Venue Reviews - Historic Sites for Wedding Ceremonies in Minnesota

The following historic Minnesota wedding reception and ceremony sites are my favorites, and reviews for these locations are below: 

St Paul:

• University Club in downtown St. Paul
• Landmark Center
• Great Hall
• Como Conservatory
• Black Bear Crossings
• Minnesota Boat Club

Minneapolis:

• Nicollet Island Inn
• Nicollet Island Pavilion (completely separate from Nicollet Island Inn, reviewed here)
• FIVE Event Center

The University Club in St. Paul, MN actually has two locations, and this review is for the downtown St. Paul location (the other location is on Summit Avenue, reviewed here). Wedding ceremonies are usually held either in their grand two-story lobby, their larger two-story ballroom (up on the third floor), and I've even performed smaller wedding ceremonies in their intimate paneled Oak Room. The marble on the walls, the columns, and the floor is amazing, with gorgeous draperies, chandeliers, and old-school brass trim. Note that the picture to the right has furniture in the lobby, but the couches, plants, etc. are moved for wedding receptions (see above photo).

There are very few buildings this old and grand in the Twin Cities, and this one is breathtaking. Very old-school, but not stuffy - more like beautiful and elegant.

Closest hotel: The 4-star 57-room boutique Hotel 340 is in the same building, way upstairs in the top three floors of the building. Many authorities, such as Citysearch, City's Best, TripAdvisor, consider the Hotel 340 to be the best hotel in the Twin Cities! Often couples will rent out a room there to use as a dressing room, and then they stay there overnight. Sometimes other guests, such as the wedding party and parents, may also rent rooms there, which makes their whole weekend very convenient.

Capacity: 330 guests. While the club doesn't offer valet parking, they can help coordinate this service with a vendor.
Site rental fees vary greatly depending on the day, the room, and the season. For instance, for a Saturday in the summer, the fee would be $3500, and food and beverage minimum $9500, but these prices could be half as much, depending on the date and your requirements. They ask that you please contact the management to get specific quote because the price varies so much, because of so many circumstances.
Phone number: (651) 222-1751 (Julia Struve). The best way to contact her, though, is via e-mail at jstruve@universityclubofstpaul.com.
 
 

Daytime and night-time views of the Nicollet Island Pavilion. Wedding ceremonies are sometimes held in this grassy field or else in the white tent, just to the right of the building.

The Nicollet Island Pavilion is unique in that it is located right in the middle of downtown Minneapolis, MN, yet this gorgeous wedding location is surrounded by trees, water, and you have lots of privacy. Located on an island right across from Saint Anthony Main (aka Riverplace, or the Riverfront district), you can have your wedding ceremony with a background of the Minneapolis skyline, yet have herons flying past, as well. Wedding ceremonies are either held on the lawn, on the patio, or in a tent which the Pavilion supplies, and then the cocktail hour and reception is indoors, in the high-ceilinged brick pavilion. There is free parking provided, which is a huge perk downtown. Horse-drawn carriages, Segway tours, and walks across are the Stone Arch Bridge and the Saint Anthony Falls are all available to guests, or make wonderful wedding photo opportunities. Here's a 360-degree view of the south end of the island, just to give you an idea of the beauty of the area.

Closest hotel: Right across the street is the romantic Nicollet Island Inn.
Great spot for a rehearsal dinner: Again, the easiest choice is the Nicollet Island Inn, which has great food and is very classy. Pracna on Main, the oldest restaurant in Minneapolis, is about two blocks away.

The rental fee for a wedding reception on a summer Saturday at the Nicollet Island Pavilion is approximately $1985. Add an on-site wedding ceremony for a $500 ceremony fee plus chair rental.
Food and beverage minimum for a Saturday in the summer: $13,000
The capacity is 400+ guests.
Contact Nicole Aronson at 612-253-0255.

Built in the 1800's, FIVE Event Center's outer building boasts great historical value while maintaining a contemporary and modern feel inside.  FIVE has a contemporary, New-York inspired vibe and is perfect for the modern bride.
 
Unlike the majority of other wedding venues, FIVE welcomes any Minneapolis or St Paul licensed caterer, and there are no food minimums, providing almost unlimited options to meet specific tastes as well as budgets for an event. FIVE also holds its own liquor license and is equipped to provide a full bar service for any type of bar: cash, hosted, or a combination of both.
 
FIVE welcome DJs or Bands for musical entertainment during events. As an alternative FIVE has an iPod-capable sound system that is included in the rental fee and can be used for background music all night long, or it can even provide dance music to replace a DJ/Band. Please note that I always recommend hiring an actual DJ - DJing a good wedding reception is harder than it looks!
 
A great site for a rehearsal dinner: The FIVE Event Center can host rehearsal dinners, or Stella's is about a half-mile away.
Closest hotel: The Hyatt Regency is about a mile and a half away in downtown Minneapolis, and the in Sheraton Midtown is about a mile away and they offer a free shuttle when you book a block of rooms.
 
The FIVE Event Center's rental fee varies by date, but for a Saturday it rents for $3,600, and as mentioned before, and does not have a food and beverage minimum.
Capacity: 150 for a ceremony, 200 for a seated dinner, up to 375 for a cocktail style reception.
For more information please contact Chelle Crandall or Kelly Linnihan at (612) 827-5555.
 
 
 

One of my favorite Minnesota wedding locations is the Landmark Center in downdown St. Paul, located at 75 West 5th Street, because it offers so many options. You can rent a beautiful small courtroom for intimate weddings or the main lobby for large weddings. The lobby can be used for receptions, as well. The Landmark Center is right in the center of downtown St. Paul, MN. Across the street is Rice Park, where ice sculptures for the St. Paul Winter Carnival are built, and on the other three sides of the park are the St. Paul Hotel, the James J. Hill Library, and the Ordway Center, all of which you can see in a 360-degree view in the winter. The Minnesota Science Museum is about a block away and is a fun place for guests to visit if they have downtime during the wedding weekend. The Landmark Center has several courtrooms in different sizes to choose from, in a variety of styles (all are beautiful). You'll have to tour the space to see which one you like best - it's difficult to get much of a feel for the difference between the courtrooms just from pictures. The Landmark Center has a piano available for your use, as well.

A great site for a rehearsal dinner: Buca di Beppo is a fun family Italian restaurant with wonderful food and is 2 miles away.
Closest hotel: The 5-star Helmsley Saint Paul Hotel is across the street.

The Landmark Center usually charges about $2,750 for the main hall (called the Musser Cortile Atrium) or $400-$1,000 for the smaller courtrooms. Located in downtown St. Paul, MN, across the street from Rice Park.
Outside licensed caterers are allowed. Most outside caterers have a $3,000 food and beverage minimum.
Capacity: 50 to 1,000 guests.
Call 651-292-3228, then press the number 4, and you'll reach Betsy in Events.


 

Great Hall in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, is located at 180 East 5th Street. The Great Hall is a wonderful location for weddings and is one of my favorites. The name can be a bit confusing when you're looking for information online, because many Minnesota wedding reception sites use the term "Great Hall" to refer to one of their rooms. The Great Hall of St. Paul, MN, is a huge, beautiful old reception hall, several stories tall, with lots of marble, brass, and antique chandeliers. The Great Hall has an amazing escalator from the first to the second floor, which is often used for spectacular wedding photos of the bridal party.

Great place for a rehearsal dinner: The Great Hall is within walking distance of Christo's, an upscale Greek restaurant that will rent their mezzanine for a rehearsal dinner.  
Closest hotels: The 3-star Ramada City Center Hotel is about 3 blocks away, and the 5-star Helmsley Saint Paul Hotel is about 6 blocks away.

The rental fee for the Great Hall is about $3,000 for weddings.
Outside licensed caterers are allowed. Most outside caterers have a $3,000 food and beverage minimum.
The Great Hall can accommodate several hundred guests.
Call 651-291-3579 for more information.

More brides and grooms choose the Como Conservatory (a.k.a. the Marjorie McNally Conservatory) for their wedding ceremony than any other wedding location in Minnesota, and it's perfect for small weddings. The wedding guests remain standing in one aisle (usually the left aisle), while the bride walks down the other aisle. For evening weddings during the winter it will be dark outside, so the candlelight option offered by the Conservatory is definitely worth choosing: Twelve candelabras create an amazing glow against the darkness. Winter weddings in the Sunken Garden are wonderful because the lushness and warmth inside contrasts so strongly with the cold of the Minnesota winter weather outside. However, summer weddings in the Conservatory are nice and cool.

Either wing of the Como Conservatory works well for a small wedding (4-50 people or so), although most couples choose the Sunken Garden (in the left wing). Because the Como Conservatory is so highly sought-after for weddings, the time constraints are strictly enforced by the staff. While they are very friendly, they have to make sure that events don't go too long. Note that if you have your reception here (in the center conservatory), the site does not permit alcohol. Most couples who have their wedding here hold their reception at a separate site or at the adjacent Como Hall. Both the Como Conservatory and Como Hall are catered by Lancer Catering.

Nearest hotel: Bandana Square Best Western, about a mile away.
The Como Conservatory in St. Paul, Minnesota, charges a fee of about $850 for wedding ceremonies.
For wedding receptions on a Saturday, the Bullard Rainforest Auditorium rents for $1,800 or the Covered Porch rents for $2,000, and the entire Marjorie McNeely Conservatory rents for $3,000.
The food and beverage minimums for a Saturday is $4,200 for the Bullard Rainforest Auditorium, or $5,500 for the Covered Porch.
Capacity: 4-50 guests. Call 651-487-8250.

 
 

Black Bear Crossings at the Como Park Pavilion in St. Paul, Minnesota, is located at 1360 Lexington Parkway North. Black Bear Crossings is a reception hall in the middle of Como Park that overlooks Como Lake.

Photographers love Black Bear Crossings, which is attached to the Como Park Pavilion, because you can walk right over to the photogenic Como Zoo and the Como Conservatory. The photos above show the banquet center on the top left, with the outdoor promenade on the right. Most couples hold their wedding ceremonies on the promenade and then have their reception either in the indoor reception hall or on the promenade itself. Black Bear Crossings is a unique wedding ceremony site in the Twin Cities area because you have the benefits of both an outdoor and an indoor wedding (it's outdoors, but covered). The outdoor promenade is available from May through October. Note that if you hold your reception on the promenade, you will need to use Black Bear Crossings' preferred DJ service, and amplified music is not allowed after 10:00pm.

Nearest hotel: Bandana Square Best Western, about a mile away.

The rental fee for a wedding ceremony and reception at the Black Bear Crossings is $1,400. Additional equipment and set-up fees may apply.
Capacity: 200 guests.
Call 651-488-4920.
 
 
 

The Minnesota Boat Club is somewhat similar to the Nicollet Island Pavilion, reviewed at the top of the page, in that it's also a historic building on an island in the Mississippi River right by downtown, but it's in Saint Paul (not Minneapolis), and it's smaller, and in a quieter location. The Minnesota Boat Club is on tiny Rasperry Island, which is right next to the large city park of Harriet Island. Very few people know its there...you cross from downtown Saint Paul, MN on the Wabasha Street Bridge, then drive through Harriet Island to get to the club.  Padelford Riverboats are about a block away and can be rented for a unique rehearsal dinner location.

Nearest hotel: The 3-star Crowne Plaza Riverfront is across the river, and the 4-star Saint Paul Hotel is a half-mile away.
Nearby rehearsal dinner location: Pazza Luna Italian Restaurant is about a half-mile away.

The rental fee for a wedding ceremony and reception on a summer Saturday at the Minnesota Boat Club is $1135. 
The food and beverage minimum for a summer Saturday is $3,000.
Capacity is 168.
Call 612-253-0255 and ask for Jenni Ellson.