Now my mother is making me 2nd guess our venue choice:(

Sara191431 · February 2010

When I told her it is $2,000 just for the rental fee, she was amazed. Granted my sister's wedding was in a small town up north and prob. cost $3,500 for the whole thing for 300+ ppl. Our venue is The Landmark Center with a rental fee of $2,750 (ceremony & reception), $2,300 for food (est. based off 150 ppl), and $1,500 for alcohol (est.). Does that seem over the top?

Let's say we were able to get away with a wedding for $10,000 total, does that seem ridiculous? Maybe my venue is a little spending compared to other nice places w/ a minimum that includes food and alcohol and a smaller room fee if any...

Thoughts??? Now I'm worried as the contract comes in the mail tomorrow more than likely so obviously need to make a decision....

Oh and we will be paying for most of our wedding, so it's not like the venue will really affect our parents money wise...

veijes · February 2010

The Landmark Center's rental fee is pretty average. It is hard when your parents aren't in the "cities" loop. What is nice about the Landmark Center is that you get your own caterer so you can really choose the price of the food, which it sounds like you are getting a great deal! You are not paying too much for all of it.

Here is our price list:
The Rotunda @ Carlson Towers
Rental Fee: $2000 (For a Sunday wedding, normally $3500 for a Saturday wedding)
Food: between $6000-$7500
Alcohol: We aren't doing alcohol except wine and paid NA bar so it will probably be around $1000

My parents gave us $10,000 so basically they are paying for the venue, we have to come up with the rest for photographer, flowers and such, thus, we are DIY a lot! HTH!

Sara191431 · February 2010

Thanks for going over you budget for me, it does help seeing other people's based off where they are having it. Well my estimate for food is just that, an estimate I'm just going off of the $14.95 a plate for 150 people, may be a little more people, and I'm sure with taxes and what not the food will end up being more, maybe like $2,700-$3,000. The $14.95 price includes two entree choices and one salad, two sides, fresh vegetables w/dip, breads and coffee. I'm also not sure what exactly alcohol will be but I know we'll want to pay for wine/beer/soft drinks.

Yay for your parents huh, that's awesome! I just start adding everythig up and when I hit that total butto which was like 12 grand, I'm like alrighty well this is maybe going to be more than I thought!

Thanks again, makes me feel a little better about what venues cost, etc.

Sara191431 · February 2010

Oh and the more I think about it, I'm sure my sister's wedding was more than $3,500 but probably not more than 5. For 300+ ppl, if only huh!

veijes · February 2010

You're welcome. Yeah I definitely thought we could do ours for $10,000 but then when you start adding little things in it's like "stop stop stop"! haha.

I feel like I've been really good with our wedding money though, my brother's wedding was like $18,000 and my FSIL's wedding was probably $25,000-30,000.

Qston · February 2010

I think it sounds like Landmark is pretty comprable in price to several other the twin cities venues, when you start adding everything in. Yes, you can find cheaper locations, but if you guys already know you love the venue, everything else will seem like second fiddle.

There are several sources that will tell you the average price for a wedding in the Twin Cities is $20,000, so of course, that is an average, where some are higher, some are lower, but even with that knowledge, I went into wedding planning naively thinking I could get away with a $9,000 budget. Sadly, despite tons of DIY and scrimping on a lot of things, we are looking at quite a bit higher than that. It is hard to have your parents understand that dollar amount, esp when they have already married a kid that did a wedding for far less, as they seem to always compare, well kid A did things this way, Kid A only spent this much... Its frustrating!

Good Luck! Do what makes you and FI happy, and comfortable budget-wise.

ssminy79 · February 2010

We are doing a wedding for 10,000 easily. We are getting married and having the reception at the Wabasha Street Caves for 1400, food is about 4000 for approx. 200 guests, and the drink will be about 1000. We are not doing favors or anything like that....the little things really add up, so I suggest really deciding what you feel you really have to have.

We are also paying for our wedding too That is why we are cutting out some of the stuff that we feel isn't as important. Good luck and it sounds like your wedding will be awesome!

beka0404 · February 2010

First things first: I say sign on the Landmark, stat. It's a beautiful space that needs very little decor - the architecture is adornment enough. Based on that and the very reasonable price of catering (True Tastes? Used to eat there for lunch all the time and loved it), you're getting a good deal. To give you some perspective, FH and I are having a 2-entree, 2-pasta, 2-side/salad, 6-appetizer buffet for $30/pp. We have a $7500 food minimum for 200+ people plus a $1050 rental fee. So, yes - snap up the Landmark as fast as you can. (I would have LOVED to have our wedding there, but they had zero availability in 2010 when I called last summer.)

Despite what your mother may think, there is no use in comparing a rural MN wedding to one in the Twin Cities. (We could have planned a wedding in FH's tiny Iron Range hometown for $5,000 with an Italian buffet and open bar. But 100+ guests would have had to drive 4 hours and pay $250/night for hotels, which I could not stomach.) I have received so many disheartening comments about our budget from people who compare our wedding to the small town weddings up north. I've had to learn to tune them out, because we're footing the bill and we're doing things the way we want. It's no one else's business.

Best of luck to you and congrats on nabbing such a great spot!

LittleSweetie · February 2010

You might want to share with your mom the prices of renting other venues out, and she'll see how good you've got it with Landmark! Ask her to find you a better location that's open on your date and looks just as beautiful and lets you bring in your own caterer, and see what she finds

MN_Jen · February 2010

Beka - are you having your reception at the Varsity Theater? That is where mine is, and your pricing seems really similar! Although ours is on a Sunday, so they lowered the prices a little bit.

Sara, I think the Landmark is a great value for the cities. Like others have mentioned, you can save a TON on decorations, because the space is so beautiful. And having a gorgeous space like that in a downtown spot that doesn't have a required (and expensive!) caterer is super rare.

My FI's family lives in a small town in Wisconsin, and we've definitely gotten comments about how much cheaper their weddings are. We just shrug. We aren't throwing money around on stupid things, it is just a lot more expensive here.

If you love the Landmark, SIGN IT! It is a good price for what you get.

Clare13 · February 2010

Jump at the chance to get the Landmark Center. It was by far my first choice but we could not find a date that worked for both the church and the hall

. I am running into the same problems with my FILs. I think it is a common problem and it comes down to weddings are expensive. Choose your priorities carefully and you can keep your budget under control. I can tell you after comparing 15+ venues, the Landmark Center is unbeatable when comparing venue ambiance vs. value.

beka0404 · February 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_now-mother-making-2nd-guess-venue-choice?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:4655e427-b600-4a99-b3da-86f95e798b48Post:d70bd857-b082-4202-9fdc-fce805ba3d6b">Re: Now my mother is making me 2nd guess our venue choice:(</a>:
[QUOTE]Beka - are you having your reception at the Varsity Theater?
Posted by MN_Jen[/QUOTE]

<div>Yep yep!</div>

NuggetBrain · February 2010

Don't worry ,we're going through the same thing with my FI's mom. His sister got married in Florida almost 6 years ago, and she thinks that since she spent around 10k for an open bar destination wedding on the beach with fantastic food that we'll definately be able to get away with a budget of $8k with the same stuff. Landmark sounds like a great deal - we are paying about $7,500 for venue rental, apps, a full plated meal with salad and bread, coffee/tea and late night snacks at Blaisdell Manor for 140 people. That's also including the bartenders and bar set up but not the booze (that's only costing us $1,300 for an open bar all night). So you're definately getting a good deal.

We also thought we would be able to get away with a 10k budget. Then we upped it to 15k, and that's just our expenses - when you add in what his parents and my family contributed it's closer to 22k.

cswaldon · February 2010

My FMIL keeps making comments along the lines of, "I don't understand why people would spend so much money - it's only one day!" or "You can have a gorgeous wedding on a $5K budget." Ugh.

Luckily, we're paying for our wedding ourselves (with some help from family, but minimal) and our approach has been to *try* and ignore the comments. It's our wedding. Period.

I was just at an event at the Landmark Center on Saturday and fell in love with it. It was my first time there and I thought it was a gem. Prom Catering did the food and it was delicious. My opinion? Totally worth it!

I don't know what your financial situation is like but if YOU are comfortable with the price of the reception, don't let others rain on your parade. I'm sure my family and FI's family think we're spending too much money for "just one day" but it's OUR money and it's OUR celebration.

Our budget is loosely as follows:

Church - Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Mpls: $1200

Reception - Minikahda Club in Mpls: Rental fee = $3800; Food = $7000; Alcohol (beer, wine, soda) = $5000. These prices include all of the applicable taxes and fees.

I'd say you're doing an awesome job and the Landmark Center is a stellar choice!

debbieupper · February 2010

I know how you feel, too. My mom freaked out when I signed a contract for our photographer, whose talents and time will be worth FAR MORE than the $1500 we're paying for her.

I agree with PP - if it's your dream to celebrate at the Landmark, DO IT! You won't be having many more excuses to rent the place out again! I might argue differently if it really were that pricey, but it really is reasonable, if not more reasonable, than comparable spots in the cities.

debbieupper · February 2010

Also, when people give us a hard time about the money, I tend to defer to the "In Chicago this would cost waaaaay more. That's why we chose MN" etc, etc. That works for us because we live in Chicago, but hey, you could still drop the line! It's the truth!

Smt2004 · February 2010

When are you getting married at the Landmark? Our wedding is July 30 and I am in love with the location! Betsy is my main contact and she has been very nice and has answered all of my questions. My dad thought the price was high too, but then he talked to some of him younger co-workers who told him that’s a very average price! Also bringing in your own caterer helps a ton!

Steph0871 · February 2010

We will be sticking to a 10k budget (we don't really have an option of going over.) But we are doing it on a Sunday for lunch, so that's the only way we could get everything we want for under 10k. I've been running into the same issue with my mom. She got remarried a few summers ago in rural central WI for about 10k with an partial open bar for over 250 people. She thinks since we're only have about 150 guests, we shouldn't spend more than 5k. Not possible in Minneapolis. I loved the Landmark, but I just have issues with a huge rental fee like that. But your food sounds more than reasonable, so I think it evens out!

We don't have a rental fee at Profile Event Center, but our food minimum is right about 3k, which we'll probably go over. However, they let us bring in our own alcohol which is really going to help on costs... even at lunch, FI and my familes will drink. a lot. haha

Good luck! I LOVED that venue, so I'm a little jealous

Sara191431 · February 2010

Thanks so much ladies for all the responses, I feel soooooo much better! I would like to respond to all comments but I'm at work and prob. shouldn't be on here that long, surprised this site isn't "blocked" from us yet, watch since I've been on here lately it probably will get blocked soon, which will tick me off! lol.

SMT - Our date is 09/17/11, when I checked a couple weeks ago that was the earliest Sat. available! I can't wait to see pics from your wedding since it's before ours! What caterer are you using? We are using True Tastes as I've heard good things and their prices seem pretty good! Haven't met up with him yet since we are so far out but he has us marked down for our date.

I think I'll just have to omit what stuff is going to cost to certain people, plus really if we are paying for it, why do they need to know anyways. Having a 12 grand wedding (that's my max budget dang it!) is something we are able to save, including some parents help, so we won't be going into debt over it which I would think is a good thing. It's amazing how much you can save when you put your mind to it! I'm normally a spender w/extra money so this is new for me:)

I'll just have to do as much research as I can to get the best prices for everything and go from there, which this site is obviously a great place for that!

Thanks again ladies, it helped a lot!

CheerKate · February 2010

We are having our wedding on a Friday night at Landmark Center. I could not be happier with that choice! We did not want to wait until next year to get married and we don't mind a Friday night wedding, so it works out perfect for us. Many venues with low rental fees or no rental fees have minimums for food and beverage. Landmark allows you to bring your own caterer which will save a lot of money!

alliqtpie84 · February 2010

I am the first child of my parents to get married, so I definitely sympathize with what you are going through. My mom had a really hard time comprehending the cost of everything. They had a very small wedding with under 40 people, and they spent all of their money on a honeymoon.

What I had to let my mom know is that we didnt see a wedding as the same thing. My mom came to visit me, and we went to the bridal show at the convention center. My parents are graciously contributing to our wedding, but they wanted to make sure that we are being realistic. I took my mom to our top 2 reception sites, and compared costs with her.

As soon as she saw the Calhoun Beach Club, she said, this is where I see you getting married.

I think she appreciated being "a part" of the decision, and also being aware of the different costs.

I think trying to be very logical and walk your mom through the decisions. No one wants to see someone waste money.

Go with your gut -its the day for the two of you! Good Luck!!

Now my mother is making me 2nd guess our venue choice:(

Re: Now my mother is making me 2nd guess our venue choice:(

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