Christian and Buddhist wedding in Minneapolis, MN

Question:

Hello Rev. Tomkin,
My fiancé and I are planning an Asian wedding next July 2010. However, I am Vietnamese and my fiancé is Cambodian. Also, I am a Christian and he’s a Buddhist. We do want to have a small Christian church wedding ceremony. The amount of people that we’d like to invite to the wedding ceremony will be mostly family members and very close friends only, so around 50- 100 people; so we don’t need a very large site. Also, we would like a nice indoor facility and will need to hire a pastor to do the ceremony for us. BTW, most of his family and mine who will be attending the wedding ceremony are Buddhists as well.
Would you be able to provide me an appropriate wedding ceremony location site suggestion?
Asian-American Bride

P.S: We already have a Chinese restaurant picked out and plan to invite about 300 people to attend the reception; so we just need a wedding ceremony location now.

Answer:

Chau co, AA-B,

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

You may not now that one option would be to have your wedding ceremony right at your reception site (right at the restaurant). People do it all the time, and it works really well. For instance:

• I've performed a wedding ceremony at a Chinese restaurant on Rice Street in Saint Paul for a Hmong couple three years ago, and it went splendidly. They then set up the tables, and had the reception right there at the restaurant.
  
• I've also performed a wedding ceremony for a Chinese couple at their reception site (Windows of Minnesota, which is a conference room on the top floor of the 50-floor IDS building in downtown Minneapolis), and that went really well, too. (The guests stayed at their dinner tables during the ceremony.)
  

There are a few wonderful churches and chapels in Minneapolis that rent space to non-members for wedding ceremonies (check the link for info.) Most churches do not rent to non-members, but the above sites do. While none of the above cater specifically to Asian Americans, they are all very welcoming.

I hope this helps!

Xin chao ba,

Rev. Tomkin Coleman
Minneapolis Wedding Minister

Walker Art Museum for weddings

Wedding at the rooftop of the Walker Art Center


Wedding reception in Gallery 8 of the Walker (ceremonies are sometimes held here, too), although often it's used as the reception space, after a wedding ceremony.

Wedding reception (ceremonies can be held here, too) at the Walker Art Center's Skyline Room

Question:

Dear Rev. Coleman,

I hope you're doing well! We at the Walker Art Center loved having you officiate for so many weddings at the Walker, whether in the Skyline Room, Gallery 8, or on the rooftop terraces.

When we last talked, we chatted about your expanding your review on your wonderful page of reviews of museums for wedding ceremonies in the Minnesota, and Sharon, Ann and myself (note to readers - Sharon Broscha is Walker's Facility Rental Manager, Ann Jacobson is Wolfgang Puck's Director of Sales, and Erin Brunelle is the Catering Sales Coordinator) can host you for an afternoon tour of our locations for wedding ceremonies throughout the museum and point out features and answer questions you might have.

We would love to have a relationship between you and the Walker Art Center and Wolfgang Puck!

Sincerely,
Erin Brunelle
Catering Sales Coordinator
Wolfgang Puck Catering
1750 Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Dir: 612.253.3401
Fax: 612.377.6345
erin.brunelle@walkerart.org
"LIVE. LOVE. EAT!" - Wolfgang Puck

Answer:

Dear Erin,

So good to hear from you! Yes, let's definitely set up a meeting - I look forward to it! (Note to readers - stay tuned, review to come within a week!)

Warmly,

Reverend Tomkin Coleman
Minnesota Ceremony Designer & Wedding Minister

Wedding ceremonies at Mulligan's in St Cloud, MN

Question:

Dear Rev. Coleman,

I wanted to follow up with you, and thank you for all your helpful advice. We ended up booking Semple Mansion in the Twin Cities, which I found thanks to your website review of Minneapolis mansion for wedding ceremonies. I fell in love with it, and we moved the wedding to the Twin Cities so that I could have it there. :)

But I did learn one important thing in my research that I wanted to share with you. The Grands at Mulligan's in St. Cloud, MN hosts wedding ceremonies and receptions, AND will allow you to bring in your own caterer. I know you get a lot of requests about this, so I wanted to share that tidbit with you, in case you get asked again.

Thank you again,

St Paul Bride



Answer:

Dear SPB,

Glad to help! You'll love Kathryn and the Semple Mansion - best wishes for your wedding!

Warmly,

Rev. Tomkin Coleman
Minnesota Wedding Ceremonies

Minnesota marriage license waiting time

Question:

Hello Rev. Tomkin!!

I can't remember how long you said it takes to receive our Minnesota marriage paperwork/certificate? and I believe I can't change my name until after I receive this? Correct?

We can't thank you enough for making our ceremony so beautiful and memorable!! You were just wonderful to work with!

Thank you again! I am sad it is all over!

September Bride



Answer:

Good morning, SB (not her real name, of course!)

It's crazy it's over, isn't it? In some ways, it would be fun to have your wedding every weekend (although, you'd be a tired girl!) All those friends and family members, all the emotions and love...well, at least there's pictures still to come, that'll be fun!

And, of course, the changing of your documents (driver's license, passport, etc.)...well, that's not fun, exactly, but it's kind of neat to get your new Minnesota driver's license with your new, married name on it. Unfortunately, the process can't start until you receive your stamped and certified license back from the county.

The county (depending on which Minnesota county it is...) can be really slow in mailing you your stamped and certified marriage license (short answer: up to a month). I mailed it to them early last week, and it only takes 1 day to get to them, and once they've stamped and certified it, it will only take 1 day to get to you, but it takes them a good, long while for them to do their administrative part. I'd say that you'll be receiving it in the mail by the end of the month...(sorry, that's not the answer you wanted to hear, but they're quite slow about it).

If you have any questions at all, I'm always here for you.

Hugs to both of you!

God bless you!

Rev. Tomkin
Minneapolis Weddings

Summit Manor for outside wedding ceremonies in MN

Question:

Hello, Rev. Coleman,

As a newly engaged bride, I love your amazing blog and website, and last week found our Minnesota wedding musicians from your list of vendors - thank you! Would you be willing to help us with a recommendation for a beautiful outdoor wedding site in Minnesota, one where we can have the wedding reception, too? We've found a couple great places, but they are all in sunny locations, and we'd like ours in the shade because our wedding is in August. Can you help??? (We would definitely use you for our minister, but my father is the minister of our church!)

Shady Bride

An outdoor wedding at Summit Manor is usually in front, with chairs lined up on either side of the front sidewalk, the bride and groom on the top step, with their attendants on the lower steps. However, the pictures below show how a wedding ceremony can be set up off to the left of the house, under their huge oak tree.

Answer:

Dear SB,

Congratulations on your recent engagement!

Great question...there are several Minnesota wedding reception sites that have outdoor locations for wedding ceremonies, but most couples want a sunny location, so they're usually sunny. One great option, though, is Summit Manor in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Wedding ceremonies there are usually either indoors or out on their front lawn (with the couple standing on their gorgeous front stairs), but sometimes couples choose to have their wedding on the side lawn, which is under a huge, beautiful oak tree, which provides plenty of shade.

I hope this helps!

Warmly,

Rev. Tomkin Coleman
Minnesota Wedding Ceremonies with Rev. Coleman

Falconer Vineyards in Red Wing, MN for weddings

Question:

Hello, Rev. Coleman,

I just stumbled across your amazing blog as I Googled a few of the million questions I've got (I just got engaged). The first one is about the Minnesota marriage license, as my fiance and I live in Chicago (and plan to continue to).

Next, we want to have the wedding near our friends and family in SE Washington County. I really want something around the bluffs and fall beauty of that area and wouldnt be opposed to going into Wisconsin (Hudson area) if the venue is right, but I'm not sure if that's allowed. The second thing I wanted to ask is whether you know of any reception sites that are low cost, in a natural setting, that allow for big tent rentals. We'd love a tent wedding in October, but also wanted to avoid paying a huge amount for the tent AND the site (i.e. there are a lot of venues in the right setting, but you have to pay for the whole venue, obviously, including the gorgeous mansion, etc.). This would be for around 200 people, so that puts a kink in things, too.

Thank you so much for your help. Your blog has been so informative and is put together so well!

Best,

Out of State Bride



Answer:

Good afternoon, OSB,

To get married in MN, you'll need to get a marriage license here (and then you have to get married here...it won't work in Wisconsin). You also need to apply in person. You can apply in any county (and then use it in any county). Note that it takes 5 days to get the license (the waiting period), so you want to do this ahead of time.

If you're willing to go as far as Red Wing, MN, which is in the Saint Croix River Valley, then I'd highly recommend Falconer Vineyards. (I've got another review of this Red Wing wedding location here.) The vineyard is really beautiful, and they set up a tent for your reception, and you have the ceremony and reception right there in the vineyard. Gorgeous!

I hope this helps!

Warmly,

Rev. Tomkin Coleman