Venue Reviews - Historic Sites for Wedding Ceremonies in Minnesota

	My recommendations for wedding sites in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area:
		Chapels Parks Gardens Mansions Museums Hotels Farms Historic Sites Amphitheatres Restaurants Comparison Matrix

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

JJ Hill Library wedding in Saint Paul, MN

JJ Hill Library wedding in Saint Paul, MN

James J. Hill Library
Nicollet Island Pavilion
Landmark Center
Great Hall
Como Conservatory
Black Bear Crossings
Minnesota Boat Club

Nicollet Island Pavilion

40 Power Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401 - (612) 253.0255.

It's hard to get a sense of how unique the Nicollet Island Pavlion is...imagine the Stone Arch Bridge off to the top right, downtown Minneapolis off to your right (across the Mississippi), and Saint Anthony Main off to your left. All this nature, right in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.	At the Nicollet Island Pavilion in downtown Minneapolis, wedding cermeonies are held either out on the lawn or in this tent, with its view of the Mississippi River.
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.
Inside the 1866 Nicollet Island Pavilion are incredibly high ceilings and old-school brickwork.	Another interior shot of the Nicollet Island Pavilion, this one with different chairs, and with white tulle and lights hung from the ceiling.

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 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: The easiest 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 ceremony and reception on a summer Saturday at the Nicollet Island Pavilion is $2760. The capacity is 150-600 guests. Contact Nicole Aronson at 612-253-0255.

James J. Hill Library

80 4th St W, St Paul, MN 55102 - (651) 265-5447.

The archway at the top of the steps is the entrance to the reference section at the James J. Hill Library in St. Paul, MN, where wedding ceremonies and receptions are held. The entrance to the public library is further down. This building is in the Beaux Arts style.	Guests at the James J. Hill Library are usually seated in rows for wedding ceremonies and then, afterward, round tables and a rectangular head table are set up for the wedding reception.
You can see here how high the James J. Hill Library's ceiling is. From this vantage point, the main windows are behind you.	The James J. Hill Library faces Rice Park (site of the St. Paul Winter Carnival ice sculptures), which is lush and green in the summer.

The James J. Hill Library, in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, is a breathtaking spot for weddings. The libary has a huge hall, several stories high, with a marble floor - the pictures simply can't do it justice. The James J. Hill Library is a unique wedding location, with hundreds of thousands of beautiful old books serving as a backdrop. This is a reading library, not a lending library, which means visitors can only read their books right there in the library, not take them home. You can have both the wedding ceremony and the reception here and use any licensed caterer you wish.
After the wedding, the main floor is set up for the reception. The James J. Hill Library is located on Rice Park in downtown St. Paul, MN, within a block of the Minnesota Science Museum, the Xcel Energy Center, the Ordway, the St. Paul Hotel, and the Landmark Center. Take a 360-degree virtual tour of the library (requires newest Quicktime player).

Great site for a rehearsal dinner: Across the street is the Saint Paul Hotel with its famous Saint Paul Grill. Or Pazzaluna is just one block further.
Closest hotel: The 5-star Helmsley Saint Paul Hotel is across the street.

The James J. Hill Library always has ceremonies with receptions, so they really don't have a ceremony charge. Their fee is $3,700, which includes the ceremony rental fee ($300) and the reception fee of $3,400. The site is worth every penny. Capacity: up to 175 guests. Call 651-265-5447 and talk to Beth O'Connor. Beth is friendly and easy to work with - and she really knows the library.

Landmark Center

75 5th St W, St Paul, MN 55102 - (651) 292-3228.

The neoclassic Landmark Center is in the heart of downtown St. Paul, MN, overlooking Rice Park. This is the view of the Landmark Center from the Ordway Theater.

The gorgeous lobby of the Landmark Center extends all the way up to the skylight ceiling. Here's a 360-degree view.

The Butler Courtroom in the Landmark Center is one of the smaller side rooms; it holds 60 guests. The room rents for $400.

For large weddings in the main lobby of the Landmark Center, guests are usually seated in chairs on the main floor, but they often wander up to these higher floors during the wedding reception because of the amazing view.

There are many small ex-courtrooms like this one at the Landmark Center available to rent for wedding ceremonies. Each room is different, providing a variety of options.

For weddings held in the large, center lobby of the Landmark Center, the groom and attendants often use this stately room for dressing before the wedding.

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. Capacity: 50 to 1,000 guests. Call 651-292-3228, then press the number 4, and you'll reach Betsy in Events.

Great Hall

180 East Fifth Street, St Paul, MN 55101 - (651) 291-3579.

The Great Hall in St. Paul, MN takes up the first four floors of this building.	This grand escalator of the Great Hall is often used for photos.
A wedding ceremony at the Great Hall is usually on this big main floor, then the cocktail hour is on the second floor. During the cocktail hour the caterers set up this first floor for the wedding reception.

Wedding ceremony at the Great Hall in St Paul, MN

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 this site is about $3,000 for weddings. The Great Hall can accommodate several hundred guests. Call 651-291-3579 for more information.

Como Conservatory

1225 Estabrook Drive, St Paul, MN 55103 - (651) 487-8250.

The Como Conservatory at the Como Zoo is literally the most popular site for small weddings in Minnesota.

Marjorie McNally Conservatory for weddings

Another shot of the Como Conservatory in Saint Paul. In winter, it's a delight to have a wedding in such lush, green surroundings.

In the center of the Como Conservatory is a beautiful little atrium. While too small for a wedding ceremony, it's great for pictures.	The Sunken Garden is the most popular choice of wedding ceremony locations at the Como Conservatory in St. Paul, MN. The bride and groom stand on the far steps, with the guests on the left-hand aisle, so the processional and recessional can go down the right-hand aisle.
This new building just to the left of the Como Conservatory now hosts large wedding receptions. Here's a separate article about it from my blog.	The outdoor Como Japanese Garden is also available to rent for weddings with 4-20 guests. See my review on the Gardens page.

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. Capacity: 4-50 guests. Call 651-487-8250.

Black Bear Crossings

1360 Lexington Parkway North, St Paul, MN 55103‎ - (651) 488-4920‎.

Here's the view of the Black Bear Crossings from the parking lot, about 1/4 mile from the Como Zoo. Como Lake is off to the right.

This is the view of Como Lake from Black Bear Crossings' outdoor promenade. Most wedding ceremonies are performed here.

The Hamms Memorial Waterfall is behind the Black Bear Crossings.

This is the view of Como Lake from just below the promenade of Black Bear Crossings.

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.

Minnesota Boat Club

1 Wabasha Street South, St Paul, MN‎ - (651) 228-1602‎.

The wedding ceremonies I've performed at the Minnesota Boat Club have always been on the outdoor deck (left), but they can also be held on the lawn (right).
The interior of the Minnesota Boat Club has both wood and brick, and contrasts nicely to white linens and chairs. Guests can also congregate outside on the terrace (pictured to the far right).	The outdoor deck on the Minnesota Boat Club is long but not very wide, so if the wedding cermeony is held here, often the aisle is narrow to accommodate the processional. It's worth it, though, because the view is so amazing.

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. Capacity is 168. Call 612-253-0255 and ask for Jenni Ellson.

	My recommendations for wedding sites in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area:
		Chapels Parks Gardens Mansions Museums Hotels Farms Historic Sites Amphitheaters Restaurants Comparison Matrix

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Top photo by Laurie Schneider Photography. Como photos include pictures by Brad O'Connor Photography. 360 tour by Photography By Design.
Photos by permission, please do not distribute.
Rev. Tomkin Coleman, 197 Griggs St. N., St. Paul, MN 55104 612-986-5528



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