I thought you would never ask! 

We offer several options to meet your decorating needs! 

Did we mention our entire decor collection is INCLUDED in your site fee here at the Barn at Fairview Acres?! How awesome is that?

So how does it work…

1. We will go through our collection together and let you pick your favorite items. It’s like shopping, but everything is included!

2. Before you arrive, we bring all the décor you love into the great room and place them on the food tables. Your selected decor will be ready for you and your besties to setup the space just the way you love it! Our team will have the room already setup with the reception tables and chairs and ceremony seating, so the table decorating is the fun part and is very simple!

Looking for a little less decorating on your special day??

Our event planners love to be your extra set of hands that makes your Fairview Acres experience even better! Add our enhanced service package and arrive to your event space ready to party!

Absolutely!

Not only is the rehearsal included in your booking, but WE RUN IT!

For Saturday weddings, this is done in the am before everyone is dressed for the day. 

We line up your wedding party, show them where to pause for pictures and tell them when to go. They are guided in this process the entire time.

If you do not want to see each other before the ceremony on that day, we simply run it without one of you! The last one down the aisle has the simplest role!! You will just want to have a meeting with your officiant to go over what to expect prior to that day.

For Friday weddings, we can rehearse on Thursday evening briefly within the 5 hours you have in the Barn for decorating, rehearsal and/or rehearsal dinner.

We are very flexible about your arrival time – we want to make sure you have ample time for hair and make-up! 

We will work with you – it could be 8:00 am, 7:00 am, or EVEN 6:00 am! 

The Fairview Acres Shuttle can hold up to 14 of your favorite wedding guests! Perfect for a wedding party, we will pickup and drop off your guests at their nearby accommodations. Simply finalize the Shuttle Guest List and our driver will make sure they arrive ready to celebrate your special wedding day!

We will pick up select guests ahead of time before the ceremony. Drop off can be scheduled as late as 11:00 pm!

We also offer 2 additional shuttle runs! Many of our clients will use these shuttles to drop off other guests prior to the final shuttle of the evening.

Need more shuttle capacity?

Drop us a quick email – we can recommend other services, or if you add our Enhanced Service Package, our Event Planners will make sure your guests have an easy ride to your amazing wedding venue. 

We love the idea for saving space for you wedding party and immediate family. We have cute signage options to set those spaces aside for those people in your life. However, open seating for the rest of your guests seems to be the best for the following reasons:

1. They can choose who they want to sit with during the dinner.
2. It avoids the inevitable, “I don’t want to sit near _______” or “I know I was supposed to sit with _______.” We have heard those statements many times and it leads to uncomfortable conversations or unhappy guest experience.
3. You aren’t spending hours figuring out who sits where.
4. We put out extra seats if space allows so there is room to possibly spread out a bit if they prefer.
5. Our team notifies each guest as they enter that they may sit any where that doesn’t have a reserved sign. The only people that you strategically seat are your wedding party and immediate family!
6. IF there are guests that must be seated away from each other for peace on your day and your mental health, please let us know. We can assist in seating them in a subtle way that doesn’t point to the issue we are trying to avoid. Having said that, do remember that this is to be a peace, joy, love and laughter filled day. Consider who YOU want there. It isn’t always necessary to invite toxic attitudes. No matter what, we will have your back and do our best for you in that regard.
7. If you choose to do assigned table seating, we will greet every guest, ask their name and tell them their table number. We simply need an alphabetized list of your guests with their table number listed behind each name. Our team will need that as soon as you arrive on site so that we can make copies and give them our to our Hosts and Directors. This also means that you do not necessarily need to create a seating stand or display.

We can seat 265 at most with 6 feet between each table. At that number, we would need to seat 22 at each set of 2 tables pushed together. But your guests can move freely without feeling like they are sitting on the lap of the person behind them.

Absolutely! 

The Bin is always included for hangout space during the day.

Friday weddings have access to the bin for an overnight space from Thursday into Friday. 

Saturday wedding, you get the bin overnight into Sunday! 

It sleeps 10 with 7 beds. It currently has one private sleeping area with a queen bed. The rest are Murphy beds and pull-out sleepers.

We can run guests to Monmouth, IL and Burlington, IA. Both are 15 minutes form the Barn!

Our farm tables are 9 feet long and 4 feet wide.

Oh my gosh. So much greenery. When you tour, you will see the many options available to you!!

So many great questions!! The majority of our weddings come in from hours away. The beautiful thing about our area is that although we have a remote feel, we are closely connected to cities to our east and west. They are a 15 minute drive away and having lived in a bigger city previously, it typically took me 15 min to cross town because of traffic.

The options for the commute are varied in look, feel and expense. We have our courtesy van (aka shuttle) that can take care of 14 guests at a time. It clearly cannot handle an entire event, but we are really great at taking care of your wedding party and immediate family. Please read the “shuttle” FAQ question for more detail.

What we love is how varied the options are for your guest accommodations! We have outstanding possibilities in Monmouth whole home rental that are stunning and unique. There is also a traditional hotel in Monmouth that could serve your guests well. Monmouth is 15 minutes from us to the East.

In Burlington, Iowa, also 15 minutes from The Barn, but to the west. This city has hotels, Fun City, and home rental options as well. It also has a small airport (BRL) that connects to Chicago (ORD) and St. Louis (STL). If you have some guests that need a pick up, let your Barn team know and we will do all we can to assist.

1. Our Barn has 20 tons of airflow and filtration continuously running during and after an event to flush anything out that shouldn’t be there. In combination with our 32-foot ceiling height, you are in an open environment. 

2. All universally touched surfaces are disinfected every hour. 

3. Hand sanitizer can be found all over our venue. All kinds of lovely scents too because, well, why not?

4. Our bartenders handle drinks by the base of the cup, can or bottle when serving our guests. We do not touch what your mouth touches with our bare hands. 

5. We have extra masks on hand in case someone begins to feel unwell while on our grounds and would like to wear one or for any person who prefers to wear one.

6. We put approximately 6 feet between tables inside our central Illinois wedding venue to create comfort for each guest so that you do not feel like you are sitting on the lap of the person behind you. 

7. We add more seating than necessary to provide the option of distancing or spreading out for those who choose or prefer to do so. 

8. Our central Illinois wedding venue was designed with so much room to breathe outside!!! Our west porch can seat 30 at 3 tables where fresh air abounds! Not to mention, when the weather is on our side, we can have tables all over the grass courtyard to the concrete courtyard. Tents are welcome if you want to expand seating with a covered option. We can suggest a “Tentist” in the area if you need assistance! (I don’t think “Tentist” is a word, but you get what I am saying.)

9. Those with an underlying illness that visit our little piece of Heaven may be seated outside, if preferred, and will absolutely be cared for by our team. We will get your meal, drinks from the bar, and shelter you from any uncomfortable temperatures. We will do all we possibly can to make sure those that risk being there for you feel valued, protected, and spoiled!

10. All healthy guests are welcome. We all know when we are not 100%. If you are feeling off or this gathering makes you nervous, simply sit this one out. Send your love filled “Regrets” knowing you are doing what you feel is best in your circumstance.  The people that love you and invited you will appreciate your thoughtfulness and completely understand your concern. 

11. Our bottom line is that we customize your event as much as possible to make your time here amazing for both you and your guests.