Reasonably priced Ketubah for Jewish weddings

I perform many interfaith Jewish and Christian wedding ceremonies in Minnesota, both in the Minneapolis and St Paul area, and one of the items used is a Ketubah, or wedding contract. These are usually highly priced because they are illuminated and often framed and kept for posterity, but not everyone can afford several hundred dollars for a Ketubah.

If you don’t already have a source for a Ketubah, if you don’t want to pay the usual $200-$1000, the Kippot Center sells an inexpensively priced Ketubah with a leather holder for $30 at:
http://www.kippotcenter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=163

Minnesota wedding caterer - reasonably priced

If you are looking for a Minnesota wedding reception site, here's a great recommendation: For amazing wedding food at really good prices, the best prices (and terrific food, in my opinion...we used them for my wedding...) that I’ve found is at TST Creating Catering. Their phone number is 651.488.0971. Here are two examples from their website:

-$9.50 Stuffed Canadian Pork Loin Roasted Whole Whole roasted stuffed Canadian back pork loin served with oven brown potatoes, baby carrots, tossed salad and dressing.

-$8.25 Baked Quartered Chicken served with cheesy baked potatoes, California medley & garden harvest salad.

Most catering services charge a minimum of $28/plate, and the national average is $55/plate.

TST Catering also rents out their banquet hall, which is called the Ideal Hall, and wedding ceremonies can be peformed there, as well.

Warm regards,

Rev. Tomkin Coleman
Minnesota Wedding Planner

Recommendations for a Minnesota wedding band

Wow, fantastic picture, eh? For most kinds of music appropriate for a wedding, I highly recommend Diane Martinson with her band named Elevation, available for rent in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area.

Personally and professionally, I love Diane Martinson and her partner, JJ Saeker. Diane sings solos for weddings in Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota and she has an amazing voice and the two of them are wonderful together. I’ve heard Diane as a soloist many times at weddings at all sorts of Minneapolis and St Paul wedding locations, both indoors and outdoors, and she has an incredible voice and style. The two also have a Minneapolis band for weddings named Elevation that does R&B and Funk. Couples with which I have worked have raved about the band and their sample clips look sound terrific. Elevation is a 6-8 piece wedding band: The 8-piece wedding band includes three female lead vocalists, a male lead vocalist/bass, a male back-up vocalist and keyboard player, drummer, guitarist, saxophone player, and trumpet player. Elevation’s fee is pretty much at the going rate, which is $2-3,000 for the evening, depending on the number of people in the band and the number of hours you’d like them at your wedding reception.

It’s always difficult to describe the sound of a band, but I think I know what you mean when you say R&B and Funk. Elevation does lots of other styles, too, and they have some great music/video samples on their website that can give you a good idea of what they can do. The links are at http://www.dianemusic.com/elevation.htm on the right-hand side of the page, about halfwy down. The song clips include Jump Jive and Wail, Sir Duke, Unforgettable, Supersition, and I Will Survive.

Note that the term they use to describe the type of Minnesota wedding band they book are is a little corny, but this is a standard term. Their description is “Variety Band” – as I said, that particular term sounds corny, but keep in mind that ”variety band” is a standard music term and it just means that they are talented and experienced enough to do requests at a wedding reception. They’re VERY cool. Minneapolis and St Paul are known for bands of all kinds, but not many musicians and bands are really experienced with weddings (and really good!)

Note that I have other recommendations for MN wedding music on my review pages.

Elevation performs all types of music for wedding receptions and will travel anywhere in the Minneapolis or St Paul metro area.

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Notes on recommendations for a violinist for Minnesota weddings

Hiring one musician, such a violinist, is a lot cheaper than hiring a full quartet or quintet for your wedding.

If you’re interested in a violinist to play for your Minnesota wedding ceremony, I recommend first seeing if Laurie Petruconis is available. Laurie performs with the Minnesota Orchestra and she is for hire for wedding ceremonies in Minneapolis and St Paul. Laurie’s email is fourvoicesstringquartet@yahoo.com and her phone number is 612.724.3591. Information on Laurie and her group can be found on her website for the Four Voices String Quartet.

If Laurie is unavailable, she can almost certainly recommend another wonderful and experienced violinist. If not, I can recommend some other people – but Laurie is my favorite resource.

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Wedding guitarist in Minnesota - my personal recommendations

I’ve worked with Joel Shapira (651-646-3274) many times and he’s wonderful, possibly the best wedding guitarist in Minnesota.

One of the reasons I say that is because he provides his own amplification equipment if you are having an outdoor wedding. In Minnesota, the breezes can take away sounds pretty easily, but Joel has a battery powered amp, one that is hooked up to his acoustical guitar. Plus, he’s played guitar at many of the Minnesota weddings I’ve performed at, and I thought his playing was wonderful. One of my favorite memories of him was when we were both waiting for a wedding at the Como Conservatory in St Paul. He was just sitting on a bench in the sunshine, playing to himself. He wasn’t practicing anything, just playing because he loves the music. Joel’s a sweet guy as well as being very professional.

Note: A guitar can be a very economical choice for weddings, about $200 for the wedding ceremony, because you’re only paying one person (as opposed to hiring a string quartet or quintet).

While I refer couples to Joel on my music page which recommends different Minnesota wedding music vendors, I also highly recommend Dan Schwartz at (612-616-0396), who is also very experienced and talented. Joel is based in St Paul, while Dan is in Bloomington, but they are both willing to travel all over Minnesota for wedding ceremonies and receptions.

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Notes on Chinese ministers for weddings in Minnesota

I had an interesting request: A Bride emailed me and asked if I knew any Chinese ministers in Minnesota, especially in the Minneapolis or St Paul area. She was inquiring because her soon-to-be in-laws were from China and didn’t know any English.

The following ministers speak both English and Chinese. While I don’t know if they would perform a wedding ceremony outside of their church, if you’re looking for a minister who speaks Chinese, you may also be interested in joining their congregation.

Rev. Joshua Tam, Chinese Evangelical Free Church
1021 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis 763-420-6504

Pastor Yi, Minnesota Mandarin Chinese Church
Services at Christ Presbyterian Church, 6901 Normandale Blvd, Edina 952-934-9257

Pastor Shen Lin, Faith Chinese Fellowship
Meets at St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church, 2323 Como Ave, Saint Paul, 651-642-0992

Rev. Stephen Mma, Rev. Michael Gin, Minister Faith Wong, or Rev. Gregory Har, Twin City Chinese Christian Church
1795 Eustis St, Lauderdale (near Highway 280 and Larpenteur Ave., 651-644-9321

Pastor Shen Lin of the Minnesota Faith Chinese Lutheran Church
2323 Como Ave., St Paul, 651-642-0992

My opinion on the best local Minnesota wedding pianists

Sharon Planer, 612-845-1970, is my favorite wedding pianist in the Minneapolis area and I have worked with her many times. Her fee is about $250, and most pianists are about that rate, so why not get the best?

Sharon is very professional, knows just about every song used in weddings, and is friendly and fun. Information about her rates (and other musician’s rates) are on my wedding music page.

Sharon will use a piano if it’s provided by the site, or she can bring her own keyboard.

Steve Hegman, 612-929-7521 I haven’t worked with Steve, but he comes highly recommended as experienced and very talented.

Also: Craig Coffman, 952-934-2775. I haven’t worked with him, but he comes highly recommended as experienced and very easy to work with.

Places to rent chairs for a wedding in Minneapolis or St Paul

Outdoor weddings often require chairs for the wedding ceremony, and many couples like to rent them. Here are some of my recommendations to rent chairs in the Minneapolis and St Paul area for wedding ceremonies and wedding receptions:

Apres Party Rental (in Edina) has chairs, tents – and delivers! 952-942-3399. They also rent tents. While few weddings are rained out in Minnesota, I remember one where we all had to move inside the tent - including the string quartet, which had to be set up in the middle of the Guests! That arrangement, while protecting their delicate instruments, also provided a festive “we’re-all-in-this-together” atmosphere. Instead of a fiasco, the rain proved to be a memorable addition, and all the Guests were smiling and laughing as they went through the Receiving Line after the wedding and ran through the pouring rain to their cars.

Midway Party Rentals also delivers chairs for weddings in the Minneapolis metro area, and they have tons of choices - 651-647-1323. They also rent tents for the wedding reception, arbors for the wedding ceremony, and have a lot of choices.

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Frequently asked question: purchasing a wedding Chuppah (Huppah)

I have performed many Jewish-Christian weddings in the Minneapolis and St Paul area. Many couples are not of the same faith, but wish to honor both faiths in their wedding ceremony and make sure that both sides of the family feel comfortable.

At one Minnesota Jewish-Christian wedding ceremony I performed in a Minneapolis hotel ballroom, one of the Bride’s Uncles came forward to perform the ritual blessing of the cup of wine that the Bride and Groom shared, which was in Hebrew. We practiced the ceremony at the rehearsal, and there was a lot of laughing and joking from both sides of the family about sharing wine. Before the wedding ceremony the next day, I saw the parents of the Groom chatting with the Uncle (since they had met him the night before) and they were showing him pictures of their grand-kids from their wallets. It was a brief, but sweet moment.

A chuppah is a piece of cloth draped over four poles. The only real “requirement” is that it be big enough for the bride and groom to stand under and that there be room for the bride to circle the groom. A great place to find a wedding Chuppah for sale ($175) is at Miriamjudaica.

For chuppah poles, you may purchase 4 8-foot fluted, wooden curtain rods and decorative finials from Home Depot to support your chuppah, and four guests held them during the ceremony.

Here is a more elaborate wedding chuppah for sale at underthechuppah.com I won’t usually mention any vendor who doesn’t list their prices, but there are so few choices for chuppas, and this is such a nice picture, that I’ve made an exception. (They don’t list their prices, as the chuppahs are custom-made, but I would guess this one is $1,000-2,000 because other chuppahas are about that price). The photograph was taken by Michael Loeb Photography.

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Notes on Gibbs Farm for Weddings

Some of my favorite weddings have been at Gibbs Farm in St Paul, which is an historical farmhouse and barn that is often set up and rented out for weddings, both indoor and outdoors. One wedding was held on the porch, with the Guests in chairs under the shade trees, while two others were held on the lawn. Receptions are usually held out back, either in the barn or right next to the barn (in a tent). The site has all the advantages of a wedding in a park, with the benefits of a fully-equipped reception hall. For instance, there is beautiful little parlor in the house, which elderly guests like to use when they don’t want to be outside. They also have really nice bathrooms, which are incredibly helpful for guests with babies. Guest with infants (and other wedding guests, too), really appreciate a clean, comfortable, quiet restroom, especially such a nice one in a house.

Gibbs Farm is a beautiful site, and unlike other Minnesota farmhouses/reception halls which are available for weddings, it’s actually within the city limits, so Guests don’t have to travel very far. Check out my reviews page for more on Gibbs farm, and other farms for weddings in Minneapolis.

The house is very pretty, plus the barn out back is very special, in a rural, down-home sort of way.

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Minnesota wedding DJs - my own thoughts and recommendations

Note: DJs can provide music for the wedding ceremony as well as the reception, so throughout the years I’ve met many of the wedding DJs working in Minnesota.

By far my favorite Disk Jockey for weddings in the Minneapolis and St Paul area is Troy Ackerman with Dancin’ Tracks. Troy takes his time and works with each couple to determine exactly what they’d like, and he’s personable and incredibly experienced. Troy has a great page on tips for hiring a wedding DJ, which is helpful no matter which wedding DJ you wind up choosing.

I, along with my bride, hired Troy Ackerman for our wedding ceremony in St Paul after I had seen him work at several weddings and had the Guests dancing all night (a skill that is very difficult to aquire). He has a very easy, calm way of talking and it becomes really clear that he knows exactly what he’s talking about. Both my wife and I recommend him 100%!

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Recommendation for Minnesota bagpipers for weddings

I have performed many wedding ceremonies where a bagpiper was used for the Processional and Recessional. I’m always very impressed and their use makes for an exciting, grand event. Most of the couples have Scottish or Irish heritage (either the Bride or Groom) and it’s a nice way of honoring their heritage. The pipes are extremely loud and are best used for outdoor ceremonies. Although, I must admit, one of the wedding ceremonies was at the Van Dusen Mansion in Minneapolis, and it wasn’t too loud there because their reception hall is quite large.

Mike Breidenbach, 651-387-6142, is the head of bagpiping at Macalaster College in St Paul. He hires out as a solo bagpiper for weddings throughout Minnesota, or also works with Ben Peterson and Mike Kotch as a bagpiper’s group named Bagpipes Associates. Ben Peterson and Mike Kotch can also be hired separately. All three are extremely well trained and have won bagpiping awards. This is a picture from their website, showing an outdoor wedding at which they played.

Notes on the Minneapolis Women's Club for a Wedding Ceremony and Reception

The Minneapolis Women's Club is a gorgeous site for a wedding ceremony. Located just south of Loring Park, which is on the SW side of downtown Minneapolis, MN, map here, this wedding reception location is incredibly handy to get to.



The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is about two blocks away (accesible by the gorgeous Irene Hixon Whitney walk bridge.)

Here's the wedding ceremony site - it's in the basement, but there's plenty of light from the right-hand side windows. The chandelier is amazing, and the architecture is quite nice, with columns and cornices. This wedding rented chair covers, which, in my opinion, is the cheapest way to dramatically improve any wedding ceremony site (only $2/guests from Heartstrings Bridal in Hopkins). You can see how greenery and flowers can make a huge difference at a non-traditional wedding site...the flower petals really transform the place.


The best part of the Minneapolis Women's Club is on the first floor, though. (Actually, when you enter the club, you immediately reach a staircase. One goes down a half-flight to the floor where the wedding ceremony is held, the other goes up, to where the reception is held.)

The woodwork and old-world architecture is breathtaking, as is the view of Loring Park. There are several rooms, but this is the most beautiful:

For a 360 degree view of the rooms, click here.

For more pictures of the above wedding, check out Beccadilley Photography's page, which includes a picture of me performing their ceremony.

Check out my website for more reviews of gorgeous wedding sites in the Twin Cities, with pictures, contact information, and prices.

Warm regards,

Rev. Tomkin Coleman
Minneapolis Wedding Officiant & Ceremony Designer

Repost - Como Conservatory now hosts wedding receptions

Note: This entry is a re-post of a 2007 blog entry (the blog crashed a few months ago, so I'm re-posting the entry).

A new wedding reception hall has been opened at the Como Conservatory in St Paul, which is building the Conservatory has needed for a long time. The Conservatory is the most highly sought-after wedding site in the Minneapolis St Paul area (the most sought-after in the state, actually), but up till now wedding receptions there have been limited because of the small size of the Conservatory. Como Zoo’s new Visitor Information Center has many rooms, though, and several of them are perfect for wedding receptions in Minnesota. One of them is a huge reception hall where you can have dancing, which is on the second floor and has views of both the Como Zoo and of the Como Conservatory. The other wedding reception site is called the Covered Porch (pictured above), and on one side you can see the Conservatory and on the other side you can see the Zoo and it’s historic Carousel. Here is a 360 degree view of the Covered Porch at the Como Conservatory.

The site is also reviewed at my page on sites in Minnesota for small weddings.

Gay Marriage in CA - In Danger of Being Repealed

Proposition 8, which will be on the November ballot in California, is at risk of passing. If passed, gay marriage will be banned in California after being allowed earlier this year. (California and Massachusetts are the only two states that allow gay marriage.)

Until recently, opposition to the prop held a healthy lead. But with an infusion of cash and more ad spending, the measure has gained support and is now succeeding by about 4 points.

Supporters of the anti-gay-marriage Prop 8 are running ads on TV and radio claiming that the government is trying to force children to accept homosexuality along with other false claims. The ads are working. Support for the proposition has grown in the places where they are running enough ads to pass the measure.

If you're interested in helping, you can donate money at http://www.noonprop8.com/home - The more money available, the more ads that can run to show people what is at stake if this measure passes.

If you can't donate, you may want to help spread the word to anyone you know in CA about prop 8. Few people know that it's even up for debate or know that a measure exists to defeat it.(Note - the commitment ceremonies I have held in Minnesota are non-binding...gay weddings may come to Minnesota eventually, but not yet!)

Como Conservatory Fall Wedding Showcase - 11/9/08

Como Park Zoo and Conservatory will be having a Wedding Showcase on Sunday evening, November 9th, 2008, from 5:00 pm till 8:00 pm (see my review of Como Conservatory for weddings).

The Como Conservatory showcase will give engaged couples the chance to view Como Conservatory's facilities for both wedding ceremonies and receptions. Wedding vendors, such as photographers and florists, will also be setting up booths.

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Notes on Rice Park for wedding ceremonies

I have performed many wedding ceremonies at the Landmark Center in St Paul, but a new twist on that idea is to have the wedding ceremony outdoors in Rice Park.

Rice Park is the gorgeous “town square” in the middle of St Paul, which is front of the Landmark Center (St Paul’s rental for Rice Park is $100 for 1.5 hours). The wedding reception can then be held inside in the Landmark Center.

The other three sides of Rice Park are the high-class Saint Paul Hotel, the classic James J Hill library, and the beautiful Ordway Center. Most famously, Rice Park in St Paul plays host for the ice sculpture carving for the St Paul Winter Carnival each year. The park has beautiful paving, a fountain, and a wonderful statue of St Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Having the outdoor wedding ceremony in Rice Park of St Paul and then the wedding reception indoors at the Landmark Center is a terrific idea because:

• You get the advantages of an outdoor location (sunny weather, the feel of nature)
  
• The advantages of being in downtown St Paul (parking, restaurants, close to hotels and activities such as the Science Museum of Minnesota, which is a block away. Then the Landmark Center can serve as a rain location.

Alternately, outdoor wedding sites in the Minneapolis/St Paul area could also be combined with having your reception site of the St Paul Hotel, the James J Hill Library, or the 317 Center in St Paul (pictured to the right), which is kitty-corner from the park.

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Notes on outdoor wedding sites in Minnesota

Both Minneapolis and St Paul have websites for their city that lists suggested outdoor wedding sites. St Paul lists 8 outoor wedding sites and Minneapolis lists 11. And yet in my experience, the vast majority of outdoor weddings in Minnesota are at just 3-4 sites. The others are listed and are available for rent, but are not chosen as often. Why are these few so much more popular than the rest?

Two reasons:

The #1 Criteria for outdoor wedding sites in Minnesota seems to be Location. The most popular parks are close to popular Minnesota wedding reception sites.

• One very conveniently situated outdoor wedding site in St Paul is Irvine Park, which very private, secluded, and beautiful - yet it is 3 blocks away from a large number of St Paul wedding reception locations (notably ,the St Paul Hotel, the Landmark Center, the 317 Center, James J Hill Library, and the Science Museum). Plus, Forepaugh’s Restaurant is across the street, which is appropriate for small wedding receptions. This proximity makes the site extremely popular for couples seeking an outdoor wedding site near downtown St Paul.
  
  

  

• Rice Park is even closer to most of those sites mentioned above, and the four sides of the park are bordered by the St Paul Hotel, the James J Hill Library, the 317 Center, and the Landmark Center (plus, it’s a block away from the Minnesota Science Museum. Rice Park is also beautiful, although not secluded.
  
  
  

• The most convenient outdoor wedding site in Minneapolis is the Walker Sculpture Garden, which is right next to downtown.

The other criteria for outdoor wedding sites in Minnesota seems to be Beauty (which can trump Location.) If a site is really gorgeous, couples are willing to travel a farther distance to their wedding reception site, be it in Minneapolis or St Paul.

Outdoor wedding sites in Minneapolis that are just gorgeous:

• The most popular outdoor wedding sites in Minneapolis are the Lake Harriet Rose Garden (and the Peace Garden, which is right next to it). The Minneapolis Park System calls the two gardens the “Lyndale Park Rose Garden” and the “Lyndale Park Peace (Rock) Garden”. The Peace Garden can only hold a few guests (up to about 20), but the Rose Garden can accomodate up to 80 or so. These two sites are absolutely gorgeous. Both sites are fairly convenient just because they are in the city, but they’re not as close to reception sites as the other parks mentioned above. The sites also seem to be popular because they are next to Lake Harriet, the most heavily-used park system in the Twin Cities area. Many couples have spent so many days and evenings at the lake that they have a special fondness for the lake and it’s rose garden.
  
  
  

• Another gorgeous outdoor wedding site in Minneapolis that is utilized frequently is Minnehaha Falls. Again, it’s not particularly close to any wedding reception site in Minneapolis and St Paul, but its natural beauty trumps convenience (although Minnehaha Falls Park is in Minneapolis, so it’s just a few miles from any Minneapolis wedding reception site…it’s just not within walking distance). There’s just no other outdoor wedding site in Minneapolis or St Paul quite like it, so many people immediately think of it when they want a wedding site that is picturesque.

The other outdoor wedding sites in Minnesota that are listed in the Minneapolis and St Paul Parks’ websites are Kellogg Park, Mears Park, Phalen Park, Rasberry Island (under construction), Harriet Island, and Upper Landing Park in St Paul, and Theodore Wirth Park, Thomas Lowry Park, Longfellow Gardens, Boom Island, and the Father Hennepin Bandstand in Minneapolis. Those sites wind up not being utilized as much, probably because they are either not close to a wedding reception site, or aren’t famous for their beauty. They may still be worth checking out, and they would definitely have the advantage of being easier to reserve.

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