The Pickering Barn is a historic farm site dating back to the 1800s. Simple charm, agriculturally industrial architecture, & scenic grounds create a memorable setting for you & your guests.
The venue offers multiple options for indoor & outdoor ceremonies & receptions, with a capacity of 350. All rental rates include the use of the entire facility.
Pickering Barn is operated by the City of Issaquah. We offer an open-door catering policy, so you can design the event of your dreams!
Dawnelle Renfro(bride)1 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 01-02-2022 Signed a contract before all the mandates and what not due to covid and on 10/19/2021 we get an email saying we now need to check everyone's vaccine status... Okay cool.Then on 1/12/2022 Jera decided that they can no longer set up or tear down tables per the contract so they are willing to dock $500 off the rental fee. Well that wasn't going to work for us since it is a small wedding and no one to help us set up and tear down, so I asked for a full refund due to a contract change on their end. Jera refused and said \"Fine we will do set up and tear down for you but we will keep the rental fee what was previously agreed upon\" So that was fine, but I was tired of the all the changes and so we decided to cancel. Had to follow up with the event supervisor (Jera) and finally she started to process the refund, Well that was done wrong so it credited my \"city of Issaquah\" account. So today I email/call and say \"hey it is sitting as a credit in Perfect mind, can you just cut me a check or do you know how to get it on my card\" about an hour later I get a notification that they charged my card for $500. I call and Call and email and the only way Jera will respond to me is by email. Jera would not answer my calls, would not call me back. Later told me she doesnt know how to do refunds when she has worked for the city for 18 years now. Finally they (Her co-worker Milissa) figured out how to get me my refund, by check, that has to get signed by city counsel. Cool, that was on the 7th, I was told checks would go out on the 8th. It is now 9 days later and I am finally seeing the check but when I reached out to Jera 4 times now about still not seeing it, not one response. The lack of response from Jera is disheartening and I would not recommend anyone to work with her. Reviewed on 17-02-2022
Kristine Fu(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 05-07-2019 We loved our wedding experience at Pickering Barn. It is a beautiful venue with lots of space and can accommodate a huge number of people. The great thing about Pickering Barn is that it is almost like a blank canvas, so you can decorate to your hearts desire and get really creative, or you can just use the beauty of the rustic venue with minimal decorations. It's also in a great location - you get the full Barn experience without having to drive out to the middle-of-nowhere Washington, they have plenty of parking space for your guests, and it is right across from Costco. There is a huge grounds space and so many different locations to take your pictures. There are at least 3 locations where you can hold your ceremony so there are tons of options. We held our ceremony on the outdoor lawn/courtyard in front of the gazebo which turned out amazing, and the reception in the Dairy Barn. Pickering Barn comes with tables and chairs which the staff will set up for you, but you will need to pretty much bring everything else. This really worked in our favor because they let you choose your vendors, bring your own drinks and alcohol (which saved us a lot of money) and we did a lot of DIY. They have two lovely dressing rooms, one as the bridal suite and the other as the grooms room. Jera was great to work with and answered all our questions promptly, and they let us drop off lots of decorations prior to our event which helped so much. The Dairy Barn was a lovely reception space, but it was a little echo-y for some of the speeches, although this may be because we didn't end up using the sound system that comes with Pickering Barn and instead just used our DJ's speakers that he brought. They are pretty strict with their decorating rules as well - for example we would have loved to use sparklers but those are not allowed. Their rental prices are very reasonable, but you do end up paying $200 for each extra hour, which we decided to add a few to help give us time to finish decorations and set up. Overall, we loved Pickering Barn and they were so friendly and accommodating and we never had any problems with them. We had a lovely wedding and would do it at Pickering Barn all over again if we had to. Reviewed on 21-08-2019
Emma Hanis(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 24-05-2019 Would do it all over again at Pickering Barn if I could. They were attentive to our needs and had someone onsite with us at all times. It also was a beautiful venue and having the entire property to ourselves for the day was a plus. It also was nice having tables and chairs included and set up upon arrival Reviewed on 03-08-2019
Amy B(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 22-12-2018 What a great venue! Eena was extremely helpful and responsive throughout the entire process. The barn was the perfect place to host a Christmas wedding! Reviewed on 28-02-2019
Melody Pride(parent)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 16-09-2018 Our daughter’s wedding was So beautiful!! Thank you Eena for all your help, we planned this wedding from Las Vegas, I live in Vegas and our daughter lives in Washington. We had a very small wedding and we decorated everything ourselves we were on a very tight budget, The Pickering Barn was the perfect place. Reviewed on 24-10-2018
Yuliya Klimenko(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 24-06-2018 Beautiful venue. Was really hot on my wedding day and no AC. Guests left early. Otherwise I’d say it was an amazing venue Reviewed on 02-09-2018
Taryn Leising(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 27-01-2018 This was a great venue to choose if you have the ability to bring in a lot of your own decorations. I was lucky enough to have a family that helped me out with a ton and we were able to recreate the space to what we wanted it to be. The venue itself has little to no decorative elements (other than the aesthetic of the barn itself). For the most part, it was a great venue and fit the look I was going for. The only downside is that because it is a city owned building, there are very strict things that you cannot do and you have to pay for basically anything extra that you might want from them including rehearsal and more than their set amount of time. But if you have a large guest list like we did, it really is a nice space that you can do a lot with. Reviewed on 08-04-2018
Camille Scalise(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 18-11-2017 I absolutely LOVED my wedding at the Pickering Barn. The staff was easy to work with and the space was large enough for my 200+ person wedding! Reviewed on 14-12-2017
Kim Cheeney(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 05-11-2017 Loved the Pickering Barn!The employees were so friendly and accommodating, the venue was the perfect size (we rented both the dairy and the hay barn in order to separate the 300 person dinner area from the live band and dancing), and the price was budget-friendly!Our only faux pas was not renting the heater system for the hay barn. It snowed on our wedding day and it was very chilly! Highly recommend! Thank you to the city of Issaquah. We loved working with you for our wedding. It was the perfect day. Reviewed on 01-12-2017
Adrienne Calderon(groom)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 25-03-2017 We loved our day! The entire process was extremely easy and everything was spelled out for us. Office staff were quick to respond to all our questions and staff on site the day of our event were extremely helpful. I would recommend this venue over and over. It is a wonderful blank canvas to personalize and make your own. Reviewed on 29-10-2017
Shannon Reynolds(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 22-09-2017 This venue is fantastic. Beautiful, plenty of space, great backdrops for photographs both indoor and outdoor. It is a great price for what you get and setup and cleanup help were included. Reviewed on 02-10-2017
Rachel Jones(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 25-06-2017 Even on the hottest day of June, the Pickering Barn was beautiful. The staff worked to provide us fans to keep us cool and create ways for our guests to survive the heat. They helped us clear out the venue so quickly and stayed incognito the whole time. Definitely worth pursuing and seeing if this beautiful red barn is your soon to be perfect day! Reviewed on 03-08-2017
Thavanh Phanivong(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 10-05-2017 This was a great place to get married and have the reception in one place. Reviewed on 25-07-2017
Ellie Morales(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 09-04-2017 We loved having our wedding at the Pickering Barn! We chose it mostly because of the size, as we had a guest list of about 250 and most venues in our price range could only hold about 100. It is so beautiful too! I wasn't involved in the set up/tear down but everything seemed to go very smoothly with the staff helping. The only bummer for us is that because its a government owned venue, we weren't able to bring our own homemade food for the reception like we were hoping to do. The venue is right across the street from Costco so we ended up buying all our food there and bringing it over, which worked out fine. Overall we loved it and highly recommend! Reviewed on 10-05-2017
Leah Shelp(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 02-01-2017 We loved the venue, it was perfect for our winter wedding (important to get heaters as guests were still a little cold). The only thing we didn't like was the speakers during the reception- they were pretty quiet and a little fuzzy at times making it less of a party vibe for dancing. Reviewed on 03-04-2017
Jennifer Nguyen(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 19-11-2016 This was my first choice for a venue because it had a beautiful outdoor space for photos, beautiful indoor space for a fall wedding and had the capacity we needed to accommodate our LARGE Asian family. It really had everything I was looking for in a venue. We kept it simple with decor and wanted the venue to stand out on it's own. However, during set up, I was under the impression that with all the information I had provided with where the tables were to go, that the staff would be aware of this. But instead I had family and friends calling me and asking where the tables were to go. I even arrived early to help with finishing touches and get dressed, and found that I still had to ask for little things such as where another table was to be present in the lobby and an easel. Regardless, the staff was amazing, helpful and very easy to work with. I loved it! Reviewed on 27-01-2017
WISTEN KLEIN(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 07-08-2016 Just had my wedding here, August 7th. The venue was beautiful and perfect on the day of. The tables were set up and there were no hiccups to complicate things. The only thing that upset me was no being able to do a sparkler exit and that because the wedding was on a Sunday we had to be out by 10 pm. Most guests that worked the next day either left early or stayed till last call so it ended up being fine but I was a little sad that it was still light out for the dancing Reviewed on 27-08-2016
Kristin Gill(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 10-07-2015 We wanted a barn atmosphere, but didn't want our guests to have to drive far or stay far away. Pickering Barn was the perfect location, close to hotels. We were able to bring in all of our own vendors, so we could use whoever we wanted. They were really easy to work with and helped to make everything run flawlessly! If I could re-do my wedding day, I would have it at Pickering Barn again in a heartbeat! Reviewed on 23-09-2015
Jensen Berry(parent)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 22-05-2015 My daughter was married at Pickering Barn in May 2015, and they could not have been any more friendly and accommodating! I am in the wedding business, so I understand the importance reviews hold with clients. I give this venue the HIGHEST of recommendations...they were an absolute pleasure to work with. All of that PLUS gorgeous grounds...absolutely PERFECT! Reviewed on 31-07-2015
Whitney Blackstone(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 11-07-2015 This venue was absolutely stunning. It also had the tables, chairs, and equipment needed included (which keeps down rental costs). It was so beautiful and big to accommodate my entire extended family! The bummer is that I did it on a Saturday and because of the Farmer's Market you can't get in to set up until 3 PM. You have to have guests leave by 11 PM because you need to be cleaned up and out by midnight. If you are looking to dance into the night, it can't happen at this venue. Overall, it was clean, spacious, and beautiful. Lots of different setting for pictures! Reviewed on 28-07-2015
a member (bride)5 out of 5 Rating
This is such a spectacular venue, especially for a large wedding. Beautiful for a large outdoor (or indoor) wedding, convenient large indoor room for sit-down reception, tons of beautiful spots for photos, lots of available parking, and it's SO AFFORDABLE. I had the flexibility of going with my own vendors, and bringing my own bar supplies. We got gorgeous pictures by the gazebo and walking out in the little trail and finding nature spots for photos. It was so much fun. The staff was very expeditious transitioning from the ceremony to the reception too! Everyone was really helpful. I would highly recommend this venue to anyone trying to plan a big wedding (mine was 400 people). I love Pickering Barn! Reviewed on 06-11-2014
Juanita Ricks(groom)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 10-08-2014 While there is no perfect venue, I found Pickering Barn to come as close as possible. From the time we met the staff to reserve the site to the day of the wedding, the staff was helpful, provided information about open houses where we could bring wedding party members, family and friends to see the venue. If staff were on site, they took time to answer any questions that needed to be asked. The day of the wedding, August 10, 2014, the staff was most helpful to the wedding planner with setup and tear down after the wedding. I have recommended and will continue to recommend Pickering Barn as a wedding site. Reviewed on 11-10-2014
Rachel McDonald(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 16-08-2014 Fantastic venue! Staff were very helpful- everything looked beautiful! They provide chairs and tables (set up / take down). They also do a fabulous job with landscaping. We loved that we could bring in our choice of catering and have both indoor / outdoor space. Reviewed on 08-10-2014
Meryl (bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 05-09-2014 Such a gorgeous venue. Also its affordable. You don't work much with the people who run it directly, but if you have a coordinator or planner that doesn't become a problem. Reviewed on 22-09-2014
Susie More(parent)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 17-06-2014 Our wedding at the Pickering Barn was truly amazing! We fell in love with the venue immediately and loved the idea of having an open canvas to do what we wanted with! It was spacious and the grounds were very pretty - and incredibly affordable. The staff were very attentive in answering my questions quickly during the months of planning and were very easy to work with. The open houses were helpful too. Everything went off without a hitch! Thank you Pickering Barn for the great memories. Reviewed on 15-08-2014
Cyndee Eason(bride)3 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 05-07-2014 This place is beautiful in the summer. It was an open space that really had what we wanted because we had kids coming to the wedding. BUT the coordinator Jera was AWFUL to work with. It became a lot more work than we had really thought out with the all DIY concepts. It turned out beautiful all in all but I wouldn't do the ALL DIY again! Reviewed on 13-08-2014
Kati Naish(bride)3 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 01-02-2014 We had a 200 person wedding at Pickering Barn and the setting and wedding day was absolutely perfect! It is a perfect setting for a \"rustic/country\" wedding. We used the Hay Barn for our ceremony and the Dairy Barn for our reception. The setting was beautiful (except for the big construction crane next door) and very conveniently located. \r\rHowever, I have to say that the event coordinator, Jera Gilmore was a nightmare to work with. We had pre-paid for our rehearsal dinner but she booked a different event on the SAME evening so we were forced to do our rehearsal the morning of our wedding! Every time we had a question for her she would send us a condescending email response with very little information. We were actually scared to ask her anything because she made us feel like we were a huge burden - I actually had to turn all communication over to my fiance because she was so rude to me. We spoke with her manager about it and asked if there was someone else we could work with but he just said that \"that is how she is, she is very efficient.\" We were not pleased with his response - we were spending a lot of money on the venue and wished that they could have been more accommodating. So, brides - if you are going to need a lot of guidance from a venue I would not recommend Pickering Barn. Reviewed on 19-02-2014
Molly Reardon(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 05-07-2013 It was great. Beautiful with flower baskets and affordable venue. Best part is being able to choose own caterer and wedding planner. Reviewed on 23-07-2013
Ashley DeFrang(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 22-05-2013 At first the space was a little intimidating when considering decorations, because the Pickering Barn is huge! But once it was filled with out guests and decorations it was the most gorgeous venue I could have imagined. Jera was super helpful, contacting her through email was a breeze which I was thankful for because sometimes a bride just doesn't want to pick up her phone! Reviewed on 12-06-2013
Amanda Gossage(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 28-09-2012 My wedding turned out JUST BEAUTIFUL! Thanks in large part to the wonderful flowers/gardens at this venue. The barns also offer a rustic (hay barn) or steam punk (dairy barn) feel for whatever wedding you want to have. It's expensive, but you're paying for quality. They have all the chairs, tables, & MANY of the extras you need for you big day, as well as helpful attendants to setup/teardown so you don't have to worry about it. And, unlike some places, they are honest with their assessment of your deposit return -- a very admirable quality in an industry that loves to take money from brides/grooms. Reviewed on 15-10-2012
Kristen Troeh(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 31-08-2012 Pickering Barn was absolutely gorgeous! All of the flowers were blooming during my wedding (late August), which made for the perfect pictures and setting. Also, I loved that I could do my ceremony (outside), reception (big barn), and dancing (small barn) all at one venue. \r\rMy only problem with the venue was the lack of customer service that was received by people helping out in my wedding and by myself. Certain issues did make it hard to have an overall perfect experience. (Hence the 4 stars)\r\rOtherwise, my wedding was perfect and I loved the venue :) Reviewed on 26-09-2012
holly andre(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 26-08-2012 I loved having my wedding at the pickering barn. Such a beautiful place and all the venues employees were so nice and helpful!! Reviewed on 12-09-2012
Carli Smith(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 18-08-2012 What a beautiful venue! The flowers were in full bloom ready for some gorgeous pictures! They really do great job with the upkeep of the venue and keeping it picture perfect!\r\rThe staff was very strict with a lot that we did. For instance, we had peanuts in the hay barn on top of all the cocktail tables and they made us take them off because a few people were throwing them on the ground. Kind of ruined the look of the tables. They also were very concerned when my sister came to pour me a glass of champagne before the toast with the bottle because she wasn't the bartender. It was getting a little ridiculous throughout the night with all the little things. I wish they would've relaxed a little. \r\rThe value of what you get is awesome. You really get a lot for what you pay for. The staff sets up the tables and chairs and you do the rest. You really do need to hire quite a few companies to help with everything though which is how it adds up. Overall, I would recommend to friends and family. Reviewed on 05-09-2012
Jennifer Anderson(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 17-03-2012 We had a great experience having our wedding at Pickering Barn. The staff was very helpful and everything went smoothly. Reviewed on 03-04-2012
Karla Slate(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 22-11-2012 This beautiful barn set the stage for my country/rustic meets modern wedding. The staff was great, it was so easy to get in, set-up and tear down. I would highly recommend it for a location - and not too far away either. Reviewed on 16-02-2012
Lindsay Karstetter(bride)4 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 06-05-2011 The venue was wonderful, and a clean slate for decorating any way you would like. The rustic look of the barn makes for a beautiful ceremony, and fits 200 guest very comfortably.\rThe only down sides are that you must end your reception by 11:00pm and be out and fully cleaned up by midnight. The other MAJOR down side was working with their wedding coordinator, Jera. She is an absolute nightmare. Although she confirmed our request for an additional 2 hours of reception time and approved our decoration plan 7 weeks in advance, we were told less than a week before the wedding that we never asked for extra time and our decorations were \"against their regulations\". She then forced my mother to prove to her that we received her email confirming our time request, and every time I emailed her with a question, she would simply copy and paste the wording from their regulations list. She is a customer service nightmare and never once said anything pleasant such as a congratulations. Our experiences with Jera definately took away from our magical day. Reviewed on 24-05-2011
Lindy Wood(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 10-09-2010 I was very pleased with the Pickering Barn. We used it for both ceremony and reception. The event planner and staff were always friendly, prompt, and efficient. Reviewed on 16-11-2010
Amy McCurdy(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 27-08-2010 The pickering barn was a beautiful location. Lots of space for flexiblity (inside or outside ceremony). I used outside (gazebo) for the ceremony, dairy barn for dinner, and hay barn for dancing! In the summer you hardly need anything to decorate outside the grounds have so much in bloom. Reviewed on 04-10-2010
Cameron MacFarland(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 27-07-2007 I loved that we could decorate the facility the way we wanted. The reception venue came with all the tables and chairs that we needed for the ceremony and reception. It was nice that we could bring in our own vendors. It was a nice atmosphere for our guests. Reviewed on 10-05-2010
Debbie Lambro(bride)5 out of 5 Rating Wedding Date 19-07-2008 Loved the outdoor space for wedding...lots of flowers and arbors. Reception had lots of doors leading out to outdoor courtyard. Reviewed on 17-11-2008
With several years of experience in events & weddings, and as a newly married gal myself, I look forward to answering your questions about Pickering Barn. Another member of our sales team, Tavi will also be a great point of contact for you through the booking process. We're here to get you to \"I Do\"!