Weddings at the Celebration Barn.

What you actually need to know

Guest capacity

Up to 250. The rental includes 22 sixty-inch round tables, 22 fifty-four-inch square tables, six banquet tables and two harvest tables, so check that inventory against your floor plan before hiring anything.

Ceremony sites

An outdoor amphitheatre, with chairs and setup included in the base fee, plus an arch. Indoors, the round barn takes the ceremony if weather turns.

Reception spaces

The round barn, with a porch and picnic tables outside. Note that the stairs and upper level are off limits to everyone, so whatever loft exists is not part of your wedding.

Getting ready

A three stall women's bathroom and lounge area, and a three stall men's bathroom. That is a lounge rather than a suite, so plan to arrive largely ready and use the lounge for the last half hour.

If it rains

Solid. The barn is enclosed with fireplace heat and air conditioning, so weather moves the ceremony indoors and costs you the amphitheatre rather than the day.

What it costs

$5,500 for up to 250 guests, covering Friday noon to Sunday noon. China and silverware are $2.00 per person and wine and water glasses $0.70 per person on top, so a 200 guest wedding adds about $540 for place settings. A $1,500 deposit is due with the agreement four months before the event, the balance one month before, and there is a 3.53 percent processing fee on credit card payments, so pay by cheque.

What's included

The barn, reception tables and chairs with setup, the outdoor amphitheatre with chairs and setup, kitchen service area for your caterer, bathroom supplies, trash and recycling, adjustable lighting, fireplace heat and air conditioning, limited assistance during the event, and cleanup assistance taking down tables and chairs and cleaning the floor. That last one is rare and worth money.

Parking

On site on conservation land. Send guests a pin: this is a county road address near Solon rather than a street you can find by memory.

Where guests stay

None on site. Solon, North Liberty, Coralville and Iowa City are all within a short drive, and the Friday to Sunday window means the weekend can be paced properly.

End of night

Two different times and both matter. Events must conclude and the site be vacated by midnight, but no live music is allowed outside the barn after 9:00pm and outdoor music must not disturb the public. So the amphitheatre goes quiet at nine while the barn runs to twelve.

Vendor rules

Bring your own caterer; there is a kitchen service area for them. The alcohol rules are unusually clear and worth reading twice: no alcohol may be sold on the property at all, so a cash bar is not an option, but beer and wine may be served to guests without a liquor license. Hard liquor requires proof of a state license, and the packet asks for it well in advance, so start that early if you want spirits.

Worth knowing early: No refunds for any reason. That is stated plainly and it applies to the $1,500 deposit due four months out and to the balance due a month out. Alongside it: a certificate of insurance for $1,000,000 naming both Johnson County and the Conservation Board as additional insured, and a special use permit, both due a month before. None of that is unusual for a public facility, but it is a real administrative task with real deadlines, and unlike a private venue nobody is going to chase you for it.