Profile Event Center...Pros/Cons?? Thinking about renting..

babybrd182

Hey ladies, I was considering using PEC for our reception. I think I've seen people post info on here regarding them..anyone have any thoughts or opinions on them pro or anti PEC? So far my pros are :
1. they can handle our 300+ crowd,
2. Bring in our own booze (FI's family is Irish...we're gonna need a lot...)
3. Food seems good and reasonably priced.
4. No rental fee with the minimum catering reached (shouldn't be a problem).


Con: Not a huge fan of the pillars on the stage, but could deal with them.

Thanks!

Steph0871

Have you checked them out in person yet? Which pillars on stage didn't you like? (and in which room?)  I'm sure you can cover them up somehow if they can't be removed.  We're planning to use them this November, and Heather has been more than helpful so far!

leggwilliams

The pillars on stage (in either room) are extra to rent, so they defintely won't be included if you don't ask for them. I absolute love the venue and think it's such a unique space (we're having our reception in the Diamond Hall) and Heather the event coordinator is absolutely a doll to work with and is super helpful when it comes to compromising with your wishes, so there's some pros. A con, I would say, is even though it says they can fit 350 in the Casablanca Hall and 300 in the Diamond Hall, the rooms really aren't THAT big (we're trying to figure out how to fit in our 200 guests with round tables and without using the dance floor) so you would probably be pretty squished and have limited room for anything else (i.e. escort card table, buffet, etc.) and would have limited options for your room setup. Other then that, I highly recommend the PEC, but I would suggest going to look at it first and talk to Heather to see if she has any suggestions for how to utilize the space.

drdifabio

We are having our reception at the PEC and I have to say working with Heather has made this my favorite vendor. She is awesome! I am really type A and have lots of questions about how things would work and what we can do - she has been supper helpful answering all my questions and I never once felt like I was asking too many questions or taking up too much of her time (and I have felt this way at times with other venders). Other big pros for us: food is awesome - my Italian family approved it, unique space - not your typical banquet hall, intelligent lighting built in, and as you mentioned you can bring in your own alcohol. Cons: space - I am happy with it for our 200 guest list but you would need to go with rectangle tables to fit more people, location - it is a bit too in the city for my taste but that is purely my opinion. For us the pros far outreached the cons so we booked it!

babybrd182

Thanks for all your info, ladies!

I think we're going to at least go and see it in person

The pillars I was taking about were the ones up on the stage, so that's great to know they don't have to be there (who knows, I might change my mind).

Good to know about the seating! We set up our tentative guest list last night and we're at about 330, but we'll probably have about 275. I would hope that renting out the larger room wouldn't make us too squished!

This place seriously seems too good to be true.

starkitenn

I used the Profile Event Center for my Sept wedding. I thought they did a good job, and met expectations. The price was great, and bringing our own alcohol was nice. Heather is really on the ball. Our guests raved about the venue. We used the Casablanca Hall.

A couple of things to be aware (not complaints really)
- While they charge extra for the columns they don't like to move them so be sure to tell them you don't want them in there - they tried to leave them for my reception (no charge) but I definately did not want them
- I don't recommend the buffet option, it took FOREVER and we only had 100 guests. They were flexible with some of our requests to speed it up, but the set up isn't great. I'm sure a plated dinner would be a better option. Food was good.
- You can't get in there until 10:00 am the day of the wedding - we had a 2pm ceremony (Catholic) and it was tight. I was unable to be there to set up, and had to rely on my friends and family to do the set up.

munkychip

So funny I ran accross this post. We just put our deposit down for the Casblanca room today!

I hear ya about the pillars. There are a few things in the room (Ex: Ugly wall flower planters, pillars, flower arch i entrance) that we do not like. However it is all very customizable. I would say that the one big con is the parking situation in the fall. Make sure that if you do book there for your wedding that the U of M football team doesn't have a game in MN that day. We wanted a few dates in Oct/Nov but found out there were games being played in MN (TCF stadium just down the road) and the schedule is not released til Sept of the season. If they were to play a night game we would lose all of the parking spaces in the adjacent lot. We would have to shuttle all of our guests to the PEC. And from where?? No idea. It just seems like a risky mess. Other than that the place is great! LOVE IT!!!

Steph0871

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_profile-event-centerproscons-thinking-renting?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:4d05bbf9-03e2-4715-9e46-21b8ea918280Post:d87abdff-6a80-485b-881f-710b65123328">Re: Profile Event Center...Pros/Cons?? Thinking about renting..</a>:
[QUOTE]I would say that the one big con is the parking situation in the fall. Make sure that if you do book there for your wedding that the U of M football team doesn't have a game in MN that day. We wanted a few dates in Oct/Nov but found out there were games being played in MN (TCF stadium just down the road) and the schedule is not released til Sept of the season. Posted by munkychip[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>We worried about that too... but the schedules are actually released through November, 2013 already.  It doesn't have the times (11a, 3p, 6p), but it does show what dates are home games.  Hope this helps! (You can choose the season in the drop down on the right).  FYI- Other sports schedules aren't released until August-ish, but football is out pretty far in advance!</div><div>
</div><div><a href="http://www.gophersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=38609&SPID=3280&DB_OEM_ID=8400&KEY=&Q_SEASON=2010">http://www.gophersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=38609&SPID=3280&DB_OEM_ID=8400&KEY=&Q_SEASON=2010</a>

</div>

babybrd182

Thanks for that schedule, Steph!  And thanks to munky for even bringing it up..

That's definitely something we will have to address if we do decide to go with them. Checked it out, there is a game there on our Saturday.. I'll talk to Heather about it if and when we go to look at it.

Great advise ladies! Thanks!

munkychip

Oops- I should have clarified that the schedule is out but the times are not. Hope it all works out for you!