About Our Space
Iris Aisle is a Victorian greenhouse that sits amongst our cedar grove in Madison County, Iowa.
We built Iris Aisle ourselves, around the idea of creating a sanctuary where nature lovers could come to feel at home and be surrounded by medicinal plants and herbs and all of nature’s wonder, inside and out.
Simplicity is our goal here, so we only host events of 75 or fewer people. We knew we wanted this place to be geared toward smaller weddings, because there is no other place in Iowa that does. So many venues want to go big or go home, but that’s not us. Instead, we want to shift the mindset of what this day is truly about, how true connection with those you love the most is deeply important.
Aside from weddings, elopements, and vow renewals, we offer photo session rentals, bridal shower, baby shower, and proposal rentals, and we have goals to host artist retreats and herbalist classes in the near future.
Have a look around the space…
Couples who’ve said “I Do!” at Iris Aisle
Hey, we’re the Rameys!
Image by Figment Art Photography
It always begins with a dream though we didn’t think our dream would put us here in lil ol Winterset. Home of the Covered Bridges of Madison County. We are parents to a fearless little girl, husband + wife, wedding photographers, collectors of plants ( couldn’t guess that one, right?), herbalist enthusiast, hemp growers, tattoo artist, handyman, and professional toy picker upper. We bought our property on our daughter’s birthday in June of 2018. So how did we end up here?
Back up to the very beginning of this journey, we were inspired by our good friends, Kris + Phil, to enjoy life while living on the road… off road. We decided to sell our beautiful, character-filled home for a travel trailer. We wanted to work and live on the road for a while, and then choose our spot to settle down when the time came. We also planned to start looking for a place to have an intimate wedding venue. As wedding photographers, we always found ourselves drawn to those who enjoy the smaller things in life, find beauty in the outdoors, couples who have an itch in them for adventure. Well, it turns out we found our spot sooner rather than later. Just south of where we began.
It took Earl a few times of dragging me out to the property to try and convince me that this was THE place. Then the first heavy snow hit and he brought me back. This time, I was surrounded by the most gorgeous sight - a grove filled with cedar + spruce trees all weighed down by the snow. I was standing in the center of a dreamland. We walked around the property while our two year old was in awe of the giant trees filled with snow and quickly we started to point out where we thought the Conservatory might go, where we pictured the tiny little cabins sitting, and where the twinkling lights would hang. It was a done deal from there.
We didn’t know much about Winterset at that point, but we soon started to meet some pretty awesome, inspiring people with their own dreams for this area. Winterset ended up having so much to offer us, and was the perfect fit for what we wanted. A community full of art and small businesses.
In the beginning, we thought we would have to tear the old farmhouse down, but we began to see her potential. Now, we are excited to be living in the farmhouse ourselves, after restoring her back to the original character (and continuing to do so). You can follow our whole journey over on our social media channels.
- Raelyn + Earl + Eliisa + Ruby
We are located in beautiful and historic Winterset, Iowa
Once you book a tour with us, we’ll send you our address and driving directions via email. Please be respectful as Iris Aisle sits on the same property as our residence.