The primary venue coordinators are great for the most part, they are quick to respond, detailed in ensuring you understand all their guidelines and are quite flexible outside of their guidelines. To be fair we had a great wedding day, primarily thanks to the bulk of vendors we hired and large amount of family+friends who helped us. Be aware that if you think booking this venue will help you save money, I assure you it might not be the case. Before you book, be aware that... - The venue no longer provides help in the set up of tables and chairs (they did previously) - You must do the set up, tear down and clean-up for your whole event (for full service caterers, they may clean up their portion of the venue use, but otherwise everything else is on you and who you delegate) - Their decor allowances are quite strict (no tape anywhere, no blowing bubbles down the aisle, no fog machines or anything of the like inside and more strict on what you can do outside, etc.) - They made lots of structural changes to their courtyard area, make sure you visit before your wedding as this may change your decor plans (and there are no updates on this type of info) - If you book a Saturday event during wedding season, be warned you will not be able to enter their dressing rooms until after their farmers market has ended--which means you'll need to stay close to the venue or get a hotel/airbnb for you, friends, guests as needed (hair/makeup or showers for folks helping you set up) - During our event, all the mics they made available to us died (once in the middle of the ceremony, once during our thank you speech, once during a toast...) - They also did not set up a projector screen after multiple confirmations with us (only they are allowed to set this up) If I were to do it again, I'd recommend just investing that time and money you'd be spending here on a venue that does more of it all-inclusively. You'll be able to spend more time with family, friends and enjoy yourself more on your wedding day. This is a great venue for smaller parties, keeping decor very simple or larger parties with buffet style dinners. read more

The perfect spot for our wedding! We loved our experience with Pickering. Their staff had great communication throughout our 1.5 year engagement, and were extremely responsive at all points. They communicated their policies well and notified us promptly of any changes. It's a great space, our guests particularly enjoyed the indoor/outdoor reception in the Dairy Barn with doors open to the patio. Highly recommend! read more

At least once a year I find myself at Pickering Barn for a holdiay craft bazaar, and each year I am thankful for this cute space! This year was a different set-up that included another adjoining building which offered twice the space for booths of crafts =D I imagine this space is not only good for hosting holiday events, but would be a great space for a cocktail/dinner or special event. Nice grounds and good parking are found here. The only draw back to this venue is that it is located in a HUGE strip mall with several malls combined with poor signage... other than that, a great space! read more

I've djed several weddings here, and have seen different ways of laying out the area. There is the added benefit of having an inside area for backup plan for ceremony, which doubles as a great storage area during reception. Because of the shape of building and hard roof and floor, I would suggest running drapes along the top rafters to get better audio. Also, because of the long length of the building, I would suggest on running at least 28 uplights, to give even spacing. read more

Pickering Barn - 18 uplights, and dance lighting. Taken after main portion of reception had finished. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Issaquah, Washington

It's a barn, but it's probably the classiest and nicest barn I've ever been too! Such an adorable one-stop shop venue for a wedding! If you like the rustic look, you will be happy with this place. Cuter than cute gazebo outside to get married in. For the reception area, you can hang stuff from the ceilings to give it a wedding look. Accommodates 400+, cute courtyard area, and side entrance for visitors. read more

The venue itself is gorgeous. Our wedding turned out exactly how I pictured it in my head. Couldn't have asked for a more perfect setting for me, BUT.... The staff was a nightmare to work with, start to finish. Their event coordinator, Jera Gilmore was extremely rude, unprofessional and condescending, not only to me and my fiancé but our parents, as well as our wedding coordinators, throughout the entire process. Also, I was informed that the way the on-site staff spoke to my guests was appalling. Would never recommend using Pickering Barn to anyone, unless you really fall in love with venue as I did and can put up with the headache. read more

Signed a contract before all the mandates and what not due to covid and on 10/19/2021 we get an email saying we now need to check everyone's vaccine status... Okay cool. Then on 1/12/2022 Jera decided that they can no longer set up or tear down tables per the contract so they are willing to dock $500 off the rental fee. Well that wasn't going to work for us since it is a small wedding and no one to help us set up and tear down, so I asked for a full refund due to a contract change on their end. Jera refused and said "Fine we will do set up and tear down for you but we will keep the rental fee what was previously agreed upon" So that was fine, but I was tired of the all the changes and so we decided to cancel. Had to follow up with the event supervisor (Jera) and finally she started to process the refund, Well that was done wrong so it credited my "city of Issaquah" account. So I email/call and say "hey it is sitting as a credit in perfect mind, can you just cut me a check or do you know how to get it on my card" about an hour later I get a notification that they charged my card for $500. I call and call and email and the only way Jera will respond to me is by email. Jera would not answer my calls, would not call me back. Later told me she doesn't know how to do refunds when she has worked for the city for 18 years now. Finally Her co-worker Milissa figured out how to get me my refund, by check, that has to get signed by city counsel. Cool, that was on the 7th, I was told checks would go out on the 8th. It is now 9 days later and I am finally seeing the check but when I reached out to Jera 4 times now about still not seeing it, not one response. The lack of response from Jera is disheartening and I would not recommend anyone to work with her. read more

I love this venue!! I come during their kids consignment sale and just marvel at how much this building can hold in inventory. Not to mention it's right across from Costco and a park. What's not to enjoy!?! read more

The facility is beautiful!!!! I had my wedding their a week ago and I was able to make the place look exactly the way I wanted it to look!! My pictures are beautiful and the barn and landscape are well taken care of!! It was a lot of work hawling in all the rentals, decorations and extras and having them out that night by midnight. It really took an army to put everything together and take things down. The service was not as good as I would have liked it to be. They didn't have great costomer service when we called with questions. I was very disappointed when they pulled our keg's away at 10:30 for "last call". My contract stated they would serve tel 11pm. Apperently the workers don't understand the meaning of last call... read more

A nice place for a wedding. Not the typical church wedding, which is why I liked it. An evil heathen athiest like myself felt very comfortable here. On one side they had the ceremony, and across the hall the reception. Now, only if I can trick a girl into marrying me, I would consider this place. My only real complaint was how cold it was. Zipzap Zubidy Bop! read more

Make sure to check out cute gazebo - perfect wedding backdrop I really enjoyed the wedding here. I especially liked that the venue had the ceremony, outdoor activities and reception hall so close together. This is really ideal for a big wedding where its hard to herd a group of people from place to place. I also really liked that it had a nice outdoor aspect - the only down side is that its quite limited and (being across from costco) it doesn't have the nature-y, beautiful scenery of some venues. Very cozy and cute! Loved it read more

I had my June 6th 2008 wedding here and it worked perfectly! The inside and outside of the barn was beautiful and great for pictures. The Hay Barn room isn't heated but with all of the wedding guests in there it was warm enough. The ceremony & reception were both there in two separate rooms so no one got lost traveling. The barn employees set up all of their tables and chairs (yes, they supply tables and chairs!). They also worked well with my caterer (you can choose whatever caterer you want!) If there was one thing I could change it would be that we didn't have to be out by midnight. If I had to do it all over again I would most definitely have my wedding at the Pickering Barn. read more

Great location and such a fun place for events. We went to the Rock Show there today and really enjoyed the environment. Only feedback is that they need more parking for such a large event. read more

My husband and I just got married here. Everyone raved about the venue. It's large enough for big crowds, but cozy enough to not feel empty for smaller groups either. I was a little scared when hearing all their decoration rules, and alcohol rules, but to be honest we had no issues, and I would say we have some pretty rowdy friends!! We had a stunning wedding with tons, I mean 2 trailer loads of decorations and it was no problem getting things set up and no issues with alcohol. Most people were starting to leave around 10 and we had planned on last call around 10:30 so it worked well. I have had a few issues with the women who run the barn. Jera Gilmore can come off pretty rude in emails and extremely hard to get ahold of. If you want verbal communication it never happens. The one conversation I had with her is after I went to the city of Issaquah and called them complaining I wasn't getting a response from her. Instead of apologizing about the 5 day delay in getting back to me, she chewed me out about how it makes her look bad... " I also paid with my debit card. You get your 500 deposit back within 2 weeks they say.. well its been 2 weeks and we still havent seen it. Called them with no answer from both Jera Gilmore and her assistant. Her assistant said they put it on the card but my bank says they haven't. A little frustrating. So if you are hoping for a quick return on that don't hold your breath. I can only get communication through email. I know people don't always come off correctly in email but she honestly is rude. I once wrote down our pre wedding date (they have a 90 day pre wedding packet) as our wedding date, total accident. Well she went on and rudely said I had said the wrong date. When I apologized for bride brain and confusion she just said how wrong I was... I showed people the email seeing if I was taking it wrong and they all couldn't believe she would speak to a person the way she spoke to me. At the end I was scared to even email or deal with her so my Mother in law had to or my husband. If Jera wasn't so rude and hard to get ahold of, I would say 5 star! read more

Had my wedding there. It was ok, The sound system sucks though, rent your own. Our contract stated that last call for alcohol is at 10:30pm but the staff member there took it upon himself to CLOSE the bar at 10:30pm and clean up was supposed to start at 11pm but the staff member made the cater clean up at 10:30pm. They broke contract agreements. I left a message with the coordinator there but never got a call back. I don't think they care. Everything else was good, it's nice and big. read more

My review is to comment strictly on booking the event and working with Jera, the person in charge of the venue. Our wedding isn't until September 2015 so I can not comment on anything in regards to how the venue will turn out but Jera has been absolutely amazing to work with. She is very responsive and helpful. I think that people, in general, have unrealistic expectations that things need to just happen and you can be rude to people that you expect to help you out and by doing that you will get the desired results. News flash people, if you are nice generally people are nice back, and visa versa, rude= rude. What I have learned is planning a wedding doesn't necessarily bring out the best in people, especially brides and grooms, but if you go throught the process asking polite questions and listening to the answers, you may get what you want in a legitimate way. read more

Beautiful place for a wedding. Very country quaint. A little chilly though burrrr!!

Great open spaces, lots of rustic backdrops and wonderfully placed plug in outlets perfect for our Ample Vibe Events DJ Set-Up! The barn, with its enormous ceilings really drew the eyes of all the guests straight to the couple being married! read more

Just a gorgeous place to have a wedding, went for a friends wedding and the staff was professional with them and it looked like everything went smooth. Gorgeous area for an outdoor wedding ceremony or a cute Barn indoor ceremony. It was cute, intimate and very sweet. I like this location a lot, and maybe possibly I might have my wedding here in the future =) read more

Living in Issaquah has many benefits and the Pickering Barn is one of our many assets. Just a great place in a perfect location! EDIT: Leaving it at four stars with the following.... The location and the facility itself can't be beat and I understand that the staff is great to work with. But....The acoustics in the main room are HORRIBLE! If you have a band you won't be able to hear yourself think! In order to he heard everyone has to yell making the overall noise levels totally off the charts! In someone takes a microphone to make an announcement, nobody will be able to understand them! Anyone planning a function here needs to be made aware of this. It's an ongoing problem that hopefully there is a solution to that someone will be able to put into effect! read more

We had a 200 person wedding at Pickering Barn and the setting and wedding day was absolutely perfect! It is a perfect setting for a "rustic/country" wedding. We used the Hay Barn for our ceremony and the Dairy Barn for our reception. The setting was beautiful (except for the big construction crane next door) and very conveniently located. However, I have to say that the event coordinator, Jera Gilmore was a nightmare to work with. We had pre-paid for our rehearsal dinner but she booked a different event on the SAME evening so we were forced to do our rehearsal the morning of our wedding! Every time we had a question for her she would send us a condescending email response with very little information. We were actually scared to ask her anything because she made us feel like we were a huge burden - I actually had to turn all communication over to my fiance because she was so rude to me. We spoke with her manager about it and asked if there was someone else we could work with but he just said that "that is how she is, she is very efficient." We were not pleased with his response - we were spending a lot of money on the venue and wished that they could have been more accommodating. So, brides - if you are going to need a lot of guidance from a venue I would not recommend Pickering Barn. read more

The process of booking a venue for your wedding is entirely too stressful. However, we found that the people at Pickering Barn help to ease that stress as they were easy to communicate with, quick to respond to any of our questions/concerns, and were clear in all that they allowed and didn't allow. We would highly recommend this venue for a wedding. Also, the staff were incredibly friendly. read more

Absolutely gorgeous setting. Convenient to almost everything - lots of fun places to have a rehearsal dinner nearby. Pretty bare as far as decorations go, so you may have a lot of work in that sense. A little inflexible in terms of access. We had to rent the barn for multiple days because we had a lot of decorating to do and they wouldn't let our vendors drop off rental items prior to our rental time and they wouldn't let rental items be picked up after our rental time. So we had to choose between paying HUGE fees for late night pickup of rented tablecloths, plates, napkins, etc... or just renting the barn for an extra day. read more

Plenty room for a large wedding party, good service with set up. Andy was helpful. Our only complaint is the heat. It never really got warm enough in either part of the facility and the restrooms needed more attention with a party of 230 people. All in all it was a beautiful evening. They need to express to potential renters of the building how cold the room will be on a cold Feb. day. read more

I had my wedding at the Pickering Barn in December 2012 and I couldn't have asked for a better venue. The staff was incredibly helpful throughout the wedding process and offered assistance when needed on the day of. The venue is a blank slate so it allows you to bring your own vision to your wedding. The acoustics aren't the best in the Dairy Barn, so I recommend setting up speakers at both ends instead of the back of the room. My wedding day was flawless and I can thank the Pickering Barn for helping make it so special. read more

The venue is great, the location is great. Giving up the money is pretty easy. Althought the Event Coordinator is readily available, she is overall UNHELPFUL. Please know that if you are planning to hold your wedding at Pickering Barn, the "Event Coordinator," and I use the title loosely, will be of NO help. read more

The venue is a fun place, but I must agree with other reviews about very annoying regulations for decorating. No silk rose petals scattered on the edge of the aisle. Really?? Be prepared to communicate via email only. I never could get a phone call back. read more