The space where you get married is so much more than a pretty backdrop. Nothing cemented that fact in my mind more than pulling into Barnwood the day after our wedding to finish collecting our things from the farmhouse. My eyes started glistening the moment I caught a glimpse of the giant willow tree where we had shared our vows, and the overwhelming, wonderful memories of our day started pouring in. The space becomes such a big part of your life when you choose to live out such impactful moments in it. Just like the setting in any other story, it provides the foundation for all the events to come and an anchor to help your memory recount it all again later. I strongly encourage everyone planning their wedding to pick a place that supports their own life’s story- a place that feels right, rather than a place that only looks beautiful.

Julie & Dave have built a space that fits our story so well, and I can easily imagine it working for most other people in the Madison area as well. Barnwood really is a perfect embodiment of Madison itself: an equal balance between small town charm and big city convenience, filled with some of the most wonderful people you will ever meet. Driving to Barnwood feels like you’re out in rural Wisconsin, even though it’s only a few minutes off the Beltline. Our ceremony was surrounded by some of the oldest and most impressive trees we’ve seen anywhere (and we love hiking), but our guests were able to stay at a very nice Holiday Inn only 6 minutes away that included free shuttle service to & from the venue. Our family & friends from up north were able to sit outside by the fire as they’re accustomed to, while our family & friends from cities enjoyed the HVAC and wifi indoors. My wife cares so much about ensuring that everyone is comfortable and happy that I included it in my vows, and Barnwood enabled us to express that perfectly despite having such a wide variety of guests. It is simply amazing how well Barnwood was able to make everyone feel welcome.

But then you the meet the owners, Julie and Dave, and you start to understand. They are just amazing people, and have managed to capture so much of themselves in their venue. Talking with them was so much fun that we’re genuinely hoping we can meetup with them again sometime in the future. But even if you don’t jive with their personalities (somehow), you have to be impressed with how much care and effort they put into making Barnwood a special place. Dave has personally planted hundreds of trees on the property, and we saw him mowing the multiple acres of lawn himself. Their family made (and continues to make) most of the wood tables & decor that they let weddings use for free. When both our wedding planner and our officiant could not make it to our rehearsal, Julie was there helping us figure out our plan and where to go. They personally put up and took down most of the chairs and tables, and Julie was even putting out the tablecloths we had rented so that we could get a headstart on setting up our DIY table centerpieces. Dave captured some great pictures of our day while simultaneously staying out of the way of our hired photographer, and shared them the same day so we lost no time solidifying everything in our memories. This list goes on!! It was nothing short of inspiring to see how involved they were in ensuring every aspect of our wedding went well. We had read some other reviews about how Julie & Dave make it feel like being taken care of by family, but having now lived through it- there’s no way my family could have done it that well (partially because they’d be too busy enjoying the day themselves).

I’m trying very hard to come up with something negative to say to ensure that this is a complete & accurate picture of our experience, but that’s seriously challenging to do. I wouldn’t go into it expecting the drinks to compete with the best bars in the country, but even then- they might have been the best drinks I’ve had at any wedding. I think the biggest issue might have been the acoustics in the barn- we had a live band and it was a bit loud & boomy (and it’s hard to turn down the volume of a drummer). But two of my top five favorite moments from our wedding involved feeling overwhelmed from the eruption of cheers and applause from all our family & friends in that barn, so I don’t think that actually counts as a negative. I suppose it could be risky if you want to have your ceremony on the front lawn since there is both a public road and the driveway leading to Barnwood’s parking lot right next to the lawn, but that’s where we had our ceremony and I didn’t hear or see a single car. Basically, I got nothing for the ‘cons’ column.

All-in-all, I cannot believe that we were ever seriously considering other venues for our wedding. Barnwood feels so right for us, and gave us everything we could have asked for. It felt like actual magic was occurring that day, but so much of that magic was actually the hard work of all our vendors. Barnwood not only provided an excellent stage for them to showcase their efforts, it also directly included some of the hardest working magicians of them all. We just cannot thank Julie & Dave enough for helping create the best day of our lives, and such a wonderful setting for our memories.

My wife and I had a wonderful time planning, coordinating, and having our wedding and reception at Barnwood. Julie and Dave were lovely to work with from start to finish. They were always quick at replying to our questions, were always on top of contacting the vendors we chose, made sure we were having a great time, and made sure the entire day went smoothly. The house on site had also been an amazing relief so we had a main base for our bridal court to get refreshments, food, and just relax before the ceremony as well as stay overnight before and after all the fun. Would highly recommend booking early too because they are very popular right now!

Julie, Dave, Ellie and the Barnwood’s team were so reliable, friendly, helpful, hard-working, communicative, and overall caring. This meant the world to Isaac and I as we had our reception there! They took us in and treated us as if we were family! There are so many reasons why we went with Barnwood from the start (electric car parking, huge parking lot, beautiful venue, caring staff, lovely property, ionizing air cleansing system for our loved ones afraid of Covid — you name it)… but there are even more reasons why we would have our most important day/reception there all over again. We are so thankful for Julie and her team for hosting our event. There is no better space than this. They made our day a dream.