Weddings at The Black Hawk.
A historic hotel on Cedar Falls Main Street holding 10 to 150 guests, with full wedding pricing starting around $400. That is not a typo, and it makes this the least expensive venue in this entire guide.
Main Street in Cedar Falls, in Iowa's oldest operating hotel
The Venue
Why The Black Hawk Hotel photographs the way it does.
First, the confusion worth clearing up: this is not Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport, which is a 1915 Autograph Collection property holding 300. This is The Black Hawk Hotel in Cedar Falls, a smaller, older, far cheaper building an hour north. Couples mix them up constantly and they are entirely different weddings.
What makes this one worth a page is the number. Full wedding pricing, ceremony and reception, starting near $400 for an off peak date and $500 for peak. Every other venue in this guide starts in the thousands. For a couple with fifty guests and a real budget, this is the answer nobody tells them about.
The building does the rest. A lobby you can be married in, a cocktail area called Bar Winslow, and a dining room called the Farm Shed, all inside a historic hotel on a walkable Main Street. It is small and it is meant to be; at 150 guests it is at its ceiling, and at 50 it is exactly right.
If this one is not quite right
What you actually need to know
- Guest capacity
- 10 to 150. The low end is genuine, so this is one of very few venues in this guide that will happily host a twenty person wedding rather than treating it as an inconvenience.
- Ceremony sites
- The lobby, which is an unusual and rather lovely option: a historic hotel lobby has architecture, stairs and warmth that a bare ceremony room does not.
- Reception spaces
- Bar Winslow for cocktails and the Farm Shed dining room for dinner. Two named rooms rather than one hall, so the evening moves rather than sitting still.
- Getting ready
- Hotel rooms on site. In a small historic hotel, ask specifically for a room with good window light rather than accepting whatever is assigned.
- If it rains
- Complete. The whole day is indoors by design, so rain affects only whether you step onto Main Street for portraits.
- What it costs
- Full wedding pricing, ceremony and reception, starts around $400 off peak and $500 peak. Food and beverage is quoted separately; get the per person number and any minimum in writing, because that is where the real budget sits at a venue this affordable.
- What's included
- Confirm exactly what the base price covers versus what is billed as food and beverage. At this price point the rental is a small part of the total, which is the opposite of most venues here.
- Parking
- Main Street Cedar Falls, street and public parking. A walkable downtown means guests are not crossing a field, but confirm arrangements for a full 150 guest list.
- Where guests stay
- Guest rooms in the hotel, and more in Cedar Falls and Waterloo minutes away. A small hotel means the block is limited, so book it early.
- End of night
- A small hotel with sleeping guests above the party. Confirm end time and last call in writing, and ask honestly how late music can run.
- Vendor rules
- Confirm catering and bar arrangements directly, and whether outside caterers are permitted. At a venue with a rental this low, the food and beverage structure is the number that matters.
Worth knowing early: 150 is the ceiling and the building will feel full well before it. That is a feature if you wanted an intimate wedding and a problem if your list keeps growing. Decide your guest count honestly before you fall in love with the price.
The four places worth your time
The lobby and its staircase
The ceremony, and again when it empties
A historic hotel lobby gives architecture, height and a stair line for almost nothing. It is the frame this venue exists to give you.
Bar Winslow
Cocktail hour
Bar light is warm, low and flattering, and a named cocktail room photographs like a place rather than a holding pen.
Cedar Falls Main Street
Late afternoon open shade
A genuinely handsome walkable downtown right outside the door. Brick, storefronts and no traffic to dodge.
The Cedar River and the trails
The last hour of daylight
Water and open sky a short drive away, for the one frame the building cannot give you.
Your day, hour by hour
At The Black Hawk Hotel
Full Wedding GalleryPhotographing The Black Hawk Hotel
Small is the point
At forty or sixty guests this building is perfect and most venues in this guide would feel like a warehouse. Do not apologise for a small wedding; this is the room that rewards it.
The rental is not the budget
A $400 venue fee is remarkable and food and beverage will still be the real number. Get the per person quote before you decide what you have saved.
Not the Davenport Blackhawk
Two historic Iowa hotels with nearly the same name, an hour and a half apart, at completely different scales and prices. Make sure you are touring the one you mean.
The Black Hawk Hotel Questions
What couples ask about this venue.
Is this the same as Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport?
No, and the confusion is common. Hotel Blackhawk in Davenport is a 1915 Autograph Collection property holding around 300. The Black Hawk Hotel in Cedar Falls is smaller and far cheaper, holding 10 to 150. There are guides to both on this site.
How much does a wedding at The Black Hawk Hotel cost?
Full wedding pricing, ceremony and reception, starts near $400 for off peak dates and $500 for peak, which is the lowest venue cost in this guide by a wide margin. Food and beverage is separate and is where your real budget will go, so get the per person number in writing.
How small can a wedding here be?
Ten guests. That genuinely matters, because most venues treat a twenty person wedding as an awkward booking. This one is built for the small end and it will feel full rather than empty.
Where does the ceremony happen?
The lobby, which sounds odd and photographs beautifully. A historic hotel lobby has architecture, a staircase and warmth that a plain ceremony room does not, and it is a few steps from Bar Winslow for cocktails afterward.
Do you photograph in Cedar Falls?
Yes. It is about an hour from my studio in Cedar Rapids and travel is quoted into the collection rather than added afterward. Collections begin at $5,500.
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Getting married at The Black Hawk Hotel?
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