Galena Illinois is a geographical marvel, located in Ilinois’s illustrious Driftless Area – a phrase that conjures images of something dreamy, ethereal, and mysterious.
While most of the state of Illinois was flattened by the same glaciers that gave the Great Lakes Basin one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world, the Driftless Area escaped.
Instead of endless flat miles of corn and soybean, the Galene is made up of prehistoric mountains, deeply carved river valleys, gorges, and forested bluffs.
The views are stunning and majestic and offer countless breathtaking options for your dream wedding.
Best yet, while the average Galena wedding cost isn’t clear, the average Illinois couple spent $23,000 on their 2021 wedding.
Here are 10 of the best wedding venues in Galena, Illinois.
Goldmoor Inn
If ‘romantic’ or ‘storybook’ sound like words to describe your ideal wedding venue, then you’ll definitely want to look into The Goldmoor Inn.
This elegant Tudor-style manor home with its expansive grounds offers five different spaces for your fairytale wedding ceremony.
The pavilion, gazebo, rose garden, or lawn are all stunning outdoor options for your wedding.
The pavilion, while outdoors, is covered and can accommodate up to 100 guests. There are electrical hook-ups for microphones or a DJ booth, ceiling fans, and lights.
The rose garden and gazebo are ideal for smaller, more intimate ceremonies.
Imagine yourself gathered with your closest family and friends, the air redolent with the sweet perfume of flowers, the sun behind you dipping lower on the horizon. It is the golden hour as you’re saying your “I do’s.”
The rose garden or gazebo at Goldmoor Inn is where you could make that happen.
For an indoor wedding, you can choose the Grand hall or the Great Room, with accommodations for 30 to 50 guests and picturesque views of the Mississippi River.
Situated in the majestic bluffs of Galena, Goldmoor also offers many charming views for pictures. Photos can be taken in the gardens or the gazebo, at the fountain, or in the fairy book-style home.
Goldmoor also offers custom service receptions with plated dinner menus or small plates to create an individual wedding experience.
Pricing: $3,00 – $5,000
Capacity: 16 – 100
Find Goldmoor Inn on Goldmoor Inn or check out Facebook.
Eagleridge Resort & Spa
Spread out over a 225-acre swathe of rolling hills and forest is the enchanting Eagleridge Spa and resort.
This sprawling resort offers a variety of getaways and diversions, including dream weddings in the charming and historic town of Galena.
The spacious Eagle ballroom, one of two indoor venues, offers 25-foot high floor-to-ceiling windows and breathtaking views of the lake and countryside.
For a breath of fresh air, step onto the wrap-around deck and watch the unforgettable sunsets over shimmering Lake Galena.
While not as grand as the 2nd indoor option, The Galena Ballroom also offers stunning views of the countryside.
For an outdoor wedding, you have the options of the Pointe Patio or the Highlands Complex. Both offer the same enchanting views as the site’s indoor venues.
All wedding packages include custom room layout, linens, and overlays in black, white, or ivory damask, china and glassware, cake knife set, cake service (if the cake is purchased through Eagleridge), table-side coffee service with dessert, a personal coordinator to assist with details, and complimentary room for rehearsal dinner or farewell breakfast.
There are also dinner or brunch packages available.
Pricing: $2,750 – $4,750
Capacity: 300
Find Eagleridge Resort & Spa at Eagleridge Resort & Spa or check out Facebook or Instagram.
Ashton Hill Farm
Barns are a popular choice for weddings due to two key features.
In terms of size, they offer a large open space, and they’re empty.
The barn is a blank canvas upon which you can paint the image of your ideal wedding. If you’re in northwestern Illinois, Ashton Hill Farm could be the canvas you’re looking for.
Just ten short minutes from Galena, Ashton Hill Farm offers both indoor and outdoor venue options.
Their Grand Barn is a massive 8,500 square feet venue with white walls and floor-to-ceiling windows offering a stunning view of the nearby hills and mountains.
Wooden trestle tables, cross-back winery chairs, and ring chandeliers create a pleasant ambiance.
For outdoor weddings, they’re situated to take full advantage of the beautiful countryside. Custom benches and outdoor electricity for music and lighting make sure you’re fully equipped for a stunning outdoor ceremony.
Preparation suites are available for the bride, groom, and bridal party.
After the wedding, head on over to the patio for cocktail hour and gather around the comforting firelight of the firepit.
Pricing: $6,000 – $10,000by
Capacity: 300
Find Ashton Hill Farm at Ashton Hill Farm or check out Facebook or Instagram.
Galena Mini-Weddings
If you want to keep your wedding short, simple, and sweet, look no further than Galena Mini Weddings.
For a fully inclusive boutique wedding package, this wedding venue has got your back.
Booking a wedding at this outdoor venue full of rustic charm includes a professional wedding photographer, licensed officiant, wedding cake and champagne toast, tent, chair, and table rental, ceremony & reception music, and a cocktail hour reception featuring Bread & Vine Charcuterie, Galena Cellars Wine, and a special Blaum Brothers bride and groom gift.
This all-inclusive package includes everything you need for a small, simple, yet charming wedding.
Once your beautiful ceremony is complete, you’ll get up to three hours with professional photographer Amy May helping you to create the most beautiful and memorable wedding pictures.
Finally, you can feed your hungry guests with sumptuous charcuterie and a delicious 3-tier buttercream wedding cake.
Pricing: $6,300
Capacity: 50
Find Galena Mini Wedding at Galena, Mini Weddings.
Offshore Resort
This beautiful riverside resort could be the wedding venue of your dreams.
Fully renovated Offshore Resort offers a modern, riverside events center fully equipped to help you realize your ideal wedding.
The indoor event space can be decorated as you see fit and accommodates up to 350 guests.
The rental includes a fully stocked bar and a personalized catering menu.
For an outdoor wedding with a perfect view of the spectacular Mississippi river, consider booking the patio. The patio accommodates up to 200 guests and is covered for protection from sun or rain.
Pictures can be taken along the banks of the Mississippi and throughout the event space. There are perfect, picturesque sites all around.
Offshore Resort can also host your reception with food and liquor packages available.
Rental of the event space for your wedding and reception includes 6 hours of use within the Event center until 11 PM for a cocktail hour or reception, a personalized menu from the on-site chef, day of event coordinator, a fully stocked bar, one bartender, set-up and tear down, on-site lodging at Off Shore Inn.
Pricing: $8,000 -$8,5000 Catering package is an additional $5,000 minimum.
Capacity: 200 – 350
Find Off Shore Inn at Off Shore Inn or check out Facebook.
Grand River Hall
For a professional wedding with a homegrown touch, consider Grand River Hall.
Grand River Hall started with sisters Holly and Shelly hosting family gatherings or socials with friends.
They loved it so much that they expanded to a full event hosting business and now want to bring that love of hosting to your wedding.
This urban venue with humble origins brings a beautifully homely touch to any event they host.
There are three spaces to choose from: The Rawleigh rooftop with perfect city views; The Pearl Room, a shimmering all-white room ready for you to decorate to bring your vision to life; and the Emerald Room, a room with exposed brick in tones of warm, welcoming brown, with a vintage bar that gives an old-school, authentic vibe.
This wedding venue includes 8 hours of rental time, a bartender, an elevator operator, tables, and chairs.
Pricing: $1, 875 -$ 3,875
Capacity: 300
Find Grand River Hall at Grand River Hall or check out Facebook or Instagram.
White Oak Savannah Events & Sanctuary
This charming rustic red barn set amidst the hills and valleys of The Driftless Area, surrounded by lush oak trees and fields of colorful wildflowers, could very well be the setting of your fantasy wedding.
This 100-acre sanctuary farm hosts a spacious, bright red barn with an interior of soaring timber beams in a warm, welcoming brown.
The natural timber complements any decorating scheme and offers room to seat 400 of your closest friends and family while you say your “I dos”.
The barn has also been recently renovated with modern sound and light systems.
The wedding package includes venue staff for set-up and tear-down, parking, security, and maintenance, tables and chairs both inside and outside the barn, a large fire pit area, a natural limestone Pond Amphitheater, Sundial Amphitheater, and access to hiking trails.
There’s also a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, spacious bathrooms, deluxe dressing rooms, and a shower.
Pictures can be taken amidst the oaks, in the fields of wildflowers, and at the lovely scenic pond.
The barn offers generous space for your reception and music, and you’re free to select your own licensed caterer.
Pricing: $4,945 – $7,835
capacity: 400
Find White Oak Savannah Farm & Sanctuary at White Oak Savannah Farm & Sanctuary or check out Facebook or Instagram.
Oak Hill Farm
Nestled in a forest of oak trees, an air of enchantment hangs over Oak Hill Farm.
Comprised of quaint and classic buildings, some of them dating back to the 1860s, there is magic on this historic estate, a magic that could elevate your wedding beyond what any other venue could offer.
There are multiple sites available to hold a wedding ceremony, including a chapel built in 1860 and fully modernized with A/C, electricity, and a sound system.
There’s also a hay barn dating back to 1891, restored but with modern elegant bedrooms and bathrooms.
The ceremony space accommodates 50 guests.
Other spaces include an open lawn, The Path of Pines, and The One Room Schoolhouse, all waiting to be transformed to host your storybook wedding.
In addition to multiple customizable sites for your ceremony, there are many picturesque locations spread out across the 170-acre venue for pictures.
Some favored sites include a charming pond, a rowboat, the stream running through the property, the path of pines, and many more.
There is a reception site for every kind of wedding, from micro-events of 40 people to gala affairs of up to 250.
Other venue features include a fire pit with bistro lights, multiple cocktail hour locations, antique wagons, and barrels available to serve cocktails.
Wedding packages include wedding day coordination at no additional cost, complete set-up and tear down, customizable floor plan, dinner service, tables, and chairs, cleaning service during your event, bartending, and ice and glassware.
You’re free to bring your own spirits as well as to choose your own vendor.
Price: contact the venue
Capacity: 40 – 250
Find Oak Hill Farm at Oak Hill Farm or check out Facebook or Instagram.
Chestnut Mountain Resort
Plenty has been said about the mountains of the Driftless area offering a stunning setting for a wedding with outdoor facilities, and Chestnut Mountain Resort would be another of those fantastic options.
There are two scenic venues overlooking the Mississippi River where you can stage your wedding, The Sunset Garden and Grandview North Pointe.
Both of these beautiful mountain locations will serve as the perfect picturesque location for your wedding. And, though they are outdoors, both locations do offer electricity for sound systems.
Their wedding package includes folding chairs set up to your specification, a wedding arch, tables for unity candles and guestbooks, a portable sound system, a discrete restroom, discounted rates for your guests, and a guarantee of indoor space in case of inclement weather.
There’s also a reception package with a dance floor, banquet tables, indoor and outdoor options, linens and napkins, climate control (whether indoors or outdoors), lighting options, and electrical hookups.
Price: $9k- $14k from wedding wire
Capacity: 100 from wedding wire
Find Chestnut Mountain Resort at Chestnut Mountain Resort or check out Facebook or Instagram.
A Prairie Lodge
Country weddings aren’t restricted to the barn, Prairie Lodge wedding venues prove this.
With 54 acres of rolling prairies, wildflowers, and a flexible approach to wedding planning, this venue is ready to host your country wedding.
The natural beauty of the prairie is an open and perfect backdrop waiting to bring your wedding to life.
You can create whatever image you wish, from a grand gala affair to something simple and rustic.
And with no requirement for select vendors, you can create something truly unique. Perhaps your wedding reception could be served by your favorite food truck.
Once your wedding is complete, a hay rack ride will take you, your wedding party, and the photographer for a ride across the property, making stops at the most scenic sites for those memorable pictures.
The wedding package includes linens and skirting for tables, set up and clean up, head tables, private suites for bridal party prep, indoor space for 300 guests, restroom and bar access, head table, cake table, beverage and snack tables, and bartenders.
Pricing: $3,000 – $5,000
Capacity: 300
Find A Prairie Lodge at A Prairie Lodge or check out Facebook.
