We are one of a kind wedding and reception venue located near the Omaha metro. Our facility is surrounded by native wild flowers, grasses and trees.
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We are a unique wedding and reception facility located just 25 minutes east of the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro. The beauty of our glass chapel is that you feel like you are having an amazing outdoor wedding but you are in the comfort of a climate controlled building regardless of what cards Mother Nature deals you on your special day. Your guests will appreciate the convenience of our reception space just a short (and very beautiful) walk away!
09/21/2024
When Maya and Alex said “I do,” yesterday it wasn’t just a wedding, it was the ultimate party! They designed the floor layout so they wouldn’t feel on stage but part of the party - and wow did it work!
And let’s talk about how they utilized our outdoor deck - cocktail hour in the fresh air with some gorgeous scenery and dancing the night away under the stars.
What (or maybe we should say who) really stole the show though was their adorable pup, Oliver.
Congratulations Maya and Alex!
Full Service Planning & Event Coordination: Magnolia Events & Creations
Floral & Event Design: Magnolia Events & Creations
DJ & Photo Booth: Ackerman Weddings & Events - DJ & Photobooth
Caterer: Elegant Edge Events
Cake: Wenday's Bakery & Culinary Adventures
09/20/2024
It’s that time of year again where we remind everyone traveling on the rural roads to allow for some extra time. With our property surrounded by farmland, the odds are pretty good that you will come upon some farm equipment on your way out to our place.
Both Shane and I come from families with strong ties to farming, so we know that during harvest the days are long and the rest is short. Thank you to all the farmers and all the people that support them!
Remember, if you ate today, thank a farmer!
09/19/2024
Sunset tours are the best 🌅
09/14/2024
It’s Saturday so you know what that means…
Congratulations Abby & Colton!!
09/13/2024
Yesterday, I (Shane) attended the Supervisors meeting in Logan where I proposed additional land to be rezoned in order for us to expand our operation further in our next steps to give clients and guests an experience that we believe will be second to none.
With that said, I am happy to announce that we were approved!
Stay tuned this fall and off season. It’s gonna be a busy one around here!
09/06/2024
We’re on a roll with the weather lately! The flowers are showing off right now and went perfectly with the decor today.
Congratulations Stephanie and Brandon!
08/31/2024
A gorgeous day to end the month! Congratulations Dee and Gayle!
08/29/2024
As a family owned and family ran business, back to school time means more than just packing lunches and checking homework. It also means saying goodbye to a big chunk of our workforce!
Our kids have grown up alongside our business - from passive little watchers in their baby carriers to active participants in the day-to-day grind. They’ve learned the ropes just as much here as they have in their classrooms. That’s the beauty of a family ran business – everyone chips in, learns, and grows together.
It’s always a bittersweet moment having them transition from being around all day everyday to being away at school and activities, but we’re so proud of the hard work and dedication they have shown at both the business and school. The good news? They’ll be back before we know it, bringing their energy and helping hands back to the family fold.
Here’s to another school year and another season of balancing family and business life!
08/24/2024
Today’s wedding is ready to get the party started!
Congratulations Mia and Izayah!
08/17/2024
Blue skies, birds singing and butterflies effortlessly floating through the air set the backdrop for today’s outdoor wedding.
All the little details put into this day were amazing! Congratulations Jenna & Robert!
08/08/2024
What a very welcome change in the weather this week for today’s wedding. Congrats Clarix & Tyler!
08/06/2024
08/04/2024
You know it’s going to be a great night when you’ve got signature drinks named after the dogs!
Congratulations Madison and Jesse!
08/01/2024
That was some wind storm last night! FYI, first thing this morning we thoroughly inspected the property and we’re relieved to say that no damage occurred to any buildings and no trees were blown over. All is well.
07/27/2024
Our vacation might be over now, but wedding season is back! And what better way to dive back in than with Madison and Trevor’s big day! These two are tying the knot today and we couldn’t ask for a sweeter way to get back into wedding mode.
Help us congratulate the soon to be newlyweds and wish them a lifetime of happiness!
07/16/2024
I (Shane) have done my best to keep my own spiritual beliefs or any beliefs for that matter away from business. With the way things are in the world these days, I decided to say to hell with it this morning.
Recently during a tour we had someone ask us what is it about our venue that sets us apart from other venues. Of course the obvious answer is to point out amenities, etc. The truthful answer is this..
I personally 100% believe in a higher power. It is the #1 thing that drives me everyday. It’s hard for me to open my eyes and look around and not believe that. I think it’s right in front of our faces.
My faith is what drives/guides me to keep building upon our property with my own bare hands when possible. Whenever possible we are reinvesting money back into the property to keep doing what we can to create my vision along with creating memories for couples on their wedding day that they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. I have never once given a crap about getting rich in this business. Money is just a tool, not a goal. My first thought has always been on how I can improve upon something or add onto the property and that’s where our money goes. Always has. Believe me, we aren’t buying fancy cars or going on luxurious vacations.
We believe in two people finding each other in this crazy world, make a commitment to one another and go put their set of stakes in the ground and make the absolute best go at it you can. It’s all part of our belief system. We truly believe wholeheartedly in this and why nearly every day of our lives revolves around our property in one way or another.
To us, we really don’t think of ourselves as a venue.
I guess that’s what I’d say sets us apart from other venues. We’re more than that.
07/12/2024
We originally took several weeks off in July in order to go up to Montana for vacation, but then the alpacas happened and we had to alter our plans. We decided on doing things closer to home and part of that included visiting my (Maritza) parents.
My father is a very talented artist and we got to see some of the progress he’s made on one of the paintings he’s doing for the cabin. It’s special not only as the scene is from a portion of the property down here, but it’s also something I’ll have as a reminder of him in the future.
Can’t wait to see them finished and hanging for all to enjoy!
07/07/2024
07/06/2024
Took our youngest 3 to a couple surrounding towns to spread some cheer at the nursing homes. I had to get creative with containers once I ran out of jars - there were so many! Regardless of what they were in, they still created a lot of smiles thanks to the generosity of yesterday’s bride who donated her flowers. Thank you, Elizabeth!!!
07/05/2024
Elizabeth and Robert’s wedding day has been nothing short of magical so far!
The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the love in the air is palpable. Days like this remind us that love is worth celebrating every single day. 💖Cheers to the happy couple!
07/01/2024
Just a friendly reminder to all of our couples that have fresh floral arrangements for their wedding & reception. If you would be interested in repurposing them after your day is done, we will gladly take them off your hands and distribute them to local retirement homes in the area for you. It brings such a big smile to the residents face and helps to brighten up the room!
06/30/2024
With the new addition of our cabin as well as adding Glamping to our property next year, our calendar for next season is booking up pretty fast. We are looking to add 2-3 employees starting next March.
If you are fun, energetic, hard working, show up on time and love to make people happy then please shoot us your resume along with a brief introduction as to why you feel like you would be a good fit.
We know that March is still a long ways out yet but we want to make sure we take the time to find the best employees we can as we continue to expand our business.
On this absolutely gorgeous day we are celebrating with Miranda and Garett. Loving all the yard games they put out for their guests!
Here’s to endless laughter, countless adventures, and a lifetime of happiness!
06/26/2024
Fourteen years ago on this day, Maritza and I took our vows to become husband & wife in the glass chapel. Boy, the property sure looked a whole lot different back then!
One of the very first goals we set for ourselves back then was to put our heart & soul into the property to create a venue that would be more than just a venue. We wanted to create an experience. We wanted to create memories for couples that they would carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Not only have we managed to add five children to our family over the years but we have also worked side by side on project after project to make our first initial goal a reality. It hasn’t been easy that’s for sure. In fact it’s been incredibly difficult but we kept pushing despite any road block we encountered. We did it by devoting ourselves completely to one another and always having each others backs. I can’t imagine having anyone else by my side. I love her more than words can say.
I can’t wait to see the things we dream up for the property over the next fourteen years for you all.
Stay tuned!
06/22/2024
One of our least favorite parts of running this business is turning over the buildings and property from one wedding to the next in such a short amount of time. It’s always a mad scramble and we’re doing it on short sleep. I was groaning and grumbling as usual this morning while we got the place ready for today.
With that said, one of our favorite parts of this job is when people arrive to start their day. There is something about seeing the smiles on peoples faces and the excitement that surrounds them. It makes the thoughts of being tired or sore just melt away. How many jobs allow you to be a part in celebrating one of the happiest days in people’s lives? Doing what we do is truly awesome.
Today we welcome Claire & Anthony as they start their long journey through life together. Congrats!
06/21/2024
All set up and ready to celebrate today with Miranda & Jacob. I decided to take a little stroll around the property and take a few pictures to share. What a beautiful day. Congrats you two!
06/17/2024
I kid you not, that is one of our daughters out there right now in her unicorn pajamas. She was crawling around on the ground with them earlier. Oh boy. Well she did tell us that she wants to be our future alpaca handler on days of weddings. I guess she was serious.
06/16/2024
First of all we’d like to wish all you fathers out there past & present a very special day today.
Second of all, if you’d like to drag your dear Daddy out to do something, we’ll be on the property this afternoon from 1-4 for those of you that would like to see the cabin and what we’ve been up to with that. If you didn’t know..
We decided to build a cabin on our property a couple of years ago. After several idea changes we settled on one. We worked with a great company out of Fremont, NE. Legacy Post & Beam took our idea and put it to a set of blue prints. They also supplied us with the basic materials to rough it in. Everything after that we were on our own.
I got started on pouring the concrete for the foundation in the fall of 2022. In March of 2023 Maritza and I began construction. Over the next couple months we worked nearly every day to get it roughed in. Unfortunately though once our wedding season started last year we were forced to put the brakes on the project for the remainder of that year. Just wayyy too much to do running this venue and trying to do construction. This past February though we were once again able to get started on it again and we pretty much have gone full throttle on it since.
Finally…we are happy to say that aside from some very minor finish work, the cabin is done. As with all our projects on the property since we’ve started, there were ups and downs but the ups have certainly outweighed the downs. What can I say, I get to spend my days and nights with my wife doing stuff that most people don’t get a chance to do. For that I feel blessed.
Well, here’s a photo dump of the process.
06/15/2024
We’re getting ready to celebrate today with Trudy & James. According to the radar it looks like we could be in for a soaker right about ceremony time. Something that is often overlooked on someone’s wedding day is what happens if it rains? The chapel takes that worry out of the equation. To tell you the truth, it’s actually pretty cool inside the chapel during a ceremony while it’s coming down outside.
06/08/2024
First looks are done and soon it’s on to the I do’s. Today we’d like to welcome & congratulate Bailey & Seth!
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Videos
Looks like I made an unexpected new friend this morning. Glad I had my phone in my pocket. (sorry about the slow motion video. Hit the wrong button)
We’re getting the property ready for tomorrows wedding and as I’m crossing the bridge over the pond I notice this little one grabbing a quick drink.
Thank you so much for everyone that stopped out today at our Open House. It was a great turnout! Lots of questions regarding lodging, but we’ll be addressing that very, very soon. In the meantime, we know many of you are anxious to hear the winners of our drawings! (Don’t mind our very vocal turkey in the background!)
Here are the winners for our currently booked clients:
$250 - Beth Zimmer
$500 - Anh Hoang
$750 - Olivia Reynertson
The winners for those not currently booked with us coming up as soon as we get the video uploaded!
In 1893 Shane McCool's great, great, grandparents bought the Zolck family farm from the railroad on which now sits Willow Creek. The creek however has nothing to do with how the McCools came up with the name. We’ll get to more of that later though. To this day there have been six generations of family that have lived on the farm. Shane McCool even recalls his Great Grandfather telling stories of traveling gypsies and Indians coming through to water their horses in the creek when he was a child. If the dirt from this farm could talk it would tell stories of love, family, hard work and helping one another out in times of need. The stories that the farm could tell truly are endless.
It was in 2002 that Gene & Peg McCool came up with the idea to construct a wedding chapel on their family farm for couples to have a unique country location to get married. They chose a spot nestled at the bottom of the valley of rolling hills right next to a creek. Shortly after deciding to go ahead with the project is when construction began, but of course they needed to come up with a name to call the business first. Within a matter of minutes the McCools came up with the name Willow Creek. When Shane played high school basketball he used to play against a little town named Willow Creek. It was a name that the family had always loved and it was at that moment that they would be known as Willow Creek as the umbrella for the Willow Creek Glass Chapel & the Willow Creek Barn as well as the future Willow Creek Trails.
Gene, Peg and their son, Shane, began construction on the bridal cottage first and then the bridge from that building to the chapel. Soon after they poured the concrete for the sidewalks. Peg was in charge of doing most of the landscaping with flowers, trees, etc. Gene hired a construction company to construct the majority of the chapel, although the McCools put their fair share of work in on that as well doing finish work - even recycling & refinishing old pews from a church in Missouri that are in the chapel to this day.
It was in 2009 that Shane and his wife Maritza took over running the day to day operations of the business full time after Gene & Peg took on a new business venture that took them away from the wedding business. It was in 2011 that Shane & Maritza began construction on a banquet hall which soon got a name change in 2012 to the Willow Creek Barn. During construction of the barn, Shane & Maritza received a hard hit when an early April 2012 storm came through, accompanied with near 70mph straight winds that ripped a good portion of the roof off. Six of the next eight days after that they received rain, and lots of it, which poured inside the barn destroying the flooring. Although they were down and out, they continued moving ahead with their project never letting anything get them down.
The whole idea behind the Willow Creek Barn started when Shane tore down some of a barn off of his Uncle's farm years ago that was going to be bulldozed over and burned. He constructed a couple of pieces of furniture out of the wood he reclaimed and it got him to thinking that you could probably build nearly an entire building out of recycled materials if you really put the effort in to it. Shane began with tearing down an out building on a friend's farm close to home. After that he was getting stuff here and there and even spent every waking moment he could driving all the way back and forth numerous times to Creston, NE reclaiming material from old farm buildings. Eventually he had enough to finish out the inside the way he wanted to and at the same time reclaim as much material as possible to give it a second life. About half of all you see on the inside of the barn is recycled/reclaimed material and is an accumulation of eight different buildings ranging from Wiota, IA to Creston, NE.
Despite nearly having their dreams sidetracked by a bad bit of weather, the McCools moved on and have not only completed this project, but have added on another 2600 square feet of deck and a bridge that spans across the pond to an open air outdoor area for couples to say their "I do's". Couples now have two options of where to get married - indoors or outdoors. They are now in the process of adding over two miles of boardwalk pathways for closer access to nature throughout the property that the business sits on. You won't find a location as unique as Willow Creek and you won't likely find anyone quite as hardworking as the McCools either.
When you come to visit Willow Creek you are in the country and there is no doubt about that. There is dirt, dust, mud and there are even things that could poke, scratch, sting or bite you. If you're really lucky on just the right day, when the breeze is blowing perfectly, you might even get a good whiff of pig manure in the air. Along with all of those things though comes a great deal of beauty and serenity on the property that you will not find anywhere else. Shane & Maritza are a laid back couple that up until the 2018 season did nearly everything themselves other than a few jobs that were necessary to hire out. Now they employ several people from the surrounding communities. They believe that marriage should be based on love, helping one another out in times of need, and a great deal of hard work. LOTS of hard work. With that lies the foundation to begin a family. For those reasons is why they choose to do what they do for a living.
Aside from the slight possibility of something maiming you out in the wilds of the country or getting your car a little dusty on a couple miles of gravel roads getting to Willow Creek, Shane & Maritza hope that everyone that spends their day with them has a remarkable time and they hope to see all of you that visit come back again and again for many decades to come.
