My bridesmaids and I got ready here in October before my wedding. There were 7 of us, and there was…read moreplenty of space for us all in the seating area. There was PLENTY of space for our hair and makeup and the lighting was great! I loved that there was a little dining area in the back for us to keep drinks and bagels so we could eat breakfast and drink mimosas while getting pampered!! We were able to hook our phones up to the sound system to play our own playlists while we got ready too, which was such a good vibe for the morning of my wedding. I was also REALLY impressed with the customer service - we had a bit of a mix up while booking, and Samantha was INCREDIBLY accommodating. The space was SO cute and felt so special :)

From the owner: Bridal Suite Rentals read more

Wow, fancy pants new events space just south of downtown! I…read morewas invited to the DSM MAGAZINE cover unveiling party, so I thought I would check it out! Little did I know there was going to be free food and drinks in a new fancy pants events space.. The River Center is set up perfect for an event like this! Lots of space upstairs and down stairs, and also fun outdoor space! The River Center had bar set up in all three locations as well, up/down, and outside! The staff was super nice and were super accommodating! I got to check out the upstairs bathroom cause naturally I brought my son ( bad idea?) and he had to go! Bathrooms were super nice, the food looks fab (again my son ate like 5 fancy cookies) and the space and sound system worked really well! If you were going to have a huge wedding, prom, or a big corporate event, this would be a great spot to do it.. It's fancy without being, to fancy. It got lots of parking around it, and it's close to other fun restaurants and bars, and the baseball stadium if you need to venture out and eat more food since you didn't get to eat 5 cookies like your kid.

Had a work event there. Food was good and staff were friendly. Very pretty inside too!read more

Idk about the food but the atmosphere is pretty much what DNB should be. I only played pool but…read morethe tables were good quality for a games place and the cues were decent. 3 Olhausen 7 footers and one 9 footer. Pockets are big but that just made me feel better about my game.. haha. Service was excellent - everyone was super friendly and attentive. Drink selection was not bad - there is a full on big bar. I definitely enjoyed my time and would come back when in town, for sure.

This is a really cool spot with lots of fun activities, darts, bumper pool, pool, ping pong, jenga…read moreetc. They have a good selection of booze as expected and nice indoor/outdoor space to hang out and the vibe is very fun and upbeat.

This place is extremely beautiful. The biggest downside to here is the hours on their website are…read morenot accurate. I came here to visit the inside and the arrive to a locked door. On the door was a note saying they are only open 1 day a week. I was able to peak in the window and see all the beautiful architecture. I was also able to explore the outside grounds too. However it can be slightly frustrating if your website says it will be open but you're not actually open. Overall this place is not huge and is a walkable distance to several other things. So I recommend walk past it to see if it's open. If it's closed, visit somewhere else.

This place is absolutely stunning inside. So clean, well kept. It was our first time & we attended…read moreCandlelight The Beatles. The staff were so pleasant, & helpful. I got a small sprite for $1. They had cocktails available. The bathroom immaculate. I would definitely recommend checking this beautiful building out given the chance! The symphony played for an hour & did an amazing job. I heard there is a beautiful garden outside however we rushed to our cars because of the cold temps.

TL; DR: This is a great place for a wedding. Food is really good and the service was great as well!…read more I visited the Tea Room for a wedding and it was amazing. From the food to the service, I was amazed. The space itself felt very open and never crowded. I also loved the outdoor space aka the balcony's - it had a great view!

Came here for a wedding reception. The venue was decorated perfectly for the wedding reception and…read morethe food was amazing. There were two bars in the venue to order drinks from. No outside drinks were allowed. The view from the balconies were gorgeous of downtown Des Moines. Very upscale and classy. Great place to have a party or reception. Highly recommend.

This place is honestly magical. We've talked about going to the Des Moines Botanical Garden for…read moreyears and just never made the time. We finally went during the holidays, and I'm so glad we did. Everything was decorated beautifully, the self-guided walk was easy, and there were photo opportunities everywhere. It was busy with families, but the timed ticketing really worked -- it never felt packed or overwhelming, which I appreciated. Going on a snowy, cold night actually made it even better. It felt cozy, festive, and kind of special. They also have concessions with drinks for kids and adults (with or without alcohol), which was a nice surprise. There's a restaurant inside called Flora that's reservation-only, plus brunch options. We also saw the little igloo huts you can reserve for dinner or small groups (I think around 8 people), which looked really fun -- definitely want to look into that more. Parking was free, and if you want to make it more of an experience, you can even ride the trolley over from the East Village. Overall, this was easily a 10/10 for us. Can't believe it took us this long to go -- we'll definitely be back.

While in town, my friend and I visited the Botanical Garden. The location is easy to get to and the…read morecomplimentary parking was great. The gift shop was adorable. They had so many cute things. The staff at the shop sold the tickets and was very nice. The woman at the entrance was very kind as well. She offered a ton of information enthusiastically. As we walked around, everything was displayed beautifully. All of the flowers and plants were well cared for. I kept smelling chocolate and then realized they were having a chocolate event. I was impressed with the many event spaces. Overall, it is definitely worth a visit.

I really enjoy the space in this theater. It brings the show right up and close to the audience…read more In spite of the smaller scope they have a great setup. With multiple layers on the performance area they allow many parts to be played out in different ways for the audience while maintaining separation for the locations. The seating is rather hard and tightly spaced which can be a bit uncomfortable if the show lasts over an hour and has no intermission. I thought their ability to use such a space in such a great way was terrific. The lights and sound worked really well.

I came to Kum & Go Theater over the holidays, I was able to attend the Chow Down Improv show and…read morewas surprised at how cozy this theater is but still provides space for a great show. Refreshments were on point, great beer selection that rivals a tap room even though it's just in support of the theater. Great facility overall, small enough that there really isn't a bad seat in the house. Bathrooms and other amenities were clean and well kept. Definitely looking forward to a return trip the next time I am in Des Moines! If you haven't checked out the Chow Down, you must go!!!

Such a cool venue full of artists. Their First Friday events (the first Friday of each month) are…read moreso much fun and pretty cool.

very fun outing. lots of little art studios. food vendor and little bars to quench your thirst and…read moresolve your hunger problems. several floors of different types of art. parking was limited. free admission. check it out.

White Willow Events truly made our wedding day more magical and perfect then we ever dreamed it…read morecould be! I was able to work with Molly Farrell as my planner and she CRUSHED it! Molly is so good at her job and I really didn't have any worries on my wedding day. She made my day a dream. The whole team is absolutely fantastic to work with. Unfortunately, we had a crazy time planning the wedding during COVID-19, but working with White Willow saved my day. I cannot thank them enough for all that they did to help us make it the best day ever!

My overall experience when dealing with white willow was disappointing and unsatisfactory. For…read morecouples with large wedding budgets, I am sure white willow events does a sufficient job. For couples with a smaller budget, I would strongly recommend talking to a different decorators/planners. Since I was paying for the entire wedding out of my own pocket without help from either of our parents, I would say I had a much smaller budget that other brides who hire white willow. When looking back through the emails and reflecting on my wedding day, I feel like I was never made a priority because of my smaller wedding budget. In the days prior to my wedding, I felt that my opinion and concerns became looked over or "pushed under the rug". Taylor's responses to my emails were very curt and short. I tried to set up a meeting to discuss my concerns in the week prior to my wedding, and she said she was too busy. Being told that she was "too busy" in the week prior to the wedding showed that I was not a priority to her. To conclude it all, there was extensive confusion about the tear down of the venue afterwards. Some of her staff was incredibly rude to the wedding party, who was only trying to help because there was no one in the wedding party knew we did not need to tear down the decorations (would have been nice to have that meeting the week prior to discuss details like this...). My sister-in-law found one of the white willow workers throwing decorations we had provided into the trash and then pouring the water and wax over them from floating candles.