Weddings at Reiman Gardens.
Seventeen acres of botanical garden on the Iowa State campus, five event spaces, up to 250 guests, and rental from $100 to $700. For a couple who met at Iowa State, this is the sentimental choice that also happens to be the cheapest.
Seventeen acres of botanical garden on the Iowa State campus
The Venue
Why Reiman Gardens photographs the way it does.
Iowa State draws couples back the way Iowa City does: people meet here, and then they want to be married where it happened. Kinnick Stadium serves that instinct in Iowa City. Reiman Gardens serves it in Ames, and it does it in a setting that is genuinely beautiful rather than merely meaningful.
Seventeen acres of designed planting is a different photographic proposition from a field or a barn. Gardens give structure: hedged rooms, paths that lead somewhere, colour that changes across the season, and backgrounds that are interesting without being busy. And there are five separate event spaces, so the day can move through the property rather than sitting in one room.
The rental range of $100 to $700 is the lowest in this guide alongside Cedar Falls, and it means the money goes into catering, flowers and coverage rather than the building. Understand what that price does and does not include before you plan around it.
If this one is not quite right
What you actually need to know
- Guest capacity
- Up to 250 across five event spaces, indoors or outdoors. Smaller spaces suit rehearsal dinners, showers and intimate ceremonies, so a 40 guest wedding is as welcome here as a 200 guest one.
- Ceremony sites
- Outdoor garden settings and indoor rooms. The key thing to establish is which specific space is held for your date, because the five vary enormously in character and capacity.
- Reception spaces
- Indoor event rooms on the property. Confirm which combination of ceremony and reception spaces your rental covers and what the layout looks like at your guest count.
- Getting ready
- Confirm what is available on site. Ames and the ISU campus have hotels minutes away, so getting ready off site and arriving finished is a clean option.
- If it rains
- This is the question to press. The outdoor spaces are uncovered, so an outdoor ceremony needs a named indoor alternative that holds your full guest list. Ask which room, ask what it seats, and go look at it on your tour.
- What it costs
- Rental runs roughly $100 to $700 depending on space and date, which is among the lowest in this guide. Catering, bar, tables, chairs and linens are the real budget; get those quoted before you conclude the wedding is cheap.
- What's included
- Confirm in writing. At a rental this low, assume most things are separate unless told otherwise, and ask specifically about tables, chairs, linens and whether a coordinator is included.
- Parking
- On the Iowa State campus. Confirm arrangements for your date, and ask whether a home football Saturday or a major campus event affects access, because in Ames that is a real consideration.
- Where guests stay
- None on site; Ames hotels including the Gateway on campus are minutes away. A block plus a short shuttle handles the bar question.
- End of night
- A university-affiliated property runs on its own rules. Get end times, music restrictions and alcohol policy in writing early, since these are less negotiable than at a private venue.
- Vendor rules
- Confirm catering and bar arrangements directly, including whether outside caterers are permitted. At a venue with a rental this low, the food and beverage structure is where your budget actually lives.
Worth knowing early: Two things. The outdoor spaces are uncovered, so the rain plan must be a named room rather than an assurance. And the gardens are a public attraction: ask whether the grounds are open to visitors during your event and which areas are exclusively yours, because that shapes both the ceremony and the portrait plan.
The four places worth your time
The designed garden rooms and hedged paths
The hour before sunset
Structured planting gives clean, layered backgrounds that a field cannot. Low sun through hedging and blooms is the frame this venue exists to give you.
The conservatory and indoor plantings
Midday, and any weather
Glass and greenery means bright, even light with no harsh sun. It is the reliable midday answer and the genuine rain answer for portraits.
The open lawn areas
Late afternoon
Where the planting opens up, you get sky and space for a full wedding party. Check which lawn faces west before setting the ceremony hour.
The wider Iowa State campus
Golden hour, a short walk or drive
For couples who met here, campus landmarks matter more than any garden bed. Build fifteen minutes for the places that are actually theirs.
Your day, hour by hour
At Reiman Gardens
Full Wedding GalleryPhotographing Reiman Gardens
Season matters more here than anywhere
A botanical garden in late May is a different venue from the same garden in October or March. Ask what will actually be in bloom on your date rather than choosing from photographs taken in June.
Uncovered means uncovered
Beautiful outdoor ceremony spaces with no roof need a named indoor backup that seats everyone. Get the room named in the contract and walk it before you sign.
For ISU couples, campus is the point
If you met here, the gardens are the venue and the campus is the story. Fifteen minutes at the building where you met is worth more to you in twenty years than another frame among the flowers.
Reiman Gardens Questions
What couples ask about this venue.
How much does a Reiman Gardens wedding cost?
Rental runs roughly $100 to $700 depending on the space and date, among the lowest in this guide. Catering, bar, tables, chairs and linens are separate and are where your budget actually goes, so get those quoted before concluding the wedding is inexpensive.
How many guests does it hold?
Up to 250 across five event spaces, indoors or outdoors. The smaller spaces genuinely suit intimate weddings, showers and rehearsal dinners, so a 40 guest wedding fits as comfortably as a 200 guest one.
What happens if it rains?
This is the question to press hardest, because the outdoor spaces are uncovered. Ask which specific indoor room is your backup, what it seats, and go stand in it during your tour. An assurance is not a rain plan.
When do the gardens look their best?
Late spring through early autumn, and what is in bloom changes considerably across that window. Ask what will actually be flowering on your date rather than planning from photographs taken in June. In March the structure is there and the colour is not.
Do you photograph in Ames?
Yes. Ames is about ninety minutes from my studio in Cedar Rapids and travel is quoted into the collection rather than added afterward. For couples who met at Iowa State, I would build fifteen minutes into the timeline for the campus places that are actually yours.