Frequently Asked Questions

We welcome your questions!  Here are a few that we’ve heard a time or two.  If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please Contact Us!

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We’re excited to open our new Studio Room in 2024. This elegant space offers 2,000 square feet and several unique features! Check out the floor plan here and scroll down for more details!

The Gallery Room
Opened in December of 2017, The Gallery Room boasts 6,000 square feet on a single level and a 450 square foot wedding party suite upstairs in a private area. The Gallery Room has hosted hundreds of weddings, corporate parties, political events, and fundraiser galas. We’re very thankful to the clients that have trusted us with these special days.

The Gallery Room Improvements

The Gallery Room

The Gallery Room

  • The addition of a textured marble tile wall with a brass surround provides a beautiful backdrop for a wedding ceremony, photo wall or lounge area.
  • The Gallery Room has gotten a fresh new paint makeover with a warmer, more welcoming shade of white. This includes the entire ceiling and our distinctive metal trusses. The result is a cleaner look with ultimate decorating flexibility.
  • Our Gallery Room Wedding Party Suite has been upgraded with a full height wall providing additional privacy. The Wedding Party Suite also has a pair of narrow windows for a great view of the event space below.
  • Additional brass chandeliers have been installed adding an elegant lighting option for events.
  • Our moveable white walls are ready to provide great options for backdrops and signature drink walls, Moscow Mule wall, anyone?!

The Studio Room Features

The Studio Room

  • Our beautiful textured marble feature wall, with brass highlights graces the north wall of The Studio Room. This wall is great for ceremony backdrops and lounge areas.
  • We’ve included a photo nook with a beautiful wall covering for great event snapshots. We’ve also included a ceiling mounted electrical outlet to make plugging in a lighted sign super easy!
  • Glass garage doors on the south and east end of The Studio Room make enjoying our wrap-around patio space easily accessible. Fresh air and cocktails!
  • Submersive music and custom playlists fill the room with music of your choice.

Overall Curate Features

  • New elegant white cocktail tables are included with rental.
  • White art gallery pedestals are also available for decoration or cocktail tables.
  • The two rooms are connected via a pass-through hallway that is open for events using both spaces and closed with sound proofing for independent events in each room.
  • Access to the restroom facilities is available to each room independently.
  • Beautiful new patio lighting has been installed on both The Gallery Room and The Studio Room patios along East Court Avenue.
  • 60″ Round Tables
  • Silver Chiavari Chairs with White Seat Cushions
  • Curate provides Setup and Tear Down of items provided by Curate
  • Reasonable Fees for A/V Needs (Projector/Microphones)
  • Curate partners with several hotels and parking providers in the East Village.
  • We can host any event – providing event space, catering and bar service along with advanced technical services to make your event a smash!


We’d love to show you our space so that you can imagine your event with us!

The best way to contact us is to complete our Contact Form – fill this out and we’ll contact you promptly.

If you’d prefer, you may email us at events@curatedsm.com or call us at 515-523-0147.

Curate has many amenities including best-in-class technology, made easy for any event! Basic AV needs are included with event rental, advanced needs can be procured with Curate’s assistance from our local AV partners

Audio and Video
  • Beautiful Uplighting for any occasion
  • Access to House Music
  • Multiple wireless microphone rental options
  • Multiple Mixer Inputs for other audio sources
  • Apogee Professional Amplification and Speakers
  • High-Resolution 4K LED Projector Permanently installed
  • Mobile Tabletop Projector with AV cart
  • Pro-Grade Subwoofers for rental for extra bass sound
Wi-Fi
  • Professional-Grade Ubiquiti Unifi System
  • 802.11ac Wave 2 MU‑MIMO technology allows Curate Wi-Fi to communicate with multiple clients at the same time, significantly increasing multi‑user throughput and overall user experience
  • Capable of handling 200+ Connections
  • High-Speed Fiber-Optic Internet Connections.

Additionally, Curate can provide and manage rental of equipment and staging for any event type. Curate will coordinate with our partners to provide simple risers (staging), photo risers and audio for press, additional amplification and speakers for a “live band” setup along with custom lighting for a truly memorable event.

Power outlets have been thoughtfully placed walls for ease of access. Ceiling trusses have been equipped with power for hanging additional lighting or other decorations that may require power.

Payment will be made via check or credit card.  The deposit (50%) is due at the time of booking. The remainder of the event space rental will be due 90 days before the event. Curate will also collect a refundable damage deposit at this time.

The cancellation policy is outlined in our Rental Agreement.

Rental Deposits are non-refundable.

The best way to contact us is to complete our Contact Form – fill this out and we’ll contact you promptly.

You may also contact us at events@curatedsm.com or by calling us at 515-523-0147. We’ll get in touch with you to discuss your needs.

The last thing we want to do is to make things complicated! Since Curate is owned by Taste! To Go we can be a single contact for ALL of your needs!

Our team will guide you through the rental and proposal process and bring in Taste! To Go when it is appropriate so that you don’t have to worry about which team member to contact!

Taste! To Go has been catering in the Des Moines area for over 20 years.  Our professional and courteous staff has experience providing the perfect custom menu for your event.  Our client-driven approach is to get to know you and discuss your needs, then provide a custom menu based on what we learn.

If Curate is not the right fit for your event, please visit our Catering website at http://tastetogo.net. You can contact us at sales@tastetogo.net or call us at 515-277-8646.

Curate and Taste! To Go provide a full bar service.

Bars

  • Taste! To Go has years of experience providing bar services
  • Curate and Taste! To Go have a liquor license for the space, so no special arrangements need to be made.
  • Curate has a number of popular cocktail, wine and beer choices to choose from.
  • We’re known for our adventurous specialty cocktails – we have fun working with you on creative ideas!
  • Bringing alcohol into Curate is not permitted.

There are several convenient options for parking in the East Village.

Parking Lot

Curate has a parking lot for use by Curate clients.  Additionally, the parking lot directly to the north of Curate is available to our clients after 5PM on weekdays and all hours on weekends.

Nearby Ramps

  • The City of Des Moines parking garage located at 402 E. 2nd Street is very close to Curate!

    East 2nd Street Garage
    East 2nd Street Garage
  • Ramp parking is also available at 312 E. 6th Street.
  • Free parking is available at the State of Iowa Parking Ramp at 637 Des Moines St.
  • There’s also a ramp on East Fourth Street, across the street from Zombie Burger at 501 E Fourth.

Street Parking

  • Over 1000 on-street parking spots are available in the East Village.
  • The new PARK DSM app is super easy to use. More Info Here
    • Meters are enforced 9am to 9pm Monday through Saturday.
    • Meters on East Court Avenue are only 25¢ per hour!

Additional Options

  • Curate partners with several downtown hotels that offer free shuttle service, both to and from the hotel, to Curate and other downtown destinations!
  • Curate has a relationship with Keck Parking to provide Valet Parking services.
    • Curate manages the event, makes sure the parking meters in front of Curate are blocked and we’ll manage the valet staff. Let us know if you’d like a quote, pricing varies by the number of attendees you expect for your event.

Curate is conveniently located along East Court Avenue in the Historic East Village of Des Moines.  Many hotels operate within an easy walk, or hotel shuttle ride, from Curate!

Here are the hotels nearby listed in order of distance from Curate.

The Gallery Room has a private area that can be accessed via stairs for the Wedding Party. This room is 450 square feet and is totally private to the event space!


Curate’s new Studio Room (2,000 square feet) can be rented as a luxurious bridal suite for a larger group.

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Additionally, our neighbors in the building (Molly’s Frozen) have cake decorating classrooms that we can transform into Bridal Suites!

Additional rental fees apply to all of these rooms.

Curate was designed to be a clean, artistic canvas for your event.

Crisp white walls, polished concrete floors, beautiful arched ceilings and modern amenities make Curate the best venue for you to express yourself!

We’d love to collaborate with you for simple decor that really pops in Curate. Simple candles and floral can make a big difference.

You are welcome to decorate the room yourself, we have limited restrictions on decorations!

Curate includes custom uplighting adjustable to your event’s style.

If you’d like some help, Curate recommends these fantastic floral / decor vendors to work in Curate:

Bella Flora

Something Chic

White Willow

Wild Flower

Curate recommends these great decor vendors to work in Curate:

Beyond Elegance

Vintage Love

Curate, in Downtown Des Moines’ exciting East Village, boasts over 6,000 of square feet of event space in the Gallery Room. Curate’s new Studio Room has over 2,000 square feet and can be secured with or without the Gallery Room. Curate’s clean art-gallery look allows for ultimate decorating flexibility. The Gallery Room also has a bridal room upstairs. Each room has access to manicured patio space.

Rental Includes

  • All Setup & Tear Down: All that is required of you is for you or your decor vendor remove the decorations at the end of the event. Room flip charges may apply for Ceremony and Reception.
  • Cocktail Tables
  • Artistic White Cube Pedestals for Decorating and for use as Cocktail Tables
  • 60″ Round Tables and 85″ Square White or Black Linens (Upgrades available)
  • 6′ and 8′ Banquet Tables with floor length white or black linens for Gift Table, Head/Kings Table and DJ Table
  • Steel Chiavari Chairs with White Seat Cushions

The beautiful space also includes

  • Beautiful spacious restrooms, no waiting!
  • Access to a Robust WiFi Network
  • Beautiful Custom Lighting
  • Projectors available for event use rental
  • Built-in Audio System with wireless Microphones

Catering and bar service is expertly provided by Taste! To Go