Barnes' Place Reviews

This venue is absolutely gorgeous and working with Paula was the best experience we could have asked for. She was so helpful for us and lead us in the right direction. The place looked magical when we arrived on the day of the wedding and we are truly blessed to have had the opportunity to wed at Barnes' Place!!

Paul, Ernie and Staff make the wedding planning and wedding day the most fun and relaxing experiece I could have ever asked for as a Mother of the Bride! Professionsl, thorough and gorgeous venue for a complete package.
Paula helped us cross every T and dot every I twice and made sure all details were covered and followed through as my daughter and son-in-law had wished. They made the day stress free and completely enjoyable for the families, wedding party and guests.
The venue is georgous and adds so much natural beauty to the day in itsself. Mandy worked well with the florist to make the venue looked so beautiful!
I would highly recommend this venue for your next wedding!

Barnes Place was beyond amazing! Everything was handled for us with absolutely no stress for the parents of the bride. The venue was beyond beautiful and the guests stated they felt like they were in an enchanted environment.

It was absolutely everything we could ask for. Kristin our decorator did absolutely amazing and it looked so beautiful. The only thing I wish could have been different is the food portions, I wish they would have left food out for people to get seconds later in the evening.

I can't say enough good things about Barnes Place! When we started our wedding venue search we mentioned Barnes Place in passing and reached out for a tour - we had NO idea what we were in for. The venue is absolutely STUNNING! Paula gave us a really great tour and explained the updates they had done during covid lockdown - I knew we were in good hands! We booked the following week! Paula and her staff are truly amazing! Paula was always quick to answer any questions and communicated very clearly. She has documents and planning advice that help immensely during the planning process! We asked Paula everything and you truly can't put a price tag on her expertise and professionalism. We opted for the decorator and had Kristin, I am beyond glad we did! Kristin was so friendly and did a beautiful job setting up for our big day! I truly had no stress on my wedding day (5/21/21) - Paula, Kristin & Ernie had answers for every question and handled everything so smoothly! The venue truly is a dream - I am still getting comments on how beautiful the venue is and how everything was so well executed! I would absolutely not hesitate to recommend Barnes Place to anyone!

Paula and her staff helped my husband and I design the wedding we dreamed about. Every detail was accounted for and her staff took care of everything. I enjoyed every minute of my wedding day because Paula and her staff had taken care of every detail ahead of time. Paula's list of vendors and contacts also connected us with exceptional service providers to make the day truly magical. Paula grows and develops her facility regularly as well; when we first booked the ceremony space, receiving area, and deck did not exist. Those were designed to support couples planning in new ways. Talk about a team dedicated to excellence.

The venue was perfect for our wedding day! It gave our guests the option of being indoors or outdoors (which is important during a pandemic!). This allowed our guests to do their own thing and enjoy themselves longer. The entire property was beautiful and picture-perfect, always something new to explore or see. Paula was great to work with as she acted as not only our venue coordinator but at times wedding planner. She had great recommendations and made sure everything was perfect for our wedding day.

Paula and the team at the Barnes Place were phenomenal to work with. We gave her only a month’s notice and literally every single detail fell into place. The option to have a venue that has virtually any decor item for use is something I would recommend to any Bride! I wasn’t saddled with hundreds of votives or thousands of flowers, which was a tremendous blessing!! The one thing to mind is bringing your own plates, flatware, and cups, but we didn’t have too much of any of that leftover! The option for choosing your own caterer, too, helped us save THOUSANDS compared to other venues. I recommend this venue beyond what all of this amounts to express!

Barnes’ Place is truly the most beautiful venue to hold your event. They are full service and you don’t have to worry about a thing. Our wedding was perfect!

Extremely helpful with every aspect of the planning process. I loved that there were optional add ons to help our day go smoothly (ie decorator, cleaning). Very accommodating for the needs of the families and guests.

This was the most amazing venue! It is absolutely stunning and it was everything I pictured. Our wedding was so seamless and everything happened as planned! Paula and her team had everything organized and put together as we arrived, and the day flowed beautifully. We had a small hiccup with our marriage license and that never even phased them. They helped us fix it like nothing even happened. The planning and final walk-through meetings made the day just as I wanted and everything I envisioned! Emilie’s decorations were top notch and she really understood my husband and I’s vision. We paid for the cleaning fee and decorator which 100% made our life easier. It was fabulous. Many many people said that was the best wedding and venue they had ever been to. It was just perfect! Paula is definitely a rules person but she’s not hard to work with. She sets the expectation for her property and she holds you to it, in our mind nothing wrong with that. If we were to do it again, we would 100% do it here again. It was just the most perfect day.

Paula was a great event place coordinator. Anything that I asked for on my perfect day she webt out of her way to make it happen. She was always there to help and answer any questions.

Barnes' Place has an amazing, attentive staff that make your day stress free. They listen to all of your little details and make them happen to make your day perfect for you. When choosing Barnes' Place you get the most bang for your buck because you not only have a venue but a planner and coordinator. My biggest requirement for my wedding day was for the focus to be about the marriage of my fiance and me. I wanted to be present and not have to worry about minor details. Barnes' Place ensures they have all of the information beforehand and allows for your day to be about nothing but your marriage. I would recommend again and again!

The staff and leadership at the Barnes place made our day perfect. We had a great time and didn’t worry about a thing. The vendor list was very helpful as well. Couldn’t have been a better day!

We were thrilled with Barnes Place and their staff! Would recommend highly.

Barnes' Place was a picturesque location for both the ceremony and reception! We really wanted to have an outdoor ceremony! We absolutely loved that we could plan an outdoor ceremony, but didn't need to be stressed about inclement weather because they could easily accommodate the ceremony inside the barn too! The staff was extremely thoughtful, and we felt like they were always on our team/trying to make every bit of our dreams come true! Additionally, we really appreciated Paula's guidance throughout the planning process! She was always willing to offer advice and help us think through things we hadn't yet considered! Even in just the past week we have countless guests tell us how gorgeous they thought the venue was and how kind their staff was! We would certainly recommend Barnes' Place to EVERYONE!

Barnes’ Place speaks for itself in the beauty of the venue. The attention to detail that the staff take is much appreciated. Not only is the venue spectacular, but the assistance provided is what makes it stand out among others. Paula does an incredible job with outlining the entire day, ensuring that all questions are answered and taking on any mishaps that may happen. We opted to hire the decorator and cleaning services which was another desirable amenity Barnes’ Place offers. We loved our experience and have already recommended this venue to friends!

Barnes Place made our wedding a dream! The staff is amazing and we loved working with them. The venue is absolutely gorgeous. We got so many compliments on our beautiful day!

Such a beautiful venue and Patti was very welcoming to the Barn! Can't wait to get married there!

The venue is just absolutely breathtaking- I am still getting compliments on how beautiful it was! The vendor team wasn't the most responsive during the planning process, but they had everything down to such an exact science, that there was really nothing for me to do on the day-of! So many options for decorating and just really a stellar location!

The venue is undeniably beautiful, which is the main reason why my husband and I chose this location for our wedding. And we did have a beautiful wedding that we'll remember forever. Our guests enjoyed themselves tremendously and it ended up a wonderful day.

​However, they were not as accommodating nor as friendly as other reviews​ have mentioned. The owner, Paula, made us feel like we were inconveniencing her for being there, and she was frankly rude to us and our guests much of the time we were at the barn. It rained the day before and the day and since their driveway and entrance are dirt with very small rock, it was extremely muddy. They also started construction the day before our rehearsal, even though rain was in the forecast for a week prior. Instead of apologizing for the mud pit that our guests had to walk across, we were made to feel like we were in the wrong for being upset. We spoke to her husband, Ernie, who did apologize and quickly laid some carpet and flagstone over the mud. Ernie was wonderful to work with, as was Emilie who was the main staff member, aside from Paula, who coordinated the day.

I never write reviews, however in this case my goal to make sure other couples looking for venues in the Des Moines area know that yes this place is beautiful and you will have a wonderful wedding day, but to please just be aware the owner was not accommodating, genuine, or friendly, in our experience, as most reviews say. Perhaps it was the weather or the busy wedding season getting to her, but whatever the reason there was no excuse for how we were treated, least of all by one of the owners.

My husband and I fell in love with Barnes Place as soon as we saw it the first time. Paula's (the owner) 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.

This venue is gorgeous, there is no argument in that. But the owner is very hard to work with and created a lot of unneeded stress, especially for a bride. We had our final walk thru a month before our wedding, and went over exactly all of the specifications on the set up (they do not allow you to move any of the tables or anything yourself, the staff has to do it) however when we arrived the day before the wedding the set up was completely different than discussed and didn't even have enough seats for our guest count that was confirmed the day before. When you have a seating chart, a layout needs to be accurate. Instead of spending the day that we paid $1000 extra for to decorate, we spent it figuring out how we were going to make the layout work. We also hired a decorator through the Barnes Place, only to find out that she was a high schooler that wouldn't be available during any of the times that we would be out there (our wedding was a Friday). When I brought this up with the owner, she only responded with that yes the decorator was in high school but she was confident with her abilities. I didn't doubt her abilities, but we needed someone that would actually be able to physically be there. There are also very strict policies that they do not tell you about until after you sign a contract and pay your deposit, which is fine if that is your policy but they changed so many times in the year of our engagement it was difficult to keep track of what their policies actually were. The staff will tell you one thing and the owner tells you differently on what they can do and what they can't, so I believe in my experience there is a lot of room for improved communication when you have such a beautiful venue. They also told my guests at 9pm (last call was at 10:30) that they were out of our signature drink, however there were several bottles of it left over that night as well as beer that they were just planning on keeping if my bridal party didn't go in and ask for it.

First of all, this is seriously the most beautiful venue you can come across. But it's totally not worth it. Paula, the owner, is a nightmare. She is so rude and has SO many rules. She shuts down your ideas, because she's done a million weddings and knows how they should go - it's just another production to her. No drinking before the ceremony, can't have both bars open at once (even though she has two), and she is a major stickler about reception drinking - she will cut your guests off when they don't need to be. They do everything for you, but honestly, it's kind of a rip off, because they charge for everything. Your bill will be exponential. She didn't respect our ideas and is not flexible at all. I could tell from day one that she's a bitch and you will notice it too. We actually hated Paula so much we switched to another venue 30 days out. I don't know what else to say, I would do anything to put her out of business. Brides and grooms do not go to Barnes Place!