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looking for reception/ceremony ideas

ryansadey09ryansadey09 member
First Anniversary First Comment
in Minnesota-Minneapolis and St. Paul
Does anyone know of a great reception/ceremony site in MN?? We have a very small budget and are paying for everything ourselves. Everything I've looked at that I like is WAY out of budget!! I still have a long time to look...we're hoping for 9-7-13, but I'm worried that I'm not going to find something I like and can afford. We are planning an outdoor wedding and would like to have the cermony and reception at the same place.
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Re: looking for reception/ceremony ideas

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    [Deleted User][Deleted User]
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    If you're up for a little travel i'm getting married at the isanti county fairgrounds. They have a little pond and picnic shelter behind the community building. I am getting married out back and then have the reception in the community building. Its only $550 for the rental and you can bring in all of your own alc and food. A big fancy venue isn't important to me and it worked perfect for my family which is up north and FH family which is in the cities. It's kind of a half way point and a lot cheaper!!
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    SSaltzman87SSaltzman87 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    How big will your guest list be and how much are you looking to spend?

    That would help us recommend better places for you :-)

    With that said, if you plan on having 100-120 guests, I highly recommend Centennial Lakes Park in Edina. They have an outdoor ampitheater that could be used for the ceremony and for the reception they have a beautiful building that's a short walk down a sidewalk. You can bring in all your own vendors except for the required beverage provider and can't serve hard liquor. The rental fee's $1k and I think if you want to rent the ampitheatre too it's an extra $75.
    <a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Money Saving Tips"><img src="http://global.thenest.com/tickers/tt17ce82.aspx" alt="Anniversary" border="0"  /></a>

    White Knot

    Planning Bio-Added FOR SALE page, will be adding more stuff to it soon! 
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    kidlets2kidlets2
    First Comment
    If you're having a smaller wedding, the Reidel Farm is cute! You can bring all of your own food in. There's a spot outside to have the ceremony and inside would be the reception. I think they hold like 75 people max though.

    http://www.anokacountyparks.com/facilities/riedel_farm.htm
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    ceh789ceh789 member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    Really need to know how many you're inviting and how much you can afford to make good recommendations.

    Como Park Lakeside Pavillion is gorgeous.  There's also an ampitheater at Phalen Park that I looked at but decided against ultimately.  Eagan Community Center is really nice and reasonably priced, but they do have very limited vendor options.  Minneapolis parks has good options as well.

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    ryansadey09ryansadey09 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    We are hoping to spend around $6,000 and no more than 150 I'm hoping. But thank you everyone for the good ideas!!
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    ceh789ceh789 member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    Just to clarify, $6k is your total wedding budget?  What do you have in mind for the venue budget?  What's your general plan - is this a punch and cake afternoon thing?  Park picnic style? 

    Have you run some numbers on what you can afford to feed 150 people?
    A $6k wdding absoutely can be done, but just as a point of reference - my budget is almost $5k with less than 50 guests and I'm doing a simple lunch in the park thing.

    I'm not trying to scare you, but I just know that when I started getting my budget together I was shocked and awed at what everything came up to.  My recommendation is that you start making decisions soon so you can watch for stuff on Craigslist - as wedding "season" passes you'l start to see some good deals on resale stuff.


    I'd definately look at the Phalen Park ampitheatre option - it's quite lovely (I really don't think I'd decorate it at all, frankly) and the adjacent picnic pavillion would be a great place for a casual reception.  The pavillion is enclosed so you'd have it as a rain option for the ceremony. City of St Paul's website claims that it's seating for only 100 so you'd need to add some chairs:  http://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=1459 (The pavillion seats 300)
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    ryansadey09ryansadey09 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited March 2012
    Yeah for the whole wedding unfortunately, but that is what money we can for sure gurantee (my fiance gets a bonus for work every year and that's what we're using) but we are planning on saving as much as we can in the mean time! I have just started looking at everything. As far as food goes, I'm not really sure...I never realized how much stuff there was to figure out and pay for. Thankfully, I have plenty of people willing to help me make things or get them for much cheaper.

    I looked at the Phalen Park ampitheatre and I absolutely LOVE it!! I'm going home to show my fiance tonight!!

    Thank you everyone for the GREAT advice!!
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    ceh789ceh789 member
    First Comment First Anniversary
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_looking-for-receptionceremony-ideas?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:53aebbe4-47c8-4bd5-9537-8d64d9d6016fPost:e94a6d99-2337-4c57-a080-8144ba4143fa">Re: looking for reception/ceremony ideas</a>:
    [QUOTE]I never realized how much stuff there was to figure out and pay for.
    Posted by ryansadey09[/QUOTE]
    I know, right?  It's pretty intimidating :)<div>
    </div><div>I'm glad you like the Phalen idea - I was going to go there but it would just be too much space for my small group.</div>
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    sboughtensboughten
    First Comment
    Check out Norwood/Young America Pavilion, I think rental is only about $300 and there is also a gazebo right there that you could probably get married in.  We were going to use the pavilion for our wedding and get married at city park Gazebo (15/hour rental) in Waconia but our date was booked. Good Luck!
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    ClintonBeanClintonBean member
    First Anniversary First Comment

    Check out the venues on The Knot. You can sort by price range.  Link below. 
    http://www.theknot.com/Vendors/Minnesota-Wedding-Venues/Profiles/CAR/004

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    FluffernutFluffernut
    First Comment

    We are getting married at Central Park in Red Wing, MN.  They have a neat bandshell there.  It rents very cheaply and is very pretty in that area.  But it is approximately an hour from the cities.  We didn't end up using it, but the Hager City Bluffs Bar & Grill was very cheap for rental and food.  It is a nice space, but is more like a VFW or American Legion space than say, a hotel banquet room.  Just some ideas. 

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