I try not to leave the house unless it's to go to a restaurant. So, I had no idea The Olympic even…read moreexisted. They apparently do weddings, events, and comedy shows. I was going there to see a Smashing Pumpkins cover band and a Foo Fighters cover band. (Our oldest daughter saw her first concert a while back, which was Foo Fighters in Denver, and she really wanted to go to this concert.) Anyway, I didn't know the place was a wedding venue. So, I was expecting the type of place one goes for a concert of cover bands. My first surprise was when I got on the elevator, and the only option was to go up. If I'm getting on an elevator to see a Smashing Pumpkins cover band, I'm expecting that elevator to take me down to a basement with sticky concrete floors. My second surprise was when the elevator opened to reveal a hallway with very nice floors. I'm pretty dense. So, my first thought was "Wow. This hallway is really nice for a hallway that leads to the type of place that would host a concert I would go to." It turned out that the whole venue was beautiful: high ceilings, chandeliers, floors that were probably laminate (but looked like wood floors to me), a bigger main room than I expected, a nice-sized bar area separated from the main room, a balcony with additional seating (and I think it's own bathroom, if I heard my wife and daughter correctly, which I may not have, because there was a concert going on). Also, I guess I was technically a designated driver, because my wife had a whiskey, and I guess it's pretty common for bars to comp sodas and other non-alcoholic drinks for DDs, but I was really surprised that they didn't seem to charge for any of the non-alcoholic drinks that the three of us had, though. Either that, or they were incredibly cheap. I think I had three or four iced teas. My wife had at least one whiskey, and two Cokes. My daughter had a Sprite. Our bill was $11.00 even. So, either everything but the whiskey was free, or my iced teas were free and everything else was incredibly cheap. I thought that was really nice. I would highly recommend The Olympic South Side Theatre to anyone who is looking for a place to host an event.

What a beautiful venue. We attended a Bob Marley Festival. It was wonderful. 4 bands beautiful…read morevenue with great acoustics. They have crystal chandeliers adorning the ceiling. Couches and comfy couches and chairs on the sides. Easily able to find parking and uber clean bathrooms for a concert venue. It is located in an old building on the second floor with both stairs and an elevator. All in all it was amazing!

Oh how I love this gorgeous boutique! The owners have decorated the space so beautifully, from…read morestamped flooring to personalized staging. The home decor inventory is ever-changing with current trends and beautiful classics. You can be assured to find something on any budget. Make sure to stop in frequently because M+M decorate according to the season. You can get some fabulous ideas!!! Moxie + Mortar has a variety of unique gifts such as jewelry, skin care, and handbags. There is a connecting space for wine tasting classes or private events. You are also welcome to enjoy a glass while lounging in front of the fireplace. It's spectacular!

I hadn't been to Hancher Auditorium since it was rebuilt-- having been destroyed in the 2008 flood…read moreand reopening in 2016. Well, I can say I finally got to see and experience this updated IC gem this weekend and it does not disappoint. My kiddos got me Mean Girl tickets for Mother's Day last year and alas, it was finally here! The show was dynamite, the venue was gorgeous, acoustics were great and staff were lovely. We got there insanely early, so parking wasn't an issue though I hear closer to showtime it can be! Tickets were priced as you'd expect. Even bathroom lines weren't horrendous, you got in and out no problem. Hancher offers many types of shows, and honestly many don't appeal to me but I appreciate the wide variety they showcase and all of the art they bring to Iowa City! When their new schedule comes out each year I am always sure to take a look, in hopes something catches my eye. I can't wait for my next time enjoying a show at Hancher!

This auditorium is beautiful! I attended a UI graduation here and it was great! The architecture of…read morethe building is fantastic. The sound inside during graduation was clear and the seats were comfortable. It would be a great place to attend a show.

If you haven't been out for a while, time to check out the new Nature Center about 1/2 mile from…read morethe old building. Environmentally friendly with many displays. Check their website for more info. They have a new room in the rear in which you can hear the birds in the backyard through microphones installed outside. Many activities for families, nature hikes, naturalist talks. Much to see.

Beautiful center - a hidden gem in my opinion! I attended a Yelp event here and absolutely fell in…read morelove! Great trails, relaxing areas, and I love that they offer events through out the season! Definitely a great place to visit for some rest and relaxation among nature!

This is a really cool monument in Iowa history. There is a lot of history to learn here, and the…read morebuilding architecture and decor is really neat. It's all free too! The only reason we didn't give it 5 stars is parking is a little difficult to obtain to get to the building, and there's not TONS of info in the building. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

A must-see in Iowa City. Free! Swing by here before or after you visit the Museum of Natural…read more History Museum in Macbride Hall. We've lived in Iowa City and worked on campus for a couple of years and (I'm embarrassed to say) finally visited. Pre-1857 Iowa City was the capital of the state of Iowa. This building is THE former state capital. I loved seeing how the building and its artifacts have been preserved. A heck of a lot of history here. We'll be back because there was a private event going on upstairs so we weren't able to explore those floors. Recommend. Consider donating to the museum/university's preservation efforts.

I can't say enough about how amazing Lisa was throughout the planning of and on the day of our…read morewedding! We are in NY, but got married at the Field of Dreams in Iowa, so Lisa made every effort to meet with us remotely at a time that worked best for us and find other amazing Iowa vendors. She sent us so many ideas and reminders and coordinated with our vendors which made the planning so much easier! Getting married at the Field of Dreams, we wanted our wedding to have a baseball theme, but no be too hokey. Lisa gave great ideas to make our day perfect. On the day of, Lisa had a timeline that we followed (with a some flexibility when necessary) and everything went flawlessly! She was extremely hands on--even her husband helped handle our dog between events when he needed help! We had nothing to worry about once things started rolling because Lisa had it all handled and coordinated our vendors to ensure that all of our needs were met. I highly recommend Lisa and would definitely do more events with her if we ever return to Iowa!

Everything we could have asked for, Lisa Syring delivered. She was comprehensive! Helped us manage…read moreour logistics and (maybe even more importantly!) our emotions ahead of our wedding. She was there for us all day on our big day and was a gentle yet firm hand when needed to move things along. We had a stunning experience getting married and Lisa was a huge huge help behind the scenes. Can't recommend her enough.

Unique Events was such an amazing company to work with. We planned our wedding in about 10 months…read moreand they made the process stress-free and manageable. We used their design, floral, and day-of coordination services. The design service was amazing. They got to know us as a couple, got to know our vibe, and then created a tailored design plan that truly incorporated every element we wanted and some that we didn't even know were possible! They stayed within our budget and did not pressure us to spend more. We were able to rent all of our needed items from them and used them for signage. We also paid for the set-up and tear-down services so felt incredibly stress free with the design of the wedding day. The floral was wrapped up in the design process and was also effortless. They gave us a full plan of which florals would be used for our bouquets and arrangements. On the day-of the flowers were beautiful and just as described. The day-of coordination was icing on the cake. Our coordinator, Kelli, was present for all of our design/planning meetings so it felt like she knew our wedding when planning the schedule. She was available to talk through all the details of our schedule and very communicative leading up to the wedding. On the day of my wedding I felt so calm knowing that the set up and coordination was in capable hands. I was able to focus on being in the moment and enjoy the whole day. They made clean-up seamless. Was the best use of money. Would do 100 times over!! Recommend Unique Events endlessly!

We worked with Travis and the Unique Events team for almost a year while planning our summer…read morewedding in the Quad Cities. We have nothing but praise for their work and would not hesitate to recommend UE's services to others planning a special event. We elected to work with Unique Events after a disappointing experience with another event planning group whose fee structure and policies were ambiguous, at best. From the outset, Travis and his team of event designers were responsive to our questions and took our interests, tastes, and goals for the wedding into consideration. UE worked within our budget to design and execute a truly outstanding event that felt personal, elegant, and seamless. A number of the vendors and countless guests have reached out to us with compliments for UE's exceptional service and design work. My partner and I planned the wedding from out of state, and therefore assigned a lot of responsibility to UE to manage not only their own design elements (incl. ceremony & reception decor, lighting, floral, linens, and numerous rentals) but also to oversee the "day-of" operations of eight other vendors. Throughout the planning process, Travis Newell's communication with us was prompt, clear, and courteous. He went above and beyond to ensure that the details we discussed were accounted for in revised event proposals and came prepared with questions and ideas to all of our conversations. He and the day-of coordinators even went so far as to meet with me (and one of the other vendors) at the venue three weeks before the wedding for a detailed walk through of the design and event timeline. The event coordinators, Ashley and Hannah, also provided exceptional service on the day-of, working tirelessly from 7am through midnight to liaise with vendors, party members and guests, and to attend to issues that arose. We were deeply impressed with their attentiveness and demonstrated capacity. Thank you so much, Unique Events! We couldn't have done it without you.

I have no complaints. Tony and his son did a great job with both the photo booth and as our DJ for…read moreour wedding. He took every request we had and played and hosted exactly the way we wanted. His emails were prompt and professional and we never felt like he was anything but great. He did last calls for the bar as well as got our toasts ready in a timely fashion. We even got to keep a cute little album of photos people took (which not every photo booth does included in your fee) and the flash drive as well. Definitely would recommend for a wedding!

First off, the DJ was personable, attired nicely and knew how to work his equipment. Why am I then…read moregiving him a bad review? Because he barely played any of the songs on my daughter's MUST play list and solely played what he wanted to play. I e-mailed him 2 days after the wedding and told him in very explicit but nice terms how disappointed we were in how the evening went. Guess what? The owner never answered my e-mail. That is not the way a true professional business should behave. If you can't take constructive criticism then get out of business. I went up several times to ask him when he was going to play a particular song and he would get all technical and talk about beats per second on the display. Really? Do I care about that? Hell no! Just play the song my daughter is paying u to play!! The DJ (Darrius) had his own agenda all night long, hit on some of the women there (NOT COOL) and refused to even play the last song she wanted. "I always play this song last" he said. DO NOT hire this company unless u want to be extremely disappointed. You are paying them to play what u have requested, not what they want. Out of the 25 must play songs he played maybe 10 and he played for 7 hours!! My daughter was a little drunk and she couldn't get through to him but after all is said and done, she's upset. We would have been better off and saved a lot of money by just bringing our own sound system and an IPod.