Wanting to start a Barn wedding venue

[Nicholas Rodgers]

Hello,

My wife and I are looking to open a wedding venue in Northwestern Indiana. Our idea would be to purchase a large property (10+ acres) that would have our main residence on it as well as an barn that we would renovate to use for weddings between 100 and 200 people.

My understanding is the agricultural barns would need to have a variance granted to operate as a commercial wedding venue. With that being said how would I go about ensuring that the property I am looking at can be zoned/permitted correctly before actually purchasing the property?

Thanks,

Nick