Iowa State University Memorial Union

ver thank them enough for everything they did for us. Thank you so much ladies!! Hope you guys had a magical time! - The Riesbergs

hem aware. Several that attended had their reception or their child’s reception at Memorial Union & loved how well they handled Samantha & Connors day giving us all wonderful memories.

with everything we needed help with. They asked thought provoking questions that we hadn't even thought about. We mostly coordinated with Jessica, and she was very on top of things which was very helpful because we aren't planners. The rental package I think was high value, and it included a lot of things which were nice to just have in one price that included everything. They were able to accommodate pretty much everything we wanted. We had our wedding in the Great Hall, which is the best room in my opinion because it is so naturally beautiful and has those wonderful high ceilings and chandeliers. The only decor we brought in were votive candles and I don't think it could have looked more elegant. If you have your wedding specifically in the Great Hall, then I 100% recommend candles as it is dimly lit (in a good way) and the candles add to the mood lighting. The fact that ISU Catering always does the catering at the MU was a blessing because I didn't feel like I had to worry about the coordination between them and I just knew both the MU and Catering staff were experienced together and things would go smoothly -- and they did! It seems like most weddings always have something that goes wrong, but not ours. The only tiny complaint I have is that I don't think anyone told us there was extensive construction going on to the roads on campus and around the MU, which caused some problems for people getting to the reception, but everyone ended up getting there in the end. If I got married again, I would have it at the Memorial Union again

ay enough good things! During the day of our reception, we had a student coordinator which I was initially hesitant about, but Claire did an amazing job!! She was thoughtful and took care of business gracefully. We couldn't have had a better coordinator during the day of the reception. Overall we had a GREAT experience with the Memorial Union.

r request happen. She was always willing to provide her input without being overbearing. After a long planning period, our wedding day was more than what we could have imagined! I really appreciate Jessica and her wedding planning staff in helping us create the most amazing day.

ort while allowing us to have fun with our ideas and try new things. Getting married at the Memorial Union was very special to my husband and I - this team however made the experience even better than we could have imagined.

e outside of the box. First, the good. The Great Hall is a stunning venue. Absolutely gorgeous. It's the perfect space for a large reception. We had 250 guests and it was perfect. It's got the stage for your band or DJ, and the rectangular nature allows for a lot of different seating arrangements. Tables are included (we opted to rent our own chairs for aesthetic reasons). The price for rental is reasonable and you get to have your ceremony in front of the Campanile (although our ceremony was rained out so we ended up in the South Ballroom, which is also a beautiful room). The staff in the EVENTS office at ISU was great (although see comparison to the catering coordinators below). My fiance and I chose the MU because we had a lot of personal connections to ISU. He is an alum, so are my parents and ISU was my first home in America when I immigrated. Ultimately, our wedding was amazing and ISU was a huge part of that. So, if I only judge on the end result, the MU would have gotten 5 stars. But... The main issue is that you're getting married on a University campus and understandably there are a lot of rules. We were able to either get exceptions or live with these rules, but it was quite a process in getting there. Every little detail had to be discussed and approved by the events department, the catering department and sometimes ISU risk and compliance. Now, to be fair, we asked for a lot of unconventional things (fore example, fireworks - denied, confetti - denied). I would say the bulk of our issues came with ISU catering. Firstly, they do not allow liquor (wine and beer only) unless you get an exception. This was a dealbreaker for us, so luckily they gave us an exception, but again, this took quite a lot of back and forth. You cannot bring in any outside food which for the most part was ok, but for example, we wanted to serve milk and oreos, but we could not bring in our own oreos, they wanted us to pay $4 per milk & oreo! We ended up scrapping that idea. We also wanted passed wine at dinner and passed appetizers (offering to bring in our own wait staff), that was also denied. Our guests told us that the bar tenders were extremely strict with the 4 - 1 (alcohol/mixer ratio), they measured each one with a jigger (again, I understand it's a college campus, but if you're a couple whose guests drink a lot, this could be an issue). All of these things were compounded by the fact that the staff person from ISU catering assigned to our wedding was unpleasant to work with and took a new job in the middle of our planning. I felt like the events managers were trying to work with us but the catering managers were working against us. Our wedding planner took care of most of the negotiations with ISU, and she is very experienced and has worked with many of the Des Moines wedding venues. My impression from her is that ISU does not allow a lot of things that most other venues would. So, bottom line, the venue is gorgeous, we had an amazing wedding and our guests loved it, but if you're thinking of booking, I would strongly advise you try to come up with a detailed list of all of the things you might want (especially as it relates to catering and alcohol) and run it past ISU before booking.

do allow outside cakes at least!) Would definitely recommend to anybody looking for a venue for their wedding!

arly communicated. We rushed around before the guests arrived trying to get enough quarters to cover the cost of parking. It made for a stressful situation.

e only thing we would change if we had to do over again is to have more desserts available. We ran out before some guests had a chance to even get to the dessert bar. We assumed the desserts would be replenished but that wasn’t the case. Kudos to the entire ISU staff for helping to make our daughter’s big day so perfect!!

make it work. Very quickly we realized that the Memorial Union and Campanile was the best option for us thanks to the gorgeous venue, attentive staff, well orchestrated logistics, and manageable costs (albeit a bit more expensive than other venues in the Ames area). We were able to work with both Jessica Erickson and Emily Laska who helped coordinate and plan our event and we couldn't have asked for more helpful, friendly, and organized individuals. We were only able to meet with them once before our wedding, which would scare most people, but our wedding went off with no issues at all! They are extremely attentive, great communicators, and lovely people to work with. They had no problems hopping on the phone or chatting through email at any given time. Additionally what we originally thought was restrictive ended up being nice about the Memorial Union as certain options are required to be run through the school, such as food, cake, and bar. While it would be nice to go with other venues, the prices are competitive, the quality is top notch, and it makes logistics day-of much easier and removes a lot of the headaches with coordinating across a bunch of different vendors. The menus are traditional but they taste great, and we received a lot of positive feedback from our guests on food prep, timing, and portions. Overall the MU/Campanile combo is by far the most picturesque wedding that you can likely find in Ames (and potentially most of Iowa). As a couple who lives in California, getting something comparable would be 3x more expensive and not even remotely as nice. Overall it's great for any sized wedding, but especially bigger ones such as ours (we had ~250) thanks to the large venue space with plenty of alternative prep space and options to choose from. We are very fortunate to have had our wedding here and look back at as the best day we could have possibly have had. If you were a student in Ames there's honestly no other places we could have seen ourselves getting married. Thank you! If I had to give any recommendations/suggestions on how they could improve: - Lower prices on smaller items such as ceremony chairs and covers. These items are not going to "make or break" on how much the school makes off the wedding and are already incredibly high margin so there's no reason they can't price match (or beat) Celebrations (and frankly put them out of business). - Offer even more services such as DJ and flowers. The worst part of our wedding was an outside DJ, and I think if it was provided through Iowa State we know it would have been much better!

as a vendor.

changes to their area when we booked so it took us a few months to get our contract. But we had a copy of the reservation so i wasnt too concerned. We rented two conference rooms to get ready in and it was so convenient. Central campus was amazing for the ceremony. It is such a beautiful space. The only down side is that it is a public space and other people can be around. For example, during our rehearsal there were students playing soccer on central campus, But they kindly moved to the other side of the lawn. But we didnt have any problems on the day of. So it wasnt a huge deal to us.

our day perfect! The only down side is guests have to pay for parking or you can host the parking but that's get pricey depending on guest list.

pensive. Other then that this venue is fantastic!

ommodating! They helped me bring my vision to life, and I had no issues or worries that occurred during the wedding day. Needless to say, they were the perfect backdrop for great day!