I am a wedding photographer and recently captured a wedding at the Barnes Place for the first time. I was completely blown away at the attitudes and the comments from the staff and owner of the venue. Between snotty remarks about the wedding couple, the lack of help and empathy for guests with disabilities, all of the crazy rules and requirements written on signs posted everywhere around the venue such as and the lack of generic respect for videographer and myself was unbelievable. I would never recommend this venue to any of my clients. I have done over 200 weddings and this by far was the worst venue hosts that I have come in contact with. read more

Our friends used Barnes place for their wedding ceremony and reception. The location was beautiful, the hospitality was very warm, and the staff were friendly and very helpful. Great experience! read more

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I want to start off by saying, we are not one to complain about things! From day one I had a bad feeling about the owner Paula, but I thought it was just me being the typical bride wanting everything perfect and the way you envision your wedding day. The venue itself is stunning and we fell in love with it. If it weren't for the venue itself, we would have been long gone! Paula likes to "plan" your wedding how she thinks it should go and how "everybody else is doing it". I felt like what I wanted she would always suggest something else or have a "better" idea which made me feel like she was trying to make MY wedding day just like everyone else's or like it was not convenient for the venue. When my mother-in-law arrived to the venue, she handed Paula the boxes for cupcakes that were already put together all that needed done was to put the cupcakes into the box - Paula told her "we didn't allow time for this" when mind you we paid extra for the decorating service and the "cleaning" service and she told us should would do this for us AND it was in my email to her that this was all that needed to be done... When I arrived at the venue Paula said absolutely NOTHING to me...in face she did not say a word to me until we were all lined up to walk down the aisle to sign the marriage license. Everything was a MESS and nothing was organized. We honestly just ended up having to do our own thing because there was no communication, but she explains herself as the "wedding planner" and that's part of the cost of the venue. Like stated above, we paid for the extra cleaning service...we had the venue from 1-7....they started cleaning up and taking everything down before 6:30!!!! Our family felt like they were all being pushed out of the venue and almost every single family member commented on how rude Paula was. I do want to say, Kristin our decorator at the venue was AMAZING to work with. She did a fantastic job and the venue looked beautiful! Also, Ernie Paula's husband was a great guy and very polite. Lastly, I just want to say if you are a bride and want your day to be how YOU want it to be and envisioned - please walk away from this venue or stick up for yourself and what YOU want! Overall, it was a disappointing & frustrating experience. We paid a lot of money for this venue (with a slight discount because we had to cut our numbers from 175 to 150 and then 30 2 weeks before the wedding...COVID) and we felt our money was not well spent here and our day wasn't anything like we had envisioned. read more

What a beautiful venue! Oh my gosh I did not even know this place existed! I was invited to a wedding recently here. A beautiful April evening. Cool breeze and warm sun for this outdoor wedding. When you arrive you park out in a gravel parking lot. They have nice golf carts that will give you a ride to the venue. This particular party they took your gift and placed it in the designated spot. We were then directed down a pretty wood pathway to a seating area over looking a little pond. Under a couple pretty trees we sat anxiously waiting for the bride. As we waited I joked about cows in the background and lucky they had not moved to that side of the hill across the pond. - "knock knock", "Whos there?" " Interrupting cow." - lol Anyway, the ceremony was beautiful The sound set up was good and the wind kept things interesting. We even joked about the kiss. Just as the happy couple kissed a bald eagle flew over! What perfect timing.. how much does that cost? All joking aside we moved inside for the reception. Into this beautiful building. We weren't sure if it was a remade barn or built to look that way. The set up is beautiful. The flowers, decorations, set up, food. The evening has sections. 1. Drink time and munchies, 2. Dinner 3. S'more and fire time. They had an open bar with multiple choices. Not sure if the food was all catered in or at the location, but good food. I know that a friend of the happy couple made the cupcakes and brought them in so I think they allow some food in. The DJ was brought in and music was good. But the over all feel of the entire locations was very beautiful. I heard second hand that they are a little pricey (approx. $7000.00 ) but you would want to check on that for what they are offering. They have a beautiful location and it really does look like the go all out for the venue. I would love to be back for another even sometime but I hear they are booked way out so they are a popular spot. Congrats on such a beautiful venue and Congrats to the happy couple who got to use such a lovely venue. Check out their website for more awesome pictures. read more

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This place is absolutely beautiful for a wedding! About 30 minutes away from Des Moines, the barn has a beautiful rustic yet elegant look. You can get married near the pond where it has a little arch and seating for your guests. Inside of the barn is seating for dinner and an area for dancing. This place is always booked solid so if you plan on getting married next year ...book now. The food they served was delish! I loved their mashed potatoes with hash browns in it. My only complaints are while we were waiting to be dismissed after the ceremony row by row, the workers were already hauling away the benches before we could even get up. Also after sitting seating down to eat, the buffet line was cleared up so quick! Didn't even have a chance for seconds. And the owner there is pretty strict and not very friendly. She only allowed one signature drink and would not allow other type of juices to mix with that one signature drink. Overall it is lovely but for the amount of money people pay, I would think that they could be more flexible. read more

Barnes' Place - Wedding Planning Near Me - Adel, Iowa

My husband and I fell in love with Barnes Place as soon as we saw it the first time. Paula (the owner)'s husband showed us the venue and he was so delightful and helpful in answering any questions we had. We dreamed of an outdoor venue such as this and we were so excited to have found it. For much of the planning process, everything seemed fine and Paula seemed to be very organized. She was quite pushy at times when it came to planning details. Her own opinions on how the day should be run were very well known. I tried to shrug them off since I was so excited for our wedding, but it was bothersome. Then the day of the wedding came..... There were so many things that went wrong the day of the wedding. So many things that still irritate me so much. My friends and family have told me countless small details about the rude, insensitive, owner of Barnes Place that left them feeling uneasy. I'll just share a few of the unfortunate experiences to give you a taste. First of all, one of my bridesmaids had just had a baby four months prior to the wedding. She obviously had to pump a couple of times during the day and Paula acted disgusted that she asked to put her bottle of milk in the fridge. Not only that, but she yelled at my bridesmaid for walking downstairs to find the fridge when she wasn't supposed to leave upstairs (mind you, there was NO ONE ELSE down there and it was an hour before the wedding, so what was the big deal?!) Secondly, during our planning with Paula, my husband and I told her about our idea to get a picture of the wedding party popping a bottle of champagne. She seemed tickled by the idea at the time, but apparently forgot all about it because when we went to take the photo after our ceremony, Paula forbid it. Even more than that, she gave my brother a stern talking to about it. Gee, thanks, Paula. Third, Paula made us start shutting down the venue a half hour before our scheduled time to shut down. She said we only had 30 minutes to get everything out of the venue. Our decorator that was hired by Paula was even shocked by this. She was running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything together and ordering us around. We were told that our decorator would be responsible for gathering everything and we would not have to do any of that. We were just to enjoy. YEAH RIGHT. Instead, my husband, my friends, my family, and I spent the last 30 minutes of our wedding day boxing things up inside and hauling them out to vehicles. One of our items turned into a huge problem that put me over the edge...We had a wood pallet that I painted our timeline on for guests. Paula's husband told us that we could leave on the side of Barnes Place and pick it up with a truck in the morning. When we went to leave after the reception, Paula told us that we absolutely could not leave it there and we better figure out what to do with it. I left the venue that night in a bucket of tears from all of the stress Paula caused. When my husband and I got back to our hotel room and were finally getting to focus on just the two of us, guess who texted us? That's right - Paula! She informed us that we left behind a binder that had a copy of our scripture readings in it and needed to schedule a time to come get it. ARE YOU SERIOUS. Couples out there - Barnes Place seems like a dream come true. Even in the initial planning stages and working with Paula and her team it seemed wonderful. But please do not put yourself and your loved ones through all of the stress she causes. It's supposed to be the happiest day of your lives. It's a crime that Paula makes the day about her agenda and Type A personality and not about the love between two families. I would never recommend Barnes Place to anyone. read more

My husband and I had our wedding on Saturday, September 1st, 2018. We booked for both our ceremony and reception on this date. What we most appreciated about this venue was the staff and team that comes with the upfront cost associated with booking. We made use of the decorator, Emilie who did a phenomenal job using a mixture of our own supplies as well as the wonderful decor provided through the venue. She even assisted in creating a memorial table using chalkboard writing, etc. We also used the clean up crew, which was an additional fee but well worth the cost as we didn't touch a thing before or after our wedding. Be prepared to read fine print as well as commit time and energy when working with Paula and her team. In the end, you'll be glad to have a coordinator that knows how to maintain the importance to detail when planning and pulling off a wedding. read more

I went to this venue for family wedding. The day was great! The venue was beautiful! One of the best weddings I have been to. Thanks to the family. That being said the Management was another story. See I was close enough to the planning to know that you can make all sorts of plans with Paula, if she schedules your appointments correctly. Then the day of the wedding will come and hit you like a brick wall. Paula will magicly not have any clue what plans you had even if you had itineraries made during the meetings. The bride and groom had planned to have a cotton candy and snow cone machine at the social hour before the reception. She even agreed on it at three meetings. Finally day of arrives and Paula freaks out and says no. So a $140 worth of equipment sat unused on a picknik table. They bartenders work for her not you. It may be your beverages you bought but she controls how and when they are served. They didn't hire her to plan the wedding but she wanted to plan that thing non the less. Trying to make changes during the actual wedding. And if it wasn't her way it was the highway. She would walk around try to control the reception and throw out orders to the wedding party without the brides approval. No tables or chairs could be moved without her approval. So just to forwarn any couples thinking about this venue it is definitely not worth the big price tag you pay. It is very strict, the rules change day to day and it will make your special day more stressful than it should be. Plus this is Iowa there are plenty more barns. read more

We had our daughters wedding at this place a couple weeks ago. A very beautiful place and the organization was good as well. Just disappointed in a couple things.....and let me list them so other people are aware, and so hopefully Paula can improve her business: -You pick your vendors, but really Paula is in charge of them, and they answer to paula and not to you. -When we signed our contract 2 years ago, kegs were allowed. Then two weeks prior to wedding Paula threw a fit and said no kegs; only cans. ching, ching, ching. More $$$; but hey it's a wedding, and we are all used to that (or you soon will be !!) -For some reason, they only allow 2 "signature drinks", which means two types of liquor to mix with soda's. Now this is the first stupid rule.....we (i.e. Paula hired) (and we paid very nicely) TWO bartenders and only had 200 guests; so it's not like they were too busy to have enough time to make the drinks. They allow different kinds of beers, but for some stupid reason, only 2 signature drinks, no matter if you hire one or 5 bartenders. Again, stupid rule. -Pop for kids. Even tho I met with Paula a couple weeks prior and discussed all the bar/liquor logistics, I received a call 1 hour prior to pictures (on the wedding day) saying that Paula's bartenders (Paula) would NOT serve soda's from the liters of soda that I purchased from behind the bar. THIS WAS NOT IN THE CONTRACT. So we had to scramble, and purchase a couple cases of "canned" pop (for the kids) and provide our own coolers, one hour before wedding pic's to accommodate yet another rule that Paula decided to change at the last minute. (I was VERY disappointed about this one!!!.....since I am a planner and was VERY organized) -Read your contract on the last call/shut down time. Our wedding dance we just getting fun and Paula made the DJ call our last call AT 10:30!!!! Seems a little early when we have to be out by midnight. So, be VERY clear on this and ask Paula about last call times and DJ shut down times, so you are NOT caught off guard and disappointed like us. After all, if you pro-rate the $5,000+ to rent this place, EVERY minute and half hour is costly!!!! Lastly, if you think you are renting just the building, you are not. Paula is in charge of everything, including your vendors. My advice: Hire your own professional bartenders who answer to you and not Paula; and be VERY CLEAR on the shut down time. Every minute of your dream wedding day counts, especially when you are paying VERY DEARLY for the venue!! I may be harsh with only 2 stars above.....but at the same time, there are aspects of this venue I was very disappointed in......and it should have/could have gone smoother with the right communication...... Keith G. read more