4.4
Praised by couples for:
Amenities
Quality catering
Guests comfort
A Celebration You'll Never Forget
Holds ceremonies and receptions
I cannot say enough wonderful things about The District Venue and the experience we had for our wedding day. From the moment we started planning, the team made us feel supported, welcomed, and confident that our day was going to be everything we dreamed of.
A special thank you to Olivia, our day-of coordinator, because she truly was worth every single cent. She was an absolute gem to work with and made our wedding day feel effortless. From keeping everything on schedule, handling all the little details behind the scenes, answering questions, and making sure we were able to actually enjoy every moment — Olivia went above and beyond. She made us feel completely taken care of from start to finish, and I genuinely do not know what we would have done without her.
The District Venue provided the perfect setting for our wedding. The space was beautiful, the staff was amazing, and everything came together exactly how we envisioned it. Having a team that truly cares about making your day special is priceless.
If you are considering The District for your wedding, do yourself a favor and trust their team — and absolutely invest in their day-of coordination. Olivia was a huge part of why our wedding day was so magical, and we will forever be grateful for everything she did to make it perfect. 🤍
Sidney W.
5.0
Erika is so helpful and professional, as well as her whole team. They were more than willing to work with me on some last minute surprises, and were so polite through it all!
Anne H.
5.0
The District Venue is an elegant wedding venue in Ankeny, IA. This elegant space has been designed with countless amenities in order to create the perfect selection that fits any budget or style.
We're proud to bring our neighbors in the greater Des Moines Metro Area this fashionable two-story, all-inclusive banquet hall located in the heart of Ankeny's Prairie Trail District.
We want you to be able to share your special moments with as many loved ones as you wish. Our beautifully structured venue hosts up to 350 guests for any wedding celebration, corporate party, or special event.
Woman-owned Business
7+ years in business
Speaks English
Medium team (11-20 members)
Amenities + details
Amenities
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Ceremony Types
Civil Union
Commitment Ceremony
Interfaith Ceremony
Non-Religious Ceremony
Religious Ceremony
Second Wedding
Vow Renewal Ceremony
Settings
Ballroom
Venue Service Offerings
Bar & Drinks
Cakes & Desserts
Cupcakes
Other Desserts
Food & Catering
Planning
Rentals & Equipment
Service Staff
Any questions?
Reviews
4.4
out of 5.018 reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
Stephanie P
Highlighted review.
5.0
We hosted our wedding ceremony and reception at The District and would highly recommend! The venue itself is unique, beautiful and clean. It's a very convenient location with a hot...
el, restaurants, and some other wedding vendors located in the same area. The food was also amazing! Having the catering and bar handled by the venue was a huge plus.
Erika did a great job walking us through the planning process and ensuring everything was setup as requested. We appreciated her help with a few last minute requests. We could not have asked for a better venue!
Cassondra R
3.0
Our daughter and her husband recently held their wedding at The District Venue. The venue itself was absolutely amazing. The space is gorgeous, the food was excellent, and the bart...
enders provided top-notch service throughout the evening. The servers were also polite and did a good job getting the food served to our guests in a timely manner.
However, do not hire their in-house day-of coordinator services. We paid over $950 for this add-on and did not receive the professional management or direction we were promised, causing immense, avoidable stress. Management later claimed a comprehensive timeline was made, but to this date we have never seen it. Furthermore, multiple members of the wedding party confirmed that the coordinator was completely absent when the ceremony started; she did not line anyone up or cue them to walk down the aisle, leaving everyone guessing. The only time the coordinator actually asked if we needed anything from her throughout the entire day was right before she left for the evening.
Furthermore, the cleanup staff got a bit "throw-happy" right in the middle of the reception. I understand their job is to clear the tables of dishes, but they went so far as to clear and discard guests' actual wedding cake before they even had a chance to take a bite. Custom decor, 18 wooden table numbers and 200 cork placecard holders, were also thrown in the trash because the venue deemed these items "intended for disposal". We erroneously assumed that custom made decor would be saved and not considered garbage, and that what we take in we take out.
We reached out to the venue manager, Erika, privately to resolve these issues and request reimbursement for our discarded items, but management completely deflected accountability and refused to offer any resolution.
If you book this beautiful venue, enjoy the wonderful food and atmosphere, but hire your own independent coordinator. Most importantly, if you have items you want to keep, make sure you explicitly tell them beforehand and assign someone to guard your belongings.
Any questions?
Sidney W
5.0
I cannot say enough wonderful things about The District Venue and the experience we had for our wedding day. From the moment we started planning, the team made us feel supported, w...
elcomed, and confident that our day was going to be everything we dreamed of.
A special thank you to Olivia, our day-of coordinator, because she truly was worth every single cent. She was an absolute gem to work with and made our wedding day feel effortless. From keeping everything on schedule, handling all the little details behind the scenes, answering questions, and making sure we were able to actually enjoy every moment — Olivia went above and beyond. She made us feel completely taken care of from start to finish, and I genuinely do not know what we would have done without her.
The District Venue provided the perfect setting for our wedding. The space was beautiful, the staff was amazing, and everything came together exactly how we envisioned it. Having a team that truly cares about making your day special is priceless.
If you are considering The District for your wedding, do yourself a favor and trust their team — and absolutely invest in their day-of coordination. Olivia was a huge part of why our wedding day was so magical, and we will forever be grateful for everything she did to make it perfect. 🤍
Elyn M
2.0
We recently got married at this venue, and while our day was beautiful thanks to our friends and family, the venue itself left a lot to be desired.
On the wedding day, things didn...
’t improve. The champagne specifically requested for the head table never arrived; servers were delivering plates to empty seats before serving guests who were actually there.
To make matters worse, one of the servers stepped on my dress, breaking my bustle, and was rude for the rest of the night. The venue coordinator was also missing for most of the morning and right before the ceremony, which added unnecessary stress during what should have been a calm and organized time.
The only reason this venue is getting two stars instead of one is because of the bartenders — they were absolutely fantastic, friendly, and professional all night.
Overall, the lack of organization, poor service, and inattentive staff made what should have been a seamless day much more stressful than it needed to be. I wouldn’t recommend this venue unless major improvements are made in staff training and event coordination.
Response from The District Venue
Hi Elyn,
Thank you for taking the time to provide your. We sincerely appreciate your kind ...
words about our bartenders—they work incredibly hard and will be thrilled to hear they made such a positive impact.
I’d like to address the concerns you shared and offer clarity where helpful.
As for the champagne at the head table, you are absolutely correct, and we sincerely apologize for that oversight. We understand this was an important detail. We have since implemented an additional checklist step with our service team to help ensure head table requests are double-verified moving forward.
You also mentioned plates being delivered to empty seats. Our service standard is to serve each table completely before moving on, even when guests temporarily step away for the bar or restroom. This practice ensures those guests return to a plated meal without delay and minimizes service staff needing to backtrack during dinner.
Regarding water goblets, these were placed by our staff during normal pre-service, and no members of the wedding party were present or involved in that process. Our team completed this portion of the setup on time as planned.
We also want to sincerely acknowledge your comment about a server stepping on your train during post-dinner clearing. That moment was truly unfortunate, and we would like to apologize again for any distress this caused you. We understand how upsetting something like that can be on such an important day.
In terms of coordination, our venue coordinator was on-site for 13 hours the day of your wedding, moving between front- and back-of-house during the early part of the day and then remaining fully present on the floor for the duration of the event. The coordinator being onsite, overseeing venue operations, and coordinating all venue-provided services throughout the day is the level of service included with the basic rental package. For couples seeking a more personalized, one-on-one experience, we do offer an optional Day-Of Coordination package, which provides dedicated support throughout the entire day. While this package was not added to your reservation, we understand that-in hindsight-it may have provided additional individual guidance during the times you would have appreciated it.
We truly appreciate your honest feedback. Every event is important to us, and we remain committed to training, communication, and continuous improvement so that all couples have the smooth, memorable celebration they deserve.
We wish you both all the best in your marriage and in the years ahead.
Mandee F
4.0
We had our reception at The District Venue and Erika and team were really great on the night of! Everything was set up perfectly, but they did seem a little disorganized for our da...
y. We had to contact them in order to have catering tastings and make payments, but it all turned out beautifully!
Anne H
5.0
Erika is so helpful and professional, as well as her whole team. They were more than willing to work with me on some last minute surprises, and were so polite through it all!
Kate H
5.0
Wonderful service, food and location
Morgan B
5.0
Erika at the District was so great. She is very organized and our series of meetings made everything so smooth. I loved that we could have the ceremony and the reception there, it ...
made it so easy. They also handle the bar, food, set up and rentals. It made my planning so much easier. The day was beautiful, and we got so many compliments on the food and everything about the day!!
Andrea J
5.0
Erika, the District Venue manager, was great to work with! I liked that alcohol, catering and wait staff were also provided by the Venue. Took less stress finding those vendors. We...
had 175 attend where seating was both upstairs and downstairs. Our ceremony took place upstairs. Our bridal suite was also upstairs and convenient.
Brittany M
5.0
The District Venue was the perfect venue for our wedding. Family and friends are still talking about how gorgeous the venue is and most importantly the outstanding food! We had al...
ot of guests who have been to many weddings and said this food was by far the best they have ever had. The staff was also outstanding! Great to work with, flexible, professional, and accommodating. The location was also very important to us with a hotel in walkings distance for our guest to stay at. We will definitely be recommending the District Venue to all of our family and friends!
Madison G
5.0
My husband and I had our wedding ceremony and reception at The District Avenue on 9-6-2020 and had an amazing experience! Erika, the wedding coordinator, is so nice and helped us e...
very step of the way through the planning process. The food/catering is also through The District Venue when you have your reception here, and it is so good! We served ours family style which was super quick and simple. They have a lot of decorations there that you can rent, or you can bring in your own stuff too, which is nice to have both options. We were able to get into the venue that morning at 10:00am to start decorating and we weren’t rushed out of the venue at the end of the night either. Regardless of everything going on with COVID-19 right now, the venue did not require everyone to wear masks, which we really appreciated, as we didn’t want masks on in our special wedding photos. We had approximately 200 guests in attendance. The loft area on the second floor is where the ceremony was held, which was a little bit small of an area, but it still worked out fine. The lower area is perfect for cocktail hour and reception. My husband and I highly recommend The District Venue for anyone’s future weddings! :)
Glenn W
1.0
My fiance set up an appointment to tour the venue about two weeks prior to the appointment date. We took time off work to drove from Ohio to look at venues as we both still have fa...
mily and friends in the area. No one was at the venue when we arrived for the tour and did not answer the call or email to let them know we had arrived.
London P
5.0
They were great. Very professional
Rebecca N
5.0
The venue is affordable and beautiful, and Liz is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! She helped out so much with a smile always on her face. We had both the ceremony and the reception there, and the d...
ay would not have been as great, seamless, or stress-free if we had gone anywhere else!
Justin K
5.0
I simply did not have the money nor a lot of people attending. Liz the project manager helped me out so much! Worked with my budget and made the day special! Highly recommend to an...
yone looking! We will be using them again!
Rachel B
5.0
We had both our ceremony and reception with the district and Liz made it so so easy for us! This venue is a great one if you are looking to fit your image because you can make it a...
s simple or as extravagant as you want to. The team that helped us was great and made sure everything was going smoothly and even checked in with us during the night! I highly recommend this Venue because they really brought my vision to life!
Alexandra H
5.0
Working with The District Venue made for an amazingly stress free wedding! We held both our ceremony and reception with them and the transition between the two went seamlessly. The...
y truly take care of everything for your big Day from set up and tear down all the way to the food. Our vendors were impressed how easy it was to coordinate the day with this site and our guests were blown away by the amazing food and atmosphere. As the bride, the staff made sure everything for our day was in order ahead of time, so we could relax and enjoy it! Our day turned out perfectly and we really can’t think of anything that went wrong or anything we would have done differently. Definitely would recommend to anyone looking for a Venue for their wedding or special event!
Response from The District Venue
Thank you for your kind words, Alexandra! We are thrilled to hear that everything went smo...
othly and that you were able to relax and enjoy your special day. We look forward to any future couples that we meet through your recommendation!
Best Wishes,
The District Venue Team
Lauren H
4.0
Will update review after reception.
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The District Venue
Erika
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Coordinator
Wedding vendors in Ankeny
The District Venue
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