4 | Lee Enterprises - Western Region Bridal Guide 2024 As more brides seek nontraditional venues, The Farm offers pastures, stars, a renovated barn and a place to roam C harm of the F arm MARY JANE SKALA Kearney Hub
Kern is getting warm feedback from brides who have held their nuptials there. “The farm was so gorgeous. When we toured it, we fell in love with it,” one recent bride told Kern. “It’s a beautiful and unique venue, a great spot for a wedding reception for people wanting anything from rustic to country to simple elegance vibe,” another said. Sarah Ritz, The Village’s events planner, takes prospective clients on tours of the house and property. She also is on site when they arrive for their big weekend. She is a Mason City native and Concordia College graduate who handles the myriad of details involved. “What do I like about this job?” she asked, repeating a question. Her face broke into a smile. “I love all of it, giving people tours, meeting the family, helping them find a date that works. Just helping people.” The Village and more Kern opened The Village in October 2019. She purchased the dilapidated warehouse and transformed it into a site for wedding receptions and other events like parties for birthdays, anniversaries and graduations. Business overflowed, and by early 2020, she began searching for a second location. “We were so booked. We kept getting calls and we kept saying we had no availability,” she said then. Even worse, COVID-19 forced her to temporarily close The Village in the spring of 2020. That disrupted weddings and other scheduled events. But it also gave her the time to find a second site, which she did. On Facebook, she discovered a 10-acre farm and farmhouse for sale north of Gibbon, just north of the Wood River. When she drove out to look at it, the owner wasn’t home, so she peeked into the windows. Inside the barn, she found sheep, goats, two little donkeys, quails, a dog and numerous cats. After purchasing the property, she and her then-event planner, Morgan Karlberg, made plans to renovate. The COVID closures
SHELTON — It’s been two years since an aging barn and farmhouse just west of Shelton experienced a renaissance and became The Farm, a unique wedding venue. That old barn once housed sheep, goats, horses and barn cats. Now, it’s a place where couples exchange wedding vows under a sparkling chandelier, then head outside for a reception. There’s a dance floor, too, and a pergola surrounded by cornfields. The Farm is an offshoot of The
Village, a party and reception center at 1920 A Avenue that, until its transformation in 2019, was a rusty warehouse.
“I think we’re doing well,” Alissa Kern, the owner of The Village and The Farm, said. “It’s definitely nice to be on the back side of the start-up. A few years ago, people heard about The Farm and said, ‘What’s that?’ Now, people know where we are. We’re on the map.”
It’s fully booked for 2023, with 16 weddings scheduled and another already on the books for 2024. In 2022, The Farm was the site of 19 weddings. The 112-year-old farmhouse on the property was separately booked for 12 events.
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