Venues with open catering

SoonToBeA2

Does anyone know of reception venues in the Stillwater/St. Croix Valley area (Marine, Stillwater, Bayport, Afton/Lakeland) that will let us use any caterer we'd like?  I'm having a hard time finding places that don't force you into using their vendors.  I know restaurants are out for obvious reasons...the Court House is booked on the date we need and the caterer we'd like to use doesn't have the right credentials for the Stillwater Library.

THANKS!!!! 

Steph0871

What "credentials" is your preferred caterer missing?  The only requirement I've ever heard of is that they must be licensed, and I think that is going to be required almost everywhere you look.

That being said, you've already checked out my two recommendations!  I think Afton Alps does weddings too?

SoonToBeA2

Yes, the licensing is what I'm talking about.  We have a small local restaraunt that will cater for us, and we are looking at doing a portion of the food ourselves.

Afton Alps is a great reccomendation, but they have their own caterer as well. 

Thanks! 

Steph0871

I think you'll have a pretty difficult time finding somewhere that will let you bring in your own food, just a fair warning.  It's a liability issue for the venue.

Have you looked into parks at all?  That might work well too.

aligross

The only venue I know where you don't need a Food Serving License is at a local park. Then you run into the fact that you will be unable to serve liquor. As Steph said, it's a liability and no one will take that on.

maybe984

Agreed with Steph and Ali. Not even the courthouse (which is where I got married) would let you have a completely unlicensed caterer and/or bring in your own food. No venue wants your guests to get food poisoning and go after them for it. The only venues that usually allow that are parks and church gathering halls (even then, it's rare).

graysquirrel

There are some vineyards in the Stillwater area. Perhaps you could look into one of them. 

newlyseliski

You could try church halls... I know my old roommate might be making half of her food and bringing it in (Shamrock Hall at St. Patrick's in Inver Grove Heights)... most usually require you to purchase some sort of liability insurance for the event, though.  A few others I know of are Guardian Angels in Oakdale and O'Reilly Hall in North St. Paul, so those might be a little bit closer to the area you're looking in.  The tradeoff with that is the "look" of the space wouldn't be quite as nice, though.

SoonToBeA2

Thanks for the great ideas everyone!!  I think we are going to look into local parks...they seem to be inexpensive and we can do whatever we want for food.  Stillwater even lets you purchase a one day liquor license for just $35!