Walker Homestead Wedding, Maggie & Eric
Walker Homestead in Iowa City, Iowa is always a great venue to host a wedding! The space is stunning, the animals keep your guests entertained, and the outside setting is just breathtaking!
Maggie and Eric didn’t set out with a super specific vision for their wedding day – they just wanted it to reflect their personalities and relationship and to keep it fun. “We went to the Eastern Iowa Wedding Show which helped get the ball rolling as far as what all the different elements were to take into consideration. Like, do we want a videographer, a planner, etc.,” Maggie explains. “Then working with Lauren, our wedding planner/superwoman, was a HUGE help in getting us connected with our different vendors to get exactly what we were envisioning.” awe, thanks Maggie! I’ll now refer to myself as Superwoman ;)
Photo By: Ivory & Bliss
I LOVE getting to work at Walker Homestead in Homestead, Iowa! The space is stunning, but the staff is amzing! As a wedding planner, I like the venues that have a great team that help make the wedding day as special as can be, and that’s exactly what the team at Walker Homestead does. It’s easy to find a wedding venue, but it’s hard to find a venue that makes you feel like home. What I mean by that, is Walker Homestead has such an intimate feel to it, that any couple who gets married here feels instantly comfortable and at home. From the space to their staff, I know my couples will be well taken care of when they choose this venue.
I also love the fact that Walker Homestead does all their catering in house, and it is infact, some of the best food I’ve ever had at a wedding! Everything tastes so fresh, and they even grow some of their ingredients onsite! They specialize in their open fire cookery and wood fire pizzas, but honestly, anything that comes out of their kitchen is gold.
The Details
Maggie had some of the most STUNNING detail photos I’ve ever seen! The photographer was able to take all elements of the day and transform them into something beautiful! You’ll have to check out the rest of their detail photos in the gallery at the end of this blog- they are like something out of Vougue!
Walker Homestead Wedding Ceremony
Outside wedding ceremonies are trending right now, and Walker Homestead in Iowa City had one of the prettiest ceremony backdrops: The rolling hills and stunning Iowa sunsets within the vineyard. It’s no shock that couples want to get married out here when this is their view! Walker Homestead has a built in wire circle wedding arch placed infront of their vineyard, which couples can use and decorate however they see fit for their big day.
The venue has other ceremony locations too, including infront of their stone fireplace under their covered patio, which is perfect for when the weather gets to be a bit unpredictable.
Walker Homestead reception
The reception space at Walker Homestead is very open, and feels like you’re sitting down with your family at Thanksgiving, giving off a very intimate feel. They have some stunning barnwood tables they use for guests, along with a mix of round tables sprinkled into the floorplan so not everything is symmetrical. The venue has beautiful vintage plates they use for family style and plated dinners, each one unique that gives off a vintage thrifted aesthetic yet they all tie in together beautifully! These place settings the venue sets up adds to the decor, giving the tables a full and elegant look, which you can see more of in the gallery below.
After the ceremony, the couple stayed onsite to take photos, while the guests headed inside for cocktail hour. After Maggie and Eric’s grand intro, we rolled into their speeches and toasts, cake cutting, first dance, and the shoe game!
As I’ve mentioned before, Walker Homestead has a really nice outdoor area and patio. So when Maggie and Eric decided to have a sparkler exit, we couldn’t argue! The edison bulbs hanging over the patio made for great ambiance and stunning photos!
The Lounge from borrow my vintage
I LOVE a good lounge setup! It adds extra aesthetic to the room, makes for great bridal and guest portraits, and is overall a fun addition to any reception! However, this lounge setup wasn’t just used for sitting. Oh no, I made sure we squeezed every last bit of aesthetic background out of it; Meaning, instead of the couple taking photos elsewhere with a simple backdrop, most of their important moments throughout the night happened in front of this lounge. Such as:
Bridal Portraits
Bridesmaids First Look
Cake Cutting
Shoe Game
Parent Dances
Take a peek at the gallery below to see what I mean.
The shoe game
I always love to take advantage of a pretty lounge setup, so instead of doing the shoe game in the center of the room, we positioned Maggie and Eric infront of their stylish lounge! I took their two arm chairs and faced them back to back, then added in some lanterns and floral arrangements to make it more picturesque.
The Design and decor
The guest tables were beautiful, not to pat myself on the back. We took different shades of table runners, mauve and sage, and alternated them between tables. Then placed table numbers, full place settings and menus, bud vases, and voties at each table.
Maggie and Eric’s wedding was picture perfect, and I really couldn’t have asked for a better day! Thank you to all the amazing vendors who helped me pull off the day!
Vendor Team
Venue: Walker Homestead
Wedding Planner: Elizabeth Bliss Events
Photographer: Ivory & Bliss
Caterer: Walker Homestead
Desserts: Deluxe Bakery
DJ: Marty McFly
Florist: Beautifully Bloomed
Décor: Borrow My Vintage
Dress: Heart to Heart Bridal
Suit: Skeffingtons
The Walker Homestead Wedding Venue
Address: 3867 James Ave SW, Iowa City, IA, United States, Iowa
Phone: 319-351-4791
Email: Info@Walker-Homestead.com
Investment starts at $8,000 - $9,500
Capacity of 240 guests
Square Footage: 3,000 sq ft
Amenities included: Tables & chairs, outdoor ceremony space, bar setup and staff, in house catering,