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 →Also: 10 Tips for Natural Wedding Photos — the short version of how the photographs on this site actually happen.
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