Weddings at the Botanical Garden.
A glass dome full of tropical planting on the Des Moines River, which is the only venue in this guide that can give you jungle greenery in February. It holds 220 people. It seats fewer than 70 for a ceremony. Those two numbers are the whole conversation.
On the Des Moines River, with the skyline behind the dome
The Venue
Why Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden photographs the way it does.
The gap between them is the sharpest in this guide. The Conservatory takes up to 220 guests, and that is the figure that appears everywhere. But a ceremony inside the dome seats fewer than seventy: about forty four on the floor, with the rest above. If you have pictured saying your vows under the arbor with two hundred people watching, that is not what the room does, and it is far better to find out now than after a deposit.
The forty four and the rest above is worth sitting with, because it is unusual and it is not a flaw. Guests on the upper level look down into the planting at a ceremony happening among tropical foliage. It is a genuinely lovely thing to photograph and a genuinely odd thing to seat, so decide early who is on the floor and who is above, and tell people, because nobody wants to discover they are in the balcony at their sister's wedding.
At the other end of the scale is something no other venue here offers: a walk-in wedding from $350, fifteen minutes, standing, twenty people maximum. Cheaper rooms exist in this guide, the Waterloo Center for the Arts starts at $75 and the Palisades-Kepler lodge at $175, but those are rooms you then have to build a wedding inside. This is a packaged elopement you can simply book, and it is the only one here. Full ceremony and reception packages start at $3,500 for a weekend.
Guides that cover this venue
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What you actually need to know
- Guest capacity
- The Conservatory holds up to 220. A ceremony inside the dome seats fewer than 70, roughly 44 on the floor with more above. The Dupont Room is the reception space. Get the seated ceremony number and the seated dinner number separately, because they are not the same room doing the same job.
- Ceremony sites
- Under an arbor inside the conservatory among the tropical planting, or in the garden spaces outside. The dome is the reason people book, and it is also the constraint.
- Reception spaces
- The Dupont Room, with the conservatory and garden spaces included depending on package. Views take in the seasonal gardens, the water gardens and the downtown skyline.
- Getting ready
- A bridal suite is guaranteed with the all-inclusive packages. Confirm what comes with the package you are actually buying rather than assuming it is included.
- If it rains
- Essentially built in. The conservatory is a glasshouse, so weather changes the light rather than the plan. Losing the outdoor garden spaces costs you a cocktail location.
- What it costs
- Ceremony and reception packages start at $3,500 for a weekend. Walk-in weddings start at $350 for a fifteen minute standing ceremony with a maximum of twenty people. Ask where your guest count and day of week land between those two.
- What's included
- Access to garden spaces and venue rooms by package, tables, chairs and white linens, setup and teardown of the garden's own equipment, dedicated event staff, an hour of rehearsal time, and a complimentary two hour photography reservation. That last one is genuinely unusual and worth using: a separate booked slot in the gardens rather than fifteen stolen minutes on the day.
- Parking
- On site by the river, close to downtown. Straightforward compared with most downtown Des Moines venues.
- Where guests stay
- None on site, but downtown hotels are minutes away.
- End of night
- Ask. A public garden has its own opening hours and programming, so the end time is set by the institution rather than negotiated.
- Vendor rules
- There is a list of approved caterers and bar services, so this is not open catering. Get the list before you fall for anybody, and confirm what is permitted around the planting, because a living collection has rules that a banquet hall does not.
Worth knowing early: Humidity. A tropical conservatory is kept warm and damp for the plants, not for your guests, and that has consequences nobody mentions on a tour. Lenses fog when they come in from a cold car, so a photographer needs to arrive early enough to let equipment acclimatise. Hair and makeup behave differently in a glasshouse than in a ballroom. And in winter the glass itself will run with condensation, which is beautiful and also means the skyline view you were promised may not be there in January. None of that is a reason to avoid the place. It is a reason to plan the day knowing it.
The four places worth your time
Under the arbor in the conservatory
Ceremony hour
Tropical planting in Iowa is a backdrop nothing else in this guide offers, and in winter it is genuinely startling. Shoot it wide enough to show the dome above, because the greenery alone could be anywhere.
From the upper level looking down
During the ceremony
The balcony that seats the overflow is also the best vantage point in the building. A ceremony seen from above through foliage is a frame you cannot get in a flat room.
The water gardens and seasonal beds
The hour before sunset
Outdoors on the river with the downtown skyline behind. This is where the complimentary two hour photography reservation earns its keep.
The glass itself
Midday, and again after dark
Overhead daylight through a dome solves the hour most venues in this guide cannot. After dark the Glow Up lighting package turns the same glass into something else entirely.
Your day, hour by hour
At Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden
Full Wedding GalleryPhotographing Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden
Two hundred and twenty is not the ceremony number
The dome holds 220 and seats under 70 for a ceremony. That is a hundred and fifty person gap and it is the first thing to settle. Everything else about this venue is downstream of whether your ceremony fits.
Let the cameras acclimatise
Walking a cold lens into a warm humid glasshouse fogs it, and it does not clear quickly. Arrive early, get the gear inside, and do not schedule the first shot for two minutes after the door.
Use the balcony deliberately
The upper level is where the overflow sits and it is also the only place in the building you can shoot a ceremony from above through leaves. Plan for someone to be up there.
Book the free photo session properly
A complimentary two hour reservation in the gardens is a separate day, not a rushed twenty minutes between courses. Almost nobody uses it well.
Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden Questions
What couples ask about this venue.
How many guests fit at the Des Moines Botanical Garden?
The conservatory holds up to 220, but a ceremony inside the dome seats fewer than 70, around 44 on the floor with the rest above. Those are two different numbers doing two different jobs, so confirm both for your plan.
How much does a wedding at the Botanical Garden cost?
Ceremony and reception packages start at $3,500 for a weekend. There is also a walk-in wedding option from $350 for a fifteen minute standing ceremony with up to twenty people. Cheaper room rentals exist in this guide, but this is the only packaged elopement, where the venue hands you a ceremony rather than an empty room.
Can you get married inside the dome?
Yes, under an arbor among the tropical planting, with seating for fewer than 70. It is the reason to book here and it is also the ceiling on your ceremony guest list.
Can you bring your own caterer?
No. The garden works from a list of approved caterers and bar services. Ask for the list early, and ask separately what is permitted around the living collection.
What is included in a wedding package?
Access to garden spaces and venue rooms, tables, chairs and white linens, setup and teardown, dedicated event staff, an hour of rehearsal, and a complimentary two hour photography reservation. A bridal suite is guaranteed with the all-inclusive packages.
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