Celebration Barn at Cangleska WakanSolon, Iowa
- Pheasant Ridge Lodge at Morgan Creek ParkCedar Rapids, Iowa
- Big Grove BreweryIowa City, Iowa
- Riverside Casino & Golf ResortRiverside, Iowa
- De Novo BarnDecorah, Iowa
- Walnut RidgeShellsburg, Iowa
- Indian Creek Nature CenterCedar Rapids, Iowa
- DeSoto House HotelGalena, Illinois
- Brown Deer Golf ClubCoralville, Iowa
- Figge Art MuseumDavenport, Iowa
- Cedar Falls Convention & Event CenterCedar Falls, Iowa
- Steeple SquareDubuque, Iowa
- hotelVetroIowa City, Iowa
- Gateway Hotel & Conference CenterAmes, Iowa
- Reiman GardensAmes, Iowa
- The Black Hawk HotelCedar Falls, Iowa
- Hotel WinneshiekDecorah, Iowa
- Hotel BlackhawkDavenport, Iowa
- Ushers Ferry Historic VillageCedar Rapids, Iowa
- Kinnick StadiumIowa City, Iowa
- The River CenterDes Moines, Iowa
- Hotel Fort Des MoinesDes Moines, Iowa
- Fireside WineryMarengo, Iowa
- Cedar Ridge Winery & DistillerySwisher, Iowa
- Quad Cities Waterfront Convention CenterBettendorf, Iowa
- The Hotel at Kirkwood CenterCedar Rapids, Iowa
- Chestnut Mountain ResortGalena, Illinois
- Goldmoor InnGalena, Illinois
- The Celebration FarmIowa City, Iowa
- Iowa TaproomDes Moines, Iowa
- Des Moines Art CenterDes Moines, Iowa
- Hotel Julien DubuqueDubuque, Iowa
- Stone Cliff WineryDubuque, Iowa
- Eagle Ridge Resort & SpaGalena, Illinois
- Ashton Hill FarmCedar Rapids, Iowa
- Salisbury House & GardensDes Moines, Iowa
- Festhalle BarnAmana, Iowa
Planning something these guides do not cover? Tell me the date and the place. I will tell you what I would watch out for, whether or not you hire me.
Ask me about your day