Minnesota-Minneapolis and St. Paul

Looking for a miracle....Inexpensive venue with an open liquor policy

Hello Ladies,


I need help or rather a miracle...I'm looking for a reception venue that will allow us to bring in our own liquor and have a random bartender serve our guests, that isn't going to send us into the poor house. We are covering the cost ourselves and my fiancé is starting nursing school this fall so this needs to be inexpensive.

Wedding details:

-Very limited budget (~$5,000.00-8,000.00 Total)

-Prefer North East burbs (White Bear, Stillwater) but definitely open to others

-Wedding date not set, will be on a Saturday, June, July or August of '14

-Around 175-200 guest

-Would also prefer open (or at least a little flexible) catering so we can have a fun delicious dinner buffet

-Prefer to have something different than an indoor basketball court like White Bear Armory is

-PEC, Summit Manor and the St.Paul University club are all out of our budget.

If none of this is possible....how about a venue with really cheap drinks? 

I've been engaged for three weeks and I'm already really frustrated with how much these venues get away with charging and they won't let us do ANYTHING personal. Every body is offering the same chicken or beef with gravy or mushrooms and we really want to make this wedding about us not like every other wedding ever (no offence at all!)


Sincerely,
Already ready to elope Cry

Re: Looking for a miracle....Inexpensive venue with an open liquor policy

  • I am pretty sure you are not unique in paying for the wedding yourself or wanting something different than what has been done before. However. have you thought about getting married in your backyard or a family members backyard? I would look into it if possible. That might be a way to get all of your "wishes" met, especially liquor.
     I don't know if it interests you, but we are getting married at the Wabasha street caves. It isn't in your ideal location, but it is $2000 for 6 hours of rental (plus 2 hrs set up and 1 hour clean up, 2 bartenders and 2 valets). The liquor would be what definitely wouldn't fit what you would like as they cannot allow you to have someone come in and serve.
    That being said, I think having it at home might be what you should consider, again if at all possible. 
  • I have no idea what the pricing is but look at Hope Glen Farm. It's a newer venue and I believe it has open catering. Might be worth looking into. Also, the Minneapolis Parks District has a few good options too.
  • hordolhordol member
    First Answer 5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited April 2013
    We are getting married at the Washington County Historic Courthouse in Stillwater. It was 1300 to rent for a Friday night and they let you bring in your own alcohol and caterer. It seats up to 200. We are just having one of our catering staff "bartend" that night. they do require that someone supervises the alcohol but they do not need to be licensed.
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_looking-for-a-miracleinexpensive-venue-with-an-open-liquor-policy?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:0e5d9d42-8ece-4a12-a62c-9184c96d447bPost:1f629f9e-1bc7-468b-b3b2-31b3b8988489">Re:Looking for a miracle....Inexpensive venue with an open liquor policy</a>:
    [QUOTE]We are getting married at the Washington County Historic Courthouse in Stillwater. It was 1300 to rent for a Friday night and they let you bring in your own alcohol and caterer. It seats up to 200. We are just having one of our catering staff "bartend" that night. they do require that someone supervises the alcohol but they do not need to be licensed.
    Posted by hordol[/QUOTE]
     Exactly this. We're getting married at the Washington County Historic Courthouse in 3 weeks (absolutely beautiful building, btw). We're not having our reception there (we got a good deal elsewhere) but we were definitely considering it. Most likely we would have had Brassa or Prom Center to cater. Both pretty reasonable. Getting beer and wine from Sam's or Costco would cut down on price as well.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • We're getting married in January at Ojiketa Regional Park in Chisago City and it's definitely in your budget! It might be a little further out of the cities than you're interested but it's only $1000 to rent Strom Hall and you get it from Friday night till Sunday morning. It's a great deal! And you can bring in whoever you want for alcohol and food so that could give you lots of flexibility. The only tricky part is that you have to pay for an off-duty police officer if you're serving alcohol but we've found that at a lot of state park/ historical-type places. I believe the cop is about $50 per hour.
  • MKTKMKTK member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    This is the other side of the cities, but Turtle's 1890 Social Centre in Shakopee is totally worth a look. You can't bring your own drinks, but they have really far pricing. Minimum for food/bev is only $4,000, I think.
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • It is a little north for you, but we are having our reception at Bunker Hills Activity Center in Andover.  We are able to bring in our own beer/wine and food.  We don't need a security guard, just liability insurance that was only $30.  The room we have will hold up to 240 people.  The only downfall is they charge by the hour, not a flat room rate.  Good luck finding a place!
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_looking-for-a-miracleinexpensive-venue-with-an-open-liquor-policy?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:81Discussion:0e5d9d42-8ece-4a12-a62c-9184c96d447bPost:6ea42142-f980-4360-9b2d-475657211676">Looking for a miracle....Inexpensive venue with an open liquor policy</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hello Ladies, I need help or rather a miracle...I'm looking for a reception venue that will allow us to bring in our own liquor and have a random bartender serve our guests, that isn't going to send us into the poor house. We are covering the cost ourselves and my fiancé is starting nursing school this fall so this needs to be inexpensive. Wedding details: -Very limited budget (~$5,000.00-8,000.00 Total) -Prefer North East burbs (White Bear, Stillwater) but definitely open to others -Wedding date not set, will be on a Saturday, June, July or August of '14 -Around 175-200 guest -Would also prefer open (or at least a little flexible) catering so we can have a fun delicious dinner buffet -Prefer to have something different than an indoor basketball court like White Bear Armory is -PEC, Summit Manor and the St.Paul University club are all out of our budget. If none of this is possible....how about a venue with really cheap drinks?  I've been engaged for three weeks and I'm already really frustrated with how much these venues get away with charging and they won't let us do ANYTHING personal. Every body is offering the same chicken or beef with gravy or mushrooms and we really want to make this wedding about us not like every other wedding ever (no offence at all!) Sincerely, Already ready to elope
    Posted by wilsoj1978[/QUOTE]
    park ballroom in New Prague nice place and within your budget!
  • Call Jeff at Courtyards of Andover...not sure if he can accomodate you with your own liquor and bartender, but maybe things can be worked out within your price range.  (763)370-5744.  Tell him Linda sent you.

    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_looking-for-a-miracleinexpensive-venue-with-an-open-liquor-policy?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:81Discussion:0e5d9d42-8ece-4a12-a62c-9184c96d447bPost:6ea42142-f980-4360-9b2d-475657211676">Looking for a miracle....Inexpensive venue with an open liquor policy</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hello Ladies, I need help or rather a miracle...I'm looking for a reception venue that will allow us to bring in our own liquor and have a random bartender serve our guests, that isn't going to send us into the poor house. We are covering the cost ourselves and my fiancé is starting nursing school this fall so this needs to be inexpensive. Wedding details: -Very limited budget (~$5,000.00-8,000.00 Total) -Prefer North East burbs (White Bear, Stillwater) but definitely open to others -Wedding date not set, will be on a Saturday, June, July or August of '14 -Around 175-200 guest -Would also prefer open (or at least a little flexible) catering so we can have a fun delicious dinner buffet -Prefer to have something different than an indoor basketball court like White Bear Armory is -PEC, Summit Manor and the St.Paul University club are all out of our budget. If none of this is possible....how about a venue with really cheap drinks?  I've been engaged for three weeks and I'm already really frustrated with how much these venues get away with charging and they won't let us do ANYTHING personal. Every body is offering the same chicken or beef with gravy or mushrooms and we really want to make this wedding about us not like every other wedding ever (no offence at all!) Sincerely, Already ready to elope
    Posted by wilsoj1978[/QUOTE]
  • The further you go outside the metro area, the more likely I think you'll be able to find what you're looking for. I agree with looking at Washington County Courthouse!
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  • This sounds repetitive but I'll jump on the Washington County Historic Courthouse bandwagon.  I got married there last September on the steps and had the reception upstairs and it sounds like it fits most of your requirements.  They don't allow you to bring hard liquor, but with your budget I personally wouldn't consider paying for that anyway.

    We had Brasa cater which I would 100% recommend because they're inexpensive and the food is beyond awesome.  However, even if you're trying to save money, I recommend hiring their staff to run the buffet.  It's just not worth the hassle trying to do it yourself. We also bought all of our alcohol from Costco and Sam's Club. Costco lets you return just about anything so we saved money returning some of the unsued alcohol.

    We ended up with 150 people in the venue.  It was just about the perfect amount of people.  200 would be tight but you'd have to remove several tables to have a dance floor.

    If the Courthouse interests you, though, I would look into it right away.  It books up fairly quickly because it's such a great site.

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