Castle Church now welcomes weddings, events, and photographers

MT. PLEASANT — A new intimate event venue is now open and ready for guests as Mark and Gina Burns have finally completed their tedious renovations of the old “Castle Church,” now known as Rival Sanctuary and Salon.

For 12 years Gina Burns dreamed of owning the Castle Church which was once the Congregational Church on East Washington Street.

“When God’s plan matched mine, the dream became a reality,” she said.

While the Burns took possession of the former church Jan. 1, 2022, and opened the salon portion of Revival May 1, the sanctuary needed many additional renovations before it could become a useful space again.

Their hard work to keep the integrity of this space was recently recognized as the Mt. Pleasant Historic Preservation Commission presented them with a Historic Preservation Award in May.

For just over a year, Mark and Gina, with the help of their four sons, worked hard to make Gina’s vision for the space come to fruition.

“I get the easy job because I get these visions of what I want something to look like,” Gina said. “The hard part falls on my husband's shoulders when I draw up my vision, and I say, OK, this is what we have to do to the space.”

“So then he gets to be the manpower that makes my visions a reality,” she said. “So, I would say the hard stuff falls on Mark. He gets to redo the lighting and, I don't know, make it beautiful to match the picture that I draw for him.”

“Every wall in that entire building has been replastered at this point, which in the sanctuary, the walls are very tall,” Gina said. “So, you can imagine four levels of scaffolding being up and replastering those entire walls. So, we called the boys in to help a few times when we were replastering one of the big walls. And thank goodness they were available to come, because it was such a big task that just the two of us could have never gotten it done.”

Now that the space is completed, Gina looks forward to the possibilities.

“Because we have the salon and sanctuary together in one building, a goal of ours is to be able to get a wedding party ready in the salon and then also hold the wedding in the sanctuary,” Gina said. “Although, I’m noticing most brides are booking their weddings like a year or two in advance.”

Realizing she may have to wait some time to fill up the space with wedding guests, Gina began thinking of other ways to use the space.

“Anyone who needs a stage for a speaker and a space for an audience will be able to rent it,” she said. “I’d like to have some continuing education classes for cosmetology and open it to anyone else wanting to hold classes.”

Gina excitedly shared about reaching out to Sarah’s Bridal to hopefully set up a wedding and formal gown fashion show and hopes to put together a concert series of worship nights with Christian bands.

“We’re just honestly being creative and trying to come up with ideas that we can utilize the space to get people in and let them appreciate such a beautiful venue,” she said.

Another way Revival will use the space is by renting it out for photography.

“Because we have so many beautiful backdrops throughout the building, I will rent the whole space to photographers,” Gina said. “If anybody wanted to rent the space for photo shoots for a day or rent it for senior pictures or engagement pictures or anything like that, of course we're available for that for photographers as well.”

For Gina, the sanctuary will always hold more significant meaning than just the beautiful features like the chandelier covered in greenery or the hand painted gold trim around the arch ways.

“Sometimes I feel like, yeah, people come to the church because it looks like a castle and it's a beautiful place to come and relax and be pampered, but other times I feel like people are drawn in there because they need to feel closer to God,” she said. “So, if we can be that bridge for people, then that's what we're supposed to do.”

“I feel like my job at Revival is a mission field of sorts, where we just remind people of the big part that God plays in all of our lives and how we need to keep our eyes on Him,” Gina said. “So, it's helpful for me and helpful for others that come in.”

“I just feel like the most important part of the entire church renovation was that we kept the sanctuary as a space to honor God,” Gina said. “I love that about the sanctuary. Oftentimes I start my day in there just on my knees thanking Him for the day and for choosing us to be stewards of his house.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com