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Reception venue (costs!) in Minneapolis/St. Paul

aniluisaaniluisa member
5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
in Minnesota
Hi everyone,

My fiance and I are just starting to plan our wedding (engaged last Sunday!). It's a bit difficult since we live in DC, so we're flying out to MN next weekend to look at venues. We only have two days, so we want to maximize our time. I'm getting frustrated with the lack of information online, though - they all want you to come in for an appointment! I'm just curious if anyone has looked at any of the following places and has any information or feedback, especially cost-wise:

-Weisman Art Museum (this is our top choice!)
-James J. Hill Reference Library
-Landmark Center
-St. Paul College Club
-Calhoun Beach Club
-Minnesota History Center
-Minneapolis Institute of Art

Wedding details: 130-140 guests, August 2014, ceremony will be at a church. 

Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks in advance! :)
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Re: Reception venue (costs!) in Minneapolis/St. Paul

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    eas1223eas1223 member
    Name Dropper 5 Love Its First Comment Combo Breaker

    Landmark Center is usually booked out at least 1-1.5 years out for a Saturday. You should be able to check their availability via email or online.  It's not too expensive to rent, but you need to bring in everything yourself which can add up quickly.

    Calhoun Beach Club was pretty spendy when I checked last year.  I think it was a $15K minimum (or somewhere around that).  I remember that when I calculated the food and drink there it would have been over $20K for 180 guests.  It's beautiful though.

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    aniluisaaniluisa member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    Wow! Thanks for the info - looks like we can cross Calhoun Beach Club off the list!

    We don't mind getting married on a Friday if that's all that's available. It looks like that's all they have at the History Center (although I've heard that it's pricey there, too).
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    eas1223eas1223 member
    Name Dropper 5 Love Its First Comment Combo Breaker
    If you are wanting to stay in the downtown area, you might want to check out Windows on Minnesota, which is at the top of the IDS building.  It's got incredible views.  We decided against it because we needed somewhere to have the ceremony but didn't want to get married in a ballroom.  It was much cheaper than some of the other options.  You might also want to check out the Science Museum in St. Paul.
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    Amberlina79Amberlina79 member
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    The St. Paul College Club is around $10k for food and rental for 150. Their website is very upfront about the cost.
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    FiancBFiancB member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I think I emailed just about all of those at some point or other. They were all out of my league unfortunately (I don't think I bothered with Calhoun since typically Calhoun=$$$). I can't believe how much libraries want! Ha. They've all been pretty good about getting back to me so I'd check if they're available first and go from there. I think they are all pretty much the same costwise- if one is cheaper in rental fees they tend to make up for it and then some with catering costs. 

    Honestly the most affordable reception venue I was able to find was probably Profile Event Center. But they weren't available on the day I wanted. 

    If your budget is tight you may be better off at a hotel or something. But I will take a look through my inbox to see if I still have any info.
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    FiancBFiancB member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I found an email from Weisman and they generally charges $2600 rental fee on a summer Saturday. They did offer it to me for $2100 since it was kind of last minute and they wanted to fill the date. Ceremony fee (I know you're having it elsewhere but in case someone else is looking) is $350. Insurance is $134 and event attendant is $25/hr. If I remember correctly they contract out catering with a company that runs around $30/pp (probably either Lancer or D'Amico which each handle a lot of the popular venues with a lot of cool factor).

    That was asking about 6/21 so if your wedding is a non-Saturday or during the off season YMMV.

    I must've deleted the others as I weeded them out for sticker shock. Unfortunately it is apparently really expensive to get married in the city. I went with the Oak Marsh Golf Club about 25 minutes out and event hat would've been too much if they weren't having a crazy special going right now. 


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    aniluisaaniluisa member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    Thanks for the replies, but I actually decided on my venue months ago - this is an old thread :)

    We went with the St. Paul College Club.
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    aniluisaaniluisa member
    5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    edited March 2014
    Here's what I found while I was looking around, just in case anyone else is interested:

    MN History Center: "Space use is associated with a $5000.00 food and hosted beverage minimum for Friday or Sunday evening events and a $8,000.00 food and hosted beverage minimum for Saturday evenings." (For catering, they use Bon Appetit exclusively) 

    Landmark Center: For use of the space (not including any rental of courtrooms for ceremonies), Friday $2,250/evening; Saturday - Sunday $2,750/evening. They have a list of preferred caterers, and you have to use their in-house bar service. 

    St Paul College Club: $275/hour mansion rental (4 hour minimum, includes hotel chairs, set up and break down for ceremony and reception, banquet tables, table linens, linen napkins, stemware, flatware, china, rose centerpieces, and on site event coordinator). They have an in-house caterer that is less expensive than many of the caterers preferred by the Landmark Center, Weisman, etc. You can bring in your own alcohol. 


     


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