Ashton Hill Galena is a stunning wedding venue near the borders of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The modern farmhouse aesthetic and gorgeous landscape make it an incredible setting for a heartfelt celebration. This wedding featured elegant details and a focus on family and friends.
A Wedding at Ashton Hill Galena
Ashton Hill Galena balances modern elegance and a stunning landscape to create a surprisingly laid back experience. Hydrangeas and wildflowers color the property with shades of peach and white. Tall grasses and trees cover the hills around the property.
As long as the weather holds, your ceremony will take place outdoors. The ceremony spot is gorgeous with an epic view of the surrounding landscape. Ashton Hill Farms provides benches. You just have to decide if you want to go for an arch or floral installation like this couple used.
Receptions typically take place in the barn. Even though the building is barn shaped, the name “barn” doesn’t really do it justice. The space is airy and bright with wide, tall windows on most of the walls. You could take the venue in lots of different directions aesthetically. It’s beautiful as is, but you could go big with floral installations and have it feel cohesive with the setting.
Galena is just over the Iowa-Illinois border. It’s about an hour and a half northeast of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That makes Ashton Hill Galena accessible to marriers in Eastern Iowa, Illinois, and even Wisconsin.
A Relaxed Wedding Experience
Ashton Hill Galena is one of two wedding venues operated by Ashton Hill Farms. (The other is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.) Both venues were built from the ground up to host weddings. Everything is designed with weddings in mind, so the whole space works to make your day run smoothly.
The cost for a wedding at Ashton Hill Galena varies depending on the time of year and day of the week you choose.
- May- October: $6,000-$10,000
- November-April: $6,000-$10,000, including a $1,000 bar credit
Before you book this wedding venue, here are some helpful things to consider:
- Rental includes two prep suites and access starting at 8:00am. You can do all of your events in one spot instead of shuttling between a hotel and the venue.
- The venue supplies all the furniture you could need. You probably only need outside furniture rentals if you want to create custom conversation pits.
- Ashton Hill Farms offers day of coordinators who can connect you with caterers and other vendors.
A Modern Wedding Day
This wedding at Ashton Hill Galena had lots of details that made it feel modern. The event design balanced classic details like white roses with a minimalist approach. Everything felt elevated but without the fuss that can come with over the top design elements.
The florals at this Ashton Hill Farms wedding were so beautiful. At the reception, single stems of white roses lined reception tables interspersed with candles. It played up the clean, modern design of the venue’s interior. The candles on the tables mirrored the chandeliers beautifully.
Some highlights of this Ashton Hill Galena wedding include
- The first look: The bride and groom met on a hydrangea-lined path for a seriously sweet private moment.
- Speeches: The amount of love and intention in these speeches made everyone a little misty-eyed.
- The champagne tower: Much to everyone’s surprise, the tower toppled… Luckily, everyone went with the flow. It’ll make for a good story.
Candid, Connected Wedding Photos
This wedding at Ashton Hill Galena lent itself perfectly to my style of photographing weddings. I aim to create photos that look as natural as your wedding day feels. That’s definitely true of this gallery. You just have to look at it to see how at ease this couple felt with each other and their closest people.
My favorite photos from this day are the ones where you can tell people are being unapologetically themselves. They’re hugging, laughing, and stealing sweet in between moments with each other. Laid back weddings like this translate so well to my photojournalistic style. It felt meant to be.
Are you interested in having me photograph your wedding? I’m Olivia, an Iowa wedding photographer. My husband Christian and I document weddings in photos. We’re all about preserving those lived-in moments that you want to hold onto forever.
*I photographed this wedding for Lacey Graham Photography.
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